So, when is the deadline for making a decision about whether one wants to participate in the booth or not?

Also, what is expected of someone who buys-in?  What responsibilities do they have?

Whew, time went by fast. Willow, I apologize for totally missing this post.

I split it from Forge Booth 2009 for whoever wants to backtrack.

Anyway, here's how it works.

1. You don't sign up for GenCon officially at all. It's done through me. (My success rate in not screwing anyone over in this regard is 100%)

2. You tell me that you want to buy in at the booth and send me $125 if it's your first time, or $250 if it's your second. I'll open up the sign-ups typically May 1, with the deadline of June 1. (I found out the hard way that doing it earlier meant all sorts of headaches)

What that entails is ...

1. Your game is sold at the booth at no commission to me or anyone else.

2. It gets demo'd at the booth by you, me, and whoever else wants to.

3. You also participate in other people's demos in a mutualistic, non-enforced way.

4. You're at the booth for one-half the exhibit hall hours each day, minimum, on the honor system with no formal scheduling.

5. Help with booth setup and striking is greatly appreciated. It'll be a less elaborate job than the full Forge/IPR booth was.

I think that's it!

I realize that deciding to do this later means not signing up for GenCon now, and as such is an earlier decision than I'm making it sound. I should also stress that all independent games are welcome regardless of content or persons involved (with very few exceptions; the fact is that I've never turned anyone down), so it's not like you can choose to do this booth, and then get shafted if I say no. The games aren't vetted and you don't have to pass a test or anything.

Best, Ron

Dear Ron,
              I hope that there is still space to join your table. If so I would love to join it. How do I send you the money?

Nathan Leeson

Hi Nathan,

We corresponded by email, but for reference for others, the money should be sent via Paypal to sorcerer@sorcerer-rpg.com.

Best, Ron

Does anybody need a roommate for Gencon?

Nate

I've got a room at one of the skywalk-connected hotels and yes, I am looking for people to help defray the cost.

Greg
BTRC

Sounds appealing. How much will it be per night? When are you getting there?

Nate

Hi guys,

If you could use email from this point on (Nate, Greg's is available by his signature here), that would be excellent.

Best, Ron

I was gifted a large digital picture frame for Xmas, and have not actually used it much. It just occurred to me that its "slide show" function would be great to set up near the cash register, with a rotating selection of adverts and descriptive stuff on people's products.

Any interest in that?

Greg
BTRC

Hi Greg,

That's a good idea if we can get it off the ground. I assume people need to bring or make available to you various digital imagery? What format should it be in?

Best, Ron

It's a 10.4 inch frame with a resolution of 800 x 600. I figured it would be set up vertically, so pictures should optimally be 600 pixels wide by 800 high, and in JPEG format. The frame seems to have enough internal memory for our needs, but I think it can also run off a memory card if needed. A maximum quality JPEG in that size is maybe 600kb, so it would have room for about 200 of them without resorting to external storage.

Looks like it can also play MP3's and short MPEGs, though those would obviously eat up the memory faster. However, if you have a product demo or blurb, I'm willing to cram it in and see if it works. Bring it in a few different MPEG formats in case there is a problem with one of them.

So, I guess you can either get stuff to me beforehand, or bring it to the show on a thumb drive and I'll load it up there.

Greg

I've been experimenting with the digital picture frame, and I think anyone who wants to can use it to their advantage. The aspect ratio is about right for cover pictures of 8.5 x 11 products (72dpi and 8.5 x 11 gives a very nice picture, though 600x800 pixels is optimum). The slide show feature runs things sequentially, so if you want a product shot followed by some text, name your files like:

product code-1
product code-2

For me, this might be something like:

BTR6101-1.jpg
BTR6101-2.jpg

That will show a cover shot of 6101, then fade to some quick text about the product.

The frame can internally rotate pictures after they are loaded into its memory, so that should not be a problem, but note that I plan on setting it up in portrait orientation. I've had a few JPEGs that would not read, but saving them in Photoshop with the "save for web" option fixed them. The frame can play MPEGs, but not in combination with the slide show. It will, however, play an MP3 track in the background (over and over again), if someone has a cool ambient they want to try out.

If someone wants to make up a Forge splash page or a "hey, ask for a demo" screen, we can put that in.

I'll have my laptop, so just about any digital storage medium will work for the transfer. Thumb drives, flash cards, CD's, whatever.

Greg

Just bumping this topic to remind folks to bring digital product shots. Even if you only have one product, make five copies of the info you want displayed with different file names. I'm not sure if the frame has a random shuffle feature, but having several pics to put in the rotation increases the chance of someone seeing it. It's going to be an in-booth banner ad to help sell and inform, catch eyeballs near the cash register, etc.

Rotate your pics 90 degrees clockwise before saving them. The frame can rotate them internally, but sometimes it does not want to.

Greg

Does anybody have a higher resolution version of the Forge logo? We got our game project finished, so have some time for other stuff. Could make a Forge splash or two. Also will provide some of our own products.

