Gen Con Is Going Ahead

Gen Con -- one of the world's biggest tabletop gaming conventions -- has announced that is will be going ahead this year from September 16th-19th. There will be three ‘formats’ including the live event.

Gen Con | Gen Con Postpones 2021 Convention to September

The Best Four Days in Gaming

www.gencon.com

UK Games Expo is still planning on running at the end of July with restricted space and hotel availability (the UK vaccine program is currently predicting that as the goal to get everybody vaccinated).

 PRESS RELEASE

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A Message from Gen Con’s Co-Owner and Chairperson of the Board

Friends, it’s been a long year. I know you’ve been wondering what will happen with Gen Con this year, and I can tell you that we all share that feeling. Today, we’re excited to announce our plan of action.

We are moving Gen Con 2021 to September 16-19, and holding it as a combination of three concurrent events: our in-person convention in Indianapolis with a lower attendance cap, a robust schedule of livestreaming and online gaming through Gen Con Online, and local events at games stores through Pop-Up Gen Con.

This is the plan. Based on guidance from the CDC, recent announcements by the federal government, and the projections of public-health experts, we believe there is significant cause for optimism for a mid-September convention to be held with reduced attendance and some smart modifications. If that changes and the experts tell us we need to shift course, then the plan will change.

We want to give you options so you can choose how to participate in Gen Con this year, be it in Indianapolis, at your Friendly Local Game Store, or at home from your favorite chair. If you have a badge now but don’t feel comfortable attending in person, I totally understand. You can either roll your badge forward to next year with a price-lock guarantee or get a refund in dollars or system credit.

Dates for badge, hotel, and event registration will be announced soon once we can nail down some additional details, so stay tuned to our newsletter and social media accounts to keep up on the latest news.

Those of you who have been with us for many years know that attending Gen Con means witnessing gaming history. When we gather for The Best Four Days in Gaming™, we share in a peak experience that sets the tone for trends in game development and creates a bright light of passion that we carry back to our gaming groups and communities across the U.S. and the world. When we look back, we can see how far we’ve come, and as we look forward, we’re ready for the next adventure.

After the success of Gen Con Online last year, we know that the magic feeling of Gen Con can translate to a virtual format. It’s not a substitute for the in-person experience, but rather an extension of it. Just as many of us have learned how to run our RPG games over video chat or play board games on one of the incredible virtual tabletop platforms that have been developed, we’re learning how to adapt the convention experience to flexible conditions.

Gaming is changing, and so are we. This will be a Gen Con unlike any other, and the way we emerge from this period of tragedy will carry us into a new future for Gen Con and the hobby we share and love.

After so many months of uncertainty, I remain hopeful about the future. I’m excited to get vaccinated, travel to Indianapolis, and stand once more upon the hallowed grounds of the Indiana Convention Center for a celebration of the games and culture that bring us together.

I hope you’ll join me.

- Peter Adkison

Kelsey Danger, Gen Con's community manager says --

"Hey fam,

Thanks for being patient with us (and me!) while we worked through thousands of replies, talked to our partners, and to health officials. Here's what's happening:
We're announcing new dates later in the year -- September 16th to 19th. We still don't have dates for badge reg and hotel reg, but we will soon.

We are moving forward with a multi-format Gen Con this year so you can choose the way for you and your family to safely participate. We will have Gen Con Indy with a reduced attendance cap, we will have Gen Con Online with lots of events for digital play, and we are bringing back Pop-Up Gen Con so you can participate at your local game store too. You can find out full statement, along with a personal message from Peter, attached.

Our new help desk has a lot of answers to questions you might have, so I would check there first: [link]

But I would like to emphasize two points to y'all:

1. There are absolutely chances that things may change depending on the state of health and safety. Planning a convention takes a lot of time, so if there's any chance of us having Gen Con Indy, we have to plan now even if there's a chance that things may change later. Definitely keep checking in to our website to see what the latest is.

2. The reason why we're offering so many formats is we want you to choose your comfort and safety level and still be able to participate. This year -- like last year -- is going to be wild and different, and if I'm being honest, I'm really excited about the ways we are going to be able to connect and play with each other despite all the boundaries we have. Choose the format that's best for you and yours -- no matter what you choose, it'll be a good time.

Finally, please remember: be kind to each other, be empathetic of each other's choices and lives, and take a couple deep breaths. This is going to be an emotional time for a lot of us! I'll be here to answer your questions, your concerns, and your criticisms, but I will not tolerate unkindness and cruelty.

I love y'all, and I am excited to see you soon."

 

[MGibster]

A few weeks ago I finished up a series of Warhammer 40k league games. The venue we played in requires all to wear masks and it's not nearly so densely crowded as that.

 

[Retreater]

The article did say that once the crowd got into the exhibitor hall that everyone seemed to disperse. However, I'm sure they were grouped together long enough to be exposed.
My gaming group went, so I hope they'll be okay. I backed out this year because of ... well, this.

