1. How do we pick up our Forge badges? Can we get them at the normal badge pickup booths?

There are separate booths for vendors, usually located close to the doors to the dealer hall.  Go talk to the very nice folks at one of those counters and ask for your badge.

2. When and where do we meet to start setting up the booth?

From Fred Hicks: "My recommendation to Forge booth members is to get situated in your hotel, then hoof it over to the convention center, pick up your badge (likely under the "Adept Press" name), and come find booth #1939 and see if we need any help on setup yet."  My guess is that booth setup will start at 2-3pm, as the various pieces (flooring, racks, game stock, etc.) arrive.

3. Are we going to practice demos for each other before the con starts?

Some of us will be gathering together in the lobby of the Embassy Suites hotel to run demos for one another.  6-8pm on Wednesday night.  In the event that the place is crowded with gamers, I'll try to put up a sign to make it easy to find the demo folks.

4. Will we be scheduling work shifts?

The booth doesn't really work that way- there are no specific schedules, but you're expected to be there working roughly half of each day.  If you aren't actively running a demo, you can be playing in demos (to fill seats and learn about games), roping in interested players/customers, or helping out the IPR folks with the stock.  Take breaks whenever you like, but try to time it so that you don't leave the booth short-handed.

There's generally a morning huddle before the vendor hall opens.  Setting up on Wednesday and (especially) breaking things down on Sunday are also important times to be there.

5. Anyone want to grab dinner together on Wednesday evening?

Personally I'm waiting to see how late booth setup runs on Wednesday before I make dinner plans.  I'm thinking I might be grabbing something quick on the way between finishing setup and demo practice.

Steve wrote:

3. Are we going to practice demos for each other before the con starts?

Some of us will be gathering together in the lobby of the Embassy Suites hotel to run demos for one another.  6-8pm on Wednesday night.  In the event that the place is crowded with gamers, I'll try to put up a sign to make it easy to find the demo folks.

Folks should be aware that some of us are committed for additional booth efforts and then the Diana Jones Award ceremony on Weds night, so manage your expectations accordingly.

Hello,

I'll add a few things to Steve's excellent answers.

1. How do we pick up our Forge badges? Can we get them at the normal badge pickup booths?

You will go to the exhibitor booths, not the booths that con-goers use. There are about three, set up side-by-side, to the far west in the corridor outside the exhibit hall that runs east-west.

This year, they did not put each individual company name on the badges for the buy-in people. So to use you as an example, Carl, here's what you'd say:

"Hi, I'm Carl Klutzke. My badge is listed under Adept Press." They will give you your badge and some stuff that includes a map of the hall, so it should be easy to find the booth.

Do not say "Forge booth," or "the Forge," or your company name. Do not say "Ron Edwards" as if it were a talisman. Any of that will only disorient and irk the people at the booth.

We'll have some tape and stuff you can use to put your company name over the "Adept Press" on your badge.

Primary sponsors, you should use your company name and your badge will have your correct information. However, if there is any confusion, the magic words are "Adept Press."

2. When and where do we meet to start setting up the booth?

People will probably begin arriving around noon on Wednesday. Booth setup has several important steps.

i) Meeting and greeting, and making sure that all the stock people bring by hand is set in one place. People who've traveled far that day might take a break or make sure to hydrate.

ii) Arrival of IPR. At this point, enormous amounts of stock arrive, as well as shelves. We will need lots of folks at this point: hoisting boxes, separating stuff that will be at the booth on Wednesday from the rest of the stock, piling shelves and stuff into designated places, and like that. Important: we have to set up the shelves and stock in place, but not fully set up, at this stage.

iii) Arrival of the chairs. As you might expect, this is all about shlepping chairs.

iv) Arrival of the flooring, which usually happens relatively late in the process. This is the biggie: we have to designate where all the stuff is going to go, then lay down the flooring, and then hoist the stuff into its designated spot, including chairs. This part is a lot like set preparation in theater. People need to be enthusiastic and to pay attention. It's one of the very few moments when I and (in this case) Fred are going to be authoritative. It only lasts about 10 minutes if we do it right.

v) Final setup of stock, mainly by IPR staff, but whoever is not burnt out by this point might be kind enough to help them a bit.

3. Are we going to practice demos for each other before the con starts?

To some extent, yes, but I've observed that most people learn most about the demos by participating in them during the first couple of days. It's great to get together on Wednesday as Steve describes, but don't cram at that point.

4. Will we be scheduling work shifts?

Nope. Steve described it perfectly.

5. Anyone want to grab dinner together on Wednesday evening?

A number of people will, with the exception of the IPR guys who will be suffering under step (v) above. However, I recommend actually organizing this on-site.

Best, Ron