Also: what's the status on the indie passport, does anybody know? I don't know if it could be pulled off at such a short notice, but I like the concept. At the very least somebody should get me a list of the Forge-affiliated booth network, so we can make a large mapboard of the convention hall to set up at the booth. Helps in pointing people to other booths when you have a large map where the pertinent targets have been clearly marked.

Hi Eero,

The Indie Passport was Fred's baby, and I don't know if he's doing it this year. No harm in asking him.

The map is an excellent idea. At present I'm planning on a low-tech version, simply printing out the GenCon exhibit hall floor plan and highlighting the relevant booths. Since the floor plan won't be finalized until the con itself, I'm always a little iffy about doing this ahead of time. Maybe it's best reserved for our arrival. Or maybe not, since most things that get reserved like that don't happen.

As far as which booths are included, I dunno. Some are obvious - spinoffs by previous participants. I'm inclined also to find various others, simply independents who may or may not know about or care about the Forge, and include them on-site.

I'll look through my emails to see if I can find the exhibitor list with their placement in the hall.

Best, Ron

Ah! Not very bright today.

The list of exhibitors and booth numbers is here. Eero, if you'd like, make a list of those most obvious to point out at our booth and find their locations. Off the top of my head, Indie Press Revolution, Pirate Jenny, Design Matters, Arc Dream Publishing, Hamster Press, and Burning Wheel. There are probably a bunch more, but we can work that out over email and as I said, keep in mind additions that we learn about at the show.

As with all bright ideas about the booth, someone actually has to do this. I cannot. I am busy shelling out money for booth electricity and driving out to Peoria to pick up the chairs and cash register - there is no way I can add "one more thing." Someone - please volunteer.

Best, Ron

D'you think GenCon would be willing to provide a map of the booth layout that could be printed as a poster at a local printshop, so you could note associated booths on it? With something like that, you could easily add new booths to it as they're discovered.

I'm making this suggestion as a "no possible way I'm even gonna make it, but I wish I could" post. If the aforementioned "Someone" steps up, this could be something to look into.

I'm on the map insofar as designing it goes. I'll make it understated, so it's easy to add things like clarifications and added booths as we go along. I could print it up here and take with me, but it's a long way to go for paper (although it's been said that Finnish paper is the best there is), so if anybody can do the print job next week around the end of the week, that's good.

Also, a stand of some sort. Lugging that would be just stupid. Or will we have a wall to pin this thing on? I'll try to make it, oh, at least A3 in size. Large enough to walk over to.

Furthermore, if there are other graphic design -type things that need doing, I'll have some time next week, after Ropecon. That's what I can contribute, bringing material items is more of a challenge overseas.

Whoa, problem. We can't have any stand-up or poster style displays. Seriously, it's a huge space problem, especially considering that game shelving is going to be an enormous headache as it is.

Eero, I think we have to compromise a little - can you make it into a handout instead? Or make a big one too, and send me the file, and I'll see what I can figure out to reserve that option too.

Best, Ron

OK, I'll make it hand-out sized, then. Making it vector graphics allows convenient resizing if we can do a lager version, too.

What booth number is The Forge in this year? I need to deliver some folding chairs there this Wednesday evening, but I don't see The Forge on that exhibitor list.

Also, since I'm not an exhibitor this year, I don't know if I'll be able to get into the hall on Wednesday. I doubt it will be a problem, but it might be good if I had some cellphone numbers just in case. Ron, is your cell number the same as last year?

-Carl

Hi Carl,

Excellent! Our booth number is 1912. I would very much like to get the chairs from you on Wednesday, and my cell number is the same as last time. In fact, send me an email (sorcerer@sorcerer-rpg.com) so we can fully coordinate our information.

Best, Ron

Please put Games on Demand somewhere on the map please (if just a note).  We will be at the Omni-Severin Hotel, Fisher Ballrooom.  I'd also like to help each other, sending players your way, you sending players our way, getting up to speed on your games so that if someone wants to try out a longer session than a demo it could be done.  If there are any other ideas please let me know, we are open to most anything.

A formal back-and-forth between Games on Demand and the Forge booth is my fondest wish. I agree - we should confer very seriously Wednesday. I'd like to talk about it now, but this year has landed me with one of the most demanding GenCon preps ever, and I don't think I can do anything to move forward on that until then.

Best, Ron

Ron, if you want to get my number so we can coordinate doing this sometime on Wednesday, you (or anyone here) can email me at my gmail account, which is at rob dot bohl.

my gmail account is

saintandsinner dot jmj

I'll PM you my cell.  I won't be there until thurs noon-ish though.  If someone wants to just fill me in later that would be fine.

Because I'll be arriving fairly late in the afternoon with the flooring, someone should write down my cell phone number in case they need to know where I am:

804-365-2554

And if a few people who are likely to be at the booth in the late afternoon could get me their cell numbers, it would be appreciated.

Greg
BTRC