WotC Re-Brands Winter Fantasy as D&D Experience

jgbrowning · Dec 24, 2006

Umbran said:
There's a great deal of stuff going on. While really big announcements would still be noted there, smaller things could very well get lost in the shuffle. Moving D&D focus to another con means they don't have to compete for attention.

There's money to be made as well. A Con that you (as a publisher) controls is a nice thing.

joe b.

dpmcalister · Dec 24, 2006

jgbrowning said:
There's money to be made as well. A Con that you (as a publisher) controls is a nice thing.

Well they used to have that in Gen Con, but sold it

jgbrowning · Dec 24, 2006

dpmcalister said:
Well they used to have that in Gen Con, but sold it

Yeah, I can't remember (but I'm sure someone else can). Wotc got TSR in 97, Wotc sold to Hasbro in 99. When did Hasbro sell GenCon to GenCon LLC.?

joe b.

Glyfair · Dec 24, 2006

Mark CMG said:
I'm sure the choice of the Indy location for GenCon had something to do with its centralized position in the USA and, thus, its ability to draw from its traditional core, from points further south and west, and to increase attendance from the East coast.

IIRC, the traditional wisdom is that, all other things being equal, it's best to hold coventions in the middle of the most dense populations. Unfortunately, the East Coast has priced itself out of the market. Origins used to rotate between the east coast and elsewhere (Baltimore the last few years). When the Baltimore convention center & hotels increased their fees again. they had to move.

I know the American Contract Bridge League struggles with similiar issues reguarly. They discovered the most popular choice for the National tournaments was actually Las Vegas. Lots for the non-bridge playing family members to do, things to do during your tournament down time, close affordable places for food and lower fees (since they expect more gambling during the convention).

jgbrowning said:
Yeah, I can't remember (but I'm sure someone else can). Wotc got TSR in 97, Wotc sold to Hasbro in 99. When did Hasbro sell GenCon to GenCon LLC.?

It was during the time Hasbro was divesting itself (and WotC) of the non-core businesses. They sold off their software company, WotC sold off their retail stores, and they sold GenCon.

dpmcalister · Dec 24, 2006

jgbrowning said:
Yeah, I can't remember (but I'm sure someone else can). Wotc got TSR in 97, Wotc sold to Hasbro in 99. When did Hasbro sell GenCon to GenCon LLC.?

Going from memory, I recall Gen Con UK 2003 being run by Gen Con LLC (although they outsourced every to UK groups (the ill-fated Raven ran the RPG Area). That bombed massively (due to a move of date from late August to Easter - against all the advice of the time) and Gen Con LLC called it a day on the UK market. Thankfully, Horsemen Events, Ltd picked up the licence for the UK

[1]

[1] I note my biased view-point here as I'm the Marketing Manager for Gen Con UK

Treebore · Dec 24, 2006

Best I remember Peter A. bought it in 2001 or 2002.

caudor · Dec 24, 2006

Hopefully, they will announce a replacement for eTools at the D&D Experience. I am looking forward to any sort of 'big' announcements though.

dpmcalister · Dec 24, 2006

That makes sense. I went through my notes earlier and I interviewed Peter Adkison at Gen Con UK 2002 (you can read it here) when he announced his plans for the brand.