 

[Sacrosanct]

It appears a lot of people are wearing masks, but I have to think the efficiency of masks drops exponentially when you're that close. My understanding is that the whole point of masks is to keep your potentially infected droplets from being too airborne at a distance, but at that close, I don't see how it can be that effective.

 

[Kor - Orc Scrollkeeper]

In-person Gen Con 2021 looking like it was a truly bad idea after all...

When I first saw this photo, I assumed it was a photo from a past convention, however I can see that many are wearing masks in the photo so indeed it is from 2021. I chose not to attend GenCon this year and that photo just gave me reassurance that I made the right choice.

Here's a couple random facts:

• The Delta strain is surging all across the world right now and is one of the most potent strains of COVID 19, both for its ability to be transmitted and for the severity of its effects.
• The virus is spread through droplets emitted into the air, which can enter the eyes just as easily as it can enter through your nose. (Which is why face shields are required to be worn by staff in most hospitals).
• In my region, 10% of patients in ICU beds with COVID are persons that have 1 or 2 vaccinations (although the majority of these are persons with underlying health conditions). The remaining 90% are unvaccinated persons.
• In my region, 25% of the persons admitted to hospital for COVID are in the ICU.
• In my region, a state of emergency has recently been declared, as ICU's are well past capacity, and now we are trying to get health professionals and equipment from other regions, and triage protocols will soon go into effect.
• In my region, 71% of the population has received 2 doses of vaccine.

In my region we are in a crisis mode, and the only thing that seems to be working in our favor is that we have 71% of the population double vaccinated. Indiana's vaccination rate is only at 47%, and this mass gathering event appears to be occurring with no social distancing controls in effect and during a surge of one of the most potent strains of this virus.

In respect of this forum I will suppress my opinions of this situation -- to those that are involved in hosting the convention, and to those that are attending, I wish you good luck.

 

[embee]

In-person Gen Con 2021 looking like it was a truly bad idea after all...

View attachment 143939

From:

Gen Con’s day-one crowd worried attendees and the internet

Gen Con 2021’s day-one crowd left attendees and online onlookers worried despite safety guidelines and mask mandates.

www.dicebreaker.com

Sometimes the wisest move is to admit defeat.

Indiana is currently on "Team Virus," with a ban on vaccine passport requirements and mask mandates. Not coincidentally, the majority of Indianans are unvaccinated and it currently has the 17th highest infection rate of all US states.

Quite frankly, I believe that the convention should have gone virtual-only. Even if the majority of folk in this photo are masked and/or vaccinated, I believe that this was unwise. I say this as someone in a county that has an overall 80% vaccination rate in a state with one of the lowest infection rates in the country. And in spite of that, as a board member at my temple, we opted to cancel High Holy Day in-person services because the risk was just too great.

Also, I direct your attention to the lower righthand corner. There's your transmission vector right there: shared handrails.

 

[Retreater]

I've bought my tickets for GaryCon, which will be in March '22. I hope it will be better then, and it's a smaller con than GenCon. But my wife and I are likely postponing our wedding reception (again), which was rescheduled for this November. Our state is currently #3 in infections.

 

[darjr]

Well naughty word.

 

[Umbran]

Quite frankly, I believe that the convention should have gone virtual-only.

That may not have been economically feasible. Once contracts for convention space, concessions, hotels, and so on, are signed, the organization is generally stuck with a big bill, whether the convention happens or not. If they don't have it in-person, they are likely on the hook for some minimum number of hotel rooms, for example, and can pay truly massive penalties if the minimums are not met. For something the size of Gen Con, we are probably talking in the millions of dollars.

One of our local sci-fi conventions nearly went bankrupt after cancelling last year.

 

[billd91]

That may not have been economically feasible. Once contracts for convention space, concessions, hotels, and so on, are signed, the organization is generally stuck with a big bill, whether the convention happens or not. If they don't have it in-person, they are likely on the hook for some minimum number of hotel rooms, for example, and can pay truly massive penalties if the minimums are not met. For something the size of Gen Con, we are probably talking in the millions of dollars.

One of our local sci-fi conventions nearly went bankrupt after cancelling last year.

Many of the contracts conventions have will have force majeure clauses that save them penalties - but they will almost certainly need the appropriate level of government declare a shutdown. And, politically, we know that's not happening in most states. GaryCon may have benefited in 2020 from it when our governor exerted his emergency powers - but our state supreme court and legislature are bent on destroying his ability to do so in the future.

I'm cautiously optimistic that Gamehole Con next month as a smaller con and requiring decent precautions won't be a disaster for the pandemic.

 

[Baron Opal II]

Sometimes the wisest move is to admit defeat.

Also, I direct your attention to the lower righthand corner. There's your transmission vector right there: shared handrails.

Actually, current research (9/21) is pointing towards fomites being a fairly ineffective infection vector. Also, being an enveloped virus, it is more susceptible to cleansers, heat, cold, and other environmental adversity. Getting sneezed or coughed on is still the main vector of concern.