Once again I will be bringing the sponsored metal folding chairs to GenCon.  I won't be at the Forge Booth this year, but the chairs will be there.

Be advised however that they are starting to show their age.  Those that have become dangerously dilapidated have been disposed of...that leaves about 15 chairs that appear to be functional...although each year seems to leave one or two bent beyond safe useage.

So when arranging your booth, plan accordingly.  Someone may need to make arrangements for additional seating.

Ralph

I wasn't around for the original sponsorship.  Maybe a second round is in order?

Ron, can you comment on how many seats the booth typically needs?

I believe the original acquisition was 20 chairs. Previous booth arrangements have used 1-2 chair(s) for the cash register station and 3-4 chairs for each table.

Julie

Ah, these are the ones we sponsored a couple of years ago, the ones with the name plates? How sad. I'll have to look and see whether mine is still in operation...

How has the usability been, have the booth crew been happy with the quality? If the breakage is normal for the price point, then getting a new run of the same type of chair wouldn't be an entirely foolish idea.

I know that the last time chairs were bought, they were printed with the names of the sponsors.  Maybe we could initiate a new chair drive, but use the names of games (or game companies) instead.  I'm pretty sure Bully Pulpit Games would be willing to sponsor a few chairs, in any case.

And Ralph, thanks for being responsible for the chairs every year.  That is a really awesome thing you do.

Paul Czege masterminded the chairs venture, so I'll bug him to step in and advise - especially since the time factor is a little tight this time.

Best, Ron

I know when Paul orchestrated the initial chair drive he specifically wanted real people names rather than company names to emphasize the human nature of the hobby. 

If time is tight, i think the nature of the sponsorship is secondary.  What matters Right Now is: What chairs do we get? At what price? And from where?

The chairs are steel, not padded at all, made in China. The original price was $10.99 per chair, if I recall. I drove around to three Meijer stores to find twenty.

Paul

Paul wrote:
The chairs are steel, not padded at all, made in China. The original price was $10.99 per chair, if I recall. I drove around to three Meijer stores to find twenty.

iago wrote: All we need now is a purchase-and-transport volunteer.

That's a minor expense in the scheme of things. Probably best to have somebody pay for the chairs and then collect communal bequests at the convention. Or beforehand, for that matter - I wouldn't mind buying another chair, myself.

On the chair issue, did we find a potential buyer? How many replacements do we need? I can certainly help with the cost, but I won't be able to transport the entire lot.  Perhaps we can divvy up the purchase/transport between multiple people?

Cost isn't a problem.  There's tons of people, as witness this thread, who are willing to kick in to the cost, or bear it entirely, myself included.

The problem is someone with time and ability needs to step and and volunteer to pick up the chairs and get them to Gencon.

If worrying about cost is stopping any pontential volunteers, I'll be real clear: the chairs will be paid for. 

Now, can someone buy the chairs and get them to the con?

James

There are three Meijers here on the north side of Indy, so I should be able to pick them up and bring them Wednesday in my station wagon (assuming my car's not too full of books). Do we care if the chairs match the ones we already have? Just because they come from the same store won't necessarily mean they're the same. Can someone send me a photo?

You can get some idea of the chairs from the pictures in this flickr thread:

http://flickr.com/photos/shuckle/233189911/

Steve wrote:
You can get some idea of the chairs from the pictures in this flickr thread:

http://flickr.com/photos/shuckle/233189911/

Meijer has those grayish-brown steel chairs, like in the photo, but they are now $14 each. Those are the least expensive chairs they have. I'll go ahead and pick six of them up the next time I'm over there.

SirValence wrote:
Meijer has those grayish-brown steel chairs, like in the photo, but they are now $14 each. Those are the least expensive chairs they have. I'll go ahead and pick six of them up the next time I'm over there.