It seems that, at the last minute, I have to go to Origins. It's a long story, but my licensee (one of them, at least) wants to meet with me and introducte me to several of the fulfillment gurus. With any luck I'll have my warehousing contract by the time I'm finished.

What i won't have is my game to sell -- that won;t be ready until late July, althought the e-book will be ready by origins.

What I was wondering was if anyone here could give me good advice on sruviving Columbus, knew where I could get cheap lodgings, knew how the buses worked, where to eat, what to do if my games end after the last bus leaves, etc.

I should never plan a business trip at the last minute, and I usually don't. But Greyhound already has my money, as does GAMA, and I need to make the most of it.

Of the cities I've lived in, Columbus is IMO the nicest. I will probably grow old and die here. Anyway....

Here's a couple of websites you might wanna checkout.

For general Columbus information, check out The Greater Columbus Supersite.

For lodging, it never hurts to try Priceline. My family and I scored a 4 day stay in Schaumburg, IL outside of Chicago for $24 a night. We were even upgraded to a larger room for free. Grant it, that's gonna be rare to find, but it wouldn't hurt to try. I would try finding a hotel by OSU (Ohio State University). It's not too far from the Convention Center, and well within bus range. The hotels near the Convention Center are expensive, unless you can score a deal with being at the Convention Center.

Speaking of Bus routes, check out the COTA website. The Convention Center is located just off of High Street hear Nationwide. It looks like the last bus leaves around 11:30 or so. Here's a overall map of Columbus from the Convention Center's website.

The Convention Center is located on the outskirts of downtown, between downtown, the Arena District, and the Short North. Downtown is like any other Downtown, buildings, concrete, and expensive food. The Arena District is pretty cool. They decided to revitalize the nightlife downtown a few years ago. The Blue Jackets Stadium, a nice Theatre (including Steerage seating), Bars, Bars, Bars and some Restaurants. The Short North is pretty hip. It's an artsy, homeopathic kind of burb.

If I get some more time, I'll get some more info and post it here.

Later,
Chris

This might fall under the category of TMI, but here's more about my trip:

I'm traveling by Greyhound for two and a half days each eay. This should mean that by the time the PR director of the Ohio State anime vlub meets me at the bus depot I should be recognizable by my odor. I'm staying at a Motel 6 miles from downtown and relying on public transportation to get me to the Convention Center and the other places I need to go (like said anime club). I don't expect to have much free cash to spend on food or games, so I do't expect to do a lot of buying. The "Courtesy of the Profession" may get me some loot, but somehow I doubt it. Besides, in my experience this is not a very courteous profression when it comes down to the larger companies.

I don;t knwo what to expect when it comes to the various demos and the like that I'll want to participate in. I don't know how much time I'll spend at the Convention Center outside "working hours". In truth, I have no idea what to expect and some people have even told me it's a bad idea for me to even be going. I really have little choice in the matter, though -- I need to meet those distributors and fulfillment people.

Fun fun - looks almost certain that I'm pulling the "two days on a bus" trip too, from Alberta Canada to Chicago. Weee! ;)

Can't say I've ever been to Chicago.

I am determined this Columbus trip won't end in disaster. I remember a trip to GenCon in 1996 and ran out of food money midway through the convention. If strangers weren;t willing to feed me on the way back I'd have been in trouble....