Bothered by a COnvention Policy

[Scribble]

I think you just answered your own quandry there. You may have been convinced to. Then again, you may not have been convinced to, most likely, and the con would have missed out on the money they would, definitely, had otherwise made.

They didn't make any money from me. I avoided it altogether. They neither made money from me nor did they ever even have the opportunity to.

Sort of like advertising. If you place an advertisment you don't automaticaly make people come to your store or product. But you have a greater chance that they will be there.

 

[Crothian]

They didn't make any money from me. I avoided it altogether. They neither made money from me nor did they ever even have the opportunity to.

And if they let you into the dealers room without a badge, they wouldn't have made money on you either.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I would suspect one of the major reasons would be that if you did not charge then anyone could simply wander in. Probably good business for the vendor, right? It would NOT be good business for everyone else who paid to get in.

Imagine this possibility: you pay 50 bucks for GenCon. You get there and upon entering the Mecca that is the dealer's room you are packed in and have more people in your way than what you normally would. Or the guys at the door say that there are far too many people inside already.

I would think that charging for people to come in helps keep numbers down for the benefit of the other con goers.

And on top of that they'd love to sell one day passes.

 

[arwink]

Having talked with people who run Australian cons before, I know that part of the reason they charge a fee for a badge in these situations is because their liability insurance doesn't cover people who aren't official attendees of the convention. Official attendees = people who have either organised the event or paid to be there, and whose details are recorded by the convention organisers.

Being able to record the details and mark those people who just want to browse the dealers hall as official attendees is a pretty big deal the first time one of them is crushed by a falling display or steps on a caltrop-like miniature left laying on the ground.

Given the skyrocketing costs of liability insurance, charging even a nominal fee for the badge of people who just want to poke around the stalls also offsets some of the costs as well.

 

[Greylock]

I agree with Scribble.

Let's put it this way... Folks don't randomly stroll in at the Inn next to the Airport for no reason. Scribble couldn't attend the con. I couldn't attend the last here in Memphis and can't give any promises for the next one. But he wanted to lay down cash for goods.

Ditto.

Last con that came this way left me in the same way. I could not be off from work. Not possible. Made it into the venue the last hour of the last day. Looking for goods and willling to pay, had cash in hand I had saved.

Was told flat out when I showed up that I needed a badge. After I missed three days, I'm expected to pay to shop? The folks who payed got three days gaming, prizes, all manner of fun and deals. I show up when the tents are being taken down and am treated like trash? Just 'cause I've got a job?

Stuff that.

 

[Crothian]

But you are wanting to do something at the convention without paying for it. It doesn't matter that its the dealers room, or the lectures, or gaming...these are all part of the package deal that is a convention. Most do offer a one day pass for those only to make it one day out of the 3 or 4 the convention is.

 

[Greylock]

I will abide the custom then.

Next Con I can attend 24/7 will be set aside.

See ya when I'm 65.

 

[Greylock]

[edit by Greylock] Sorry about that.

 

[MGibster]

I show up when the tents are being taken down and am treated like trash? Just 'cause I've got a job?

Stuff that.

It didn't have anything to do with you having a job. Consider that after three days at a con people are tired and want to go home and for some reason you wanted to enter the convention without paying. It's unfortunate that you missed the convention because of work but thems the breaks. We all miss things because of work or other obligations.

Running a convention, especially for the smaller local guys, is a pretty risky proposition. You've got to book your space months in advance, attempt to sell vendor space before the con starts, and hope you get enough people to attend so that you can at least break even.

The dealer's room doesn't exist in a vacuum any more then the RPG room or the CCG room does. Charging vendors for the space helps go towards making the convention profitable, or at least less of a loss. The vendors in turn get space to sell goods without incurring as much financial risk.

Finally, I have a hard time believing that getting into the dealer's room for free is going to generate extra income for the convention. Very few people are going to say "Hey, there's a game con in town. I don't actually want to go but I guess I'll go to the dealer's room and see what they have to offer." Those few that are like that probably aren't going to pay to get in even if allowed into the dealer's room.

Charging a standard convention fee even if you just want to browse the dealer's room is completely fair.

Marc

 

[Algolei]

I'm with Greylock and Scribble on this one. The dealer's room makes money. You shouldn't be charged money just to spend money so they can make money.

Those $50 badges are for everything in the con. But they should offer free badges to allow people to go into the dealer's room, yet prevent them from entering other areas.

We're talking about drop-in business here, not people flying in from Distant Corners. Those people don't come just to shop; they buy the $50 badges to attend multiple things. Locals, however, might be willing to come in to shop, but won't want to attend the rest of the con. Dealers are clearly losing sales to those people.