GEN CON Registration

[IronWolf]

I am getting the same errors here.... I actually got as far to say bill my CC but then I got hit with server busy, please sign in. Endless loop from there. Sign In, "you're already signed in", over and over..... Ugh!!

Here is some explanation from their tech - CJ.

"So more explanation....
We inherited the system 3 weeks ago. It was a one server setup for MySQL DB, Email, Apache Web Server, and Perl. (I subsequently screamed)."

 

[Brown Jenkin]

And now the Gen Con forums are down after 40 minutes. At least that lasted longer than yesterday.

 

[KB9JMQ]

Oooh.
Got in and got my badge. Workin on hotel now.

Got Westin Hotel. Cool.

 

[Justinian]

After vainly trying since 3pm (PST), it finally started working at 4:50pm.

I was able to pick a badge, check out, and do hotel reservations with no issues. Almost as if something was specifically broken, rather than just too much traffic earlier.

This year, I decided to try the Hyatt. I'll be glad not to have to walk in the rain. And, fyi, the Hyatt is still around $140/night, so I don't know why the Marriott would be charging over $300 like I saw upthread.

 

[IronWolf]

I was finally able to get in and register for my badge and hotel. Made it in around 7:15pm or so. Even scored a room at the hotel I wanted.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Finally got my badges as well.

Not getting a hotel through the GenCon system. The one I got outside the system is cheaper. True, it's almost 3/4 of a mile to and from the con every day, but I'm only paying about $70 a night plus tax. For that kind of savings, I can walk a little extra.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Which hotel Mouse?

 

[Quickbeam]

After about 30 minutes I gave up, left the office, went home and had dinner with my lovely wife and children. Then I logged back in and with a few slow loading screens had relatively little trouble.

A painful and frustrating experience to be sure, but now it's over...at least until Event Registration .

 

[IronWolf]

A painful and frustrating experience to be sure, but now it's over...at least until Event Registration .

And that is the *really* scary one!

 

[Dirt]

I am getting the same errors here.... I actually got as far to say bill my CC but then I got hit with server busy, please sign in. Endless loop from there. Sign In, "you're already signed in", over and over..... Ugh!!

Here is some explanation from their tech - CJ.

"So more explanation....
We inherited the system 3 weeks ago. It was a one server setup for MySQL DB, Email, Apache Web Server, and Perl. (I subsequently screamed)."

I'm sorry, but I'm not happy with that excuse. They promised to fix things last year, after the event registration fiasco. This is what Peter posted:

http://forums.gencon.com/?f=29&m=6979&g=7077#m7077

I posted at the beginning of this year, concerned about whether or not changes were actually made. Here is the post:

http://forums.gencon.com/?f=20&m=43618

Now, my problem is that they hadn't even bothered to address last years problems yet. The first year, the registration line was shut down completely on Saturday. The 2nd year, the online event registration was screwed up. This year, GenCon is off to another bad start.

Being an IT person myself, I understand the complications with inheriting a system....but this should have been done MONTHS ago. In addition, if just one ounce of testing had been done, that would have detected Monday's badge registration problem (where it wouldn't let you checkout because it thought you had purchased items from GenCon 2004). Granted, the terrible page response time and server crunching still would have taken place...but at least it would have worked.