PAX East: DM D&D for WotC, get a free badge and/or hotel room!

[Rechan]

Oh I'm not worried about people being unpleasant. It's just the size of the crowds. It gives a claustrophobic feeling.

However, I found an explanation that PAX counts people each day[/i} (If you have a 3 day pass, they count you 3 times). So there may be 20,000 actual bodies in the building each day, but the number is bigger at total.

A friend of mine who works for a tech magazine said that most of your video game companies have booths there. Now, I'm not a huge video game person (I buy only 2-3 a year, but I am super into the ones that I do), so it does give some incentive to hassle the designers about news of upcoming games. Also movies, and panels about TV shows/movies or maybe even WRITING sounds really appealing.

 

[lucek]

Ah claustrophobia. Well the only time people are squeezed together is the line to get in. I'm shore you can sit to the side until the doors are open however. After that even when you're in line for something you usually have breathing space as most lines are up against walls and not in ropes or the like.

It's a big convention center. The place could probably fit a small city comfortably.

 

[Nullzone]

70,000 is the "turnstile" attendance number. What that means is 70,000 heads went through the doors. The issue with this is that it counts the same person multiple times; 3 day badges get counted at least three times, etc.

There are not nearly that many people in any one singular space there, especially in the BCEC. The center is MASSIVE and there shouldn't be much trouble with elbow room. It won't be gencon levels of space, but there shouldn't be any major claustrophobic issues as long as you stay out of spaces that are close by nature/design; the expo hall, entry queue, etc.

 

[DEFCON 1]

On an unrelated question, what happens at PAX? What are the various events? I can't find an actual schedule anywhere that encompasses the whole con.

The schedule usually goes up on the PAX website a little closer to the event itself. But when it does, it'll include full maps of the convention center, listings of all the panels, and times for all the different gaming sections (tabletop, RPG, videogaming, classic arcade etc.)

 

[lucek]

Just out of curiosity what all do we need to bring to judge? Minis? Timer? Books? What does wizards provide verses what will the judge need to bring?

 

[OnlineDM]

Assuming PAX East is like other conventions I've been to, the DM is responsible for their own game. The organizer will probably provide a PDF of the module you're running as well as any award sheets for players, and that's it. You're responsible for your own maps, minis, dice, etc.

Now, if it's for a special event like the D&D Next stuff, I imagine more support will be provided. But it's probably best to reach out to the organizer directly.