We're going to keep this forum - I've renamed it to GenCon Planning and Organization. I think keeping these posts will be a good resource next year when we have to plan the next GenCon.

Excellent, Clinton,

I'd been thinking the very same thing and forgotten to mention it earlier.

How about some comments on what to do differently next time?

#1 for me: a more formal contract regarding demonstrating one another's games. I was willing to take it for the Forge this time, but I can't afford two GenCons in which I miss so many sales 'cause I'm demoing. Regarding Sorcerer, I'm going to do some training so there'll be a team; but I still want to play other games at the booth too, so some kind of tradeoff should be made official.

#2: what shape should next year's space be? I like the linear arrangement. Turning a corner (or two) means people aren't "connected" in the con-goer's mind ... or maybe I'm totally wrong. I dunno.

#3: organizing demo times will be necessary next year, as I anticipate more companies being involved. Maybe something so simple as generalized slots for a list or group of games, rather than exact times for exact games.

#4: neighbors. I suggest getting very stern about who's on either side of us. I like the XIG guys a lot, but both their visuals and the guitar stuff hurt my sales really badly. If possible, I'd vote for Hogshead, Apophis, Issaries ... or maybe Adept, Key 20, Driftwood, and similar would be in adjacent booths rather than in the Forge one. I'm not sure. Interesting options.

Best,
Ron

I actually talked to James Wallis about being placed together next year and he's all for it.

As far as shape, I was actually thinking that a four-booth peninsula would be great if we could swing it (depending on how many other companies would get involved). Two opposing corners would be the points of purchase and the gaming would be going on between them.

As we found out this year, linear works but three in a row is the longest we can get unless we take some corners. Next year, I anticipate that Driftwood will move from indie to sponsor and thus will deserve as much devoted space as Adept or Key 20.

Heyyyyy ...

What about two three-booth setups facing one another?

Lots of money, but with (say) four full sponsors and a minimum of five mini-publishers apiece ...?

Best,
Ron

Oooooooh... nice. I would definitely be interested in that.

That sounds awesome. One question: do you think that the booth layout will change much with:

a) the move to Indianapolis?
b) Peter Adkinson running the show?

One booth layout I've seen that I always liked was the end of a section, taking up the entire end (two big booths, I think), and removing all the separators between the booths. This way, you get a big front area to talk to people, and a large area to run demos.