GenCon Europe '03 Question

[qstor]

I didn't go but I was wondering if anyone when and how they thought GenCon LLC handled the show. Was there huge lines, did you have trouble exchanging tickets for generics etc. These might be more of a problem at GenCon Indy but I'm not sure.

Thanks

Mike

 

[Dismas]

First: I did not go this year to other commitements (they held it over the Easter Holidays).

From other threads on this and other boards I gather that the organisation had its 'problems'.

Things that I have seen mentioned:

Staff at the Ticket desk not knowing anything about the games/rpg in general.

If an event had more than one table and the first table was full, they told people the event was sold out.

Not allowing DOG (Delegate Organised Games) to run.

Not accepting Credit / Debit cards due to some sort of Mix up.

 

[S'mon]

It sucked pretty bad. Enough that Adkison has cancelled GenCon Europe.

 

[Bagpuss]

I didn't go but I was wondering if anyone when and how they thought GenCon LLC handled the show. Was there huge lines, did you have trouble exchanging tickets for generics etc. These might be more of a problem at GenCon Indy but I'm not sure.

Good: There weren't huge lines.
Bad: Because it was staged at a time of year most people have family commitments and the transport network get repaired so attendance was down about 60%.

This probably won't be a problem at the Indy thing, but then lines could be.

Bad: You had to pay in cash for entrance and game tickets if you got them on the day.

Bad: The people selling the tickets for RPG games, didn't have a clue about...

a) RPG Games.
b) How the ticketing system worked.

So they would say the game was full when the first available table sold out, even though they had plenty of tickets for other tables for the same game in the same time slot.

Bad: Food and accomadation was expensive (but that's London, not really GCLLC's fault).

Good: Cheap and wholesome food was available across the road.

Bad: Slot times were so close together you could not get across the road to eat and shop in the trade hall. In some cases the slot times effectively overlapped, IE: If you did the afternoon slot for the RPG's you had less than half an hour to order and eat you tea, and then get to another building before the LARP's started.

Good: There were plenty of slots and games available nearly 24 hours. If you had a generic ticket you could usually find a game if you hung around and asked.

Bad: This was probably due to the low attendance and the terrible training of the ticket selling staff.

Good: GCLLC won't be responsible for organising it next year.

Bad: Because they have cancelled it.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

Many of the bad issues are either non-issues at GenCon Milwaukee/Indy or ones we have been used to for years.

Good: There weren't huge lines.
Bad: Because it was staged at a time of year most people have family commitments and the transport network get repaired so attendance was down about 60%.

This probably won't be a problem at the Indy thing, but then lines could be.

GenCon Milwaukee/Indy has always had more attendance then Europe and will likely continue. Even though the week it is being run is changing, there is no apparent reason this should matter (no holidays). Expect 25,000-30,000 people to show up again. Long lines have always been an issue at times no matter who was running the the show.

Bad: You had to pay in cash for entrance and game tickets if you got them on the day.

I don't know in the past whether Credit Cards were taken (Maybe yes but I always paid cash). There are ATMs around if this is an issue.

Bad: The people selling the tickets for RPG games, didn't have a clue about...

a) RPG Games.
b) How the ticketing system worked.

So they would say the game was full when the first available table sold out, even though they had plenty of tickets for other tables for the same game in the same time slot.

Due to the sheer volume of sales at GenCon Milwaukee/Indy Ticket sellers know nothing about individual events. It has always (at least for 15+ years) been the customers responsibility to know what they want to purchase. You give them an event number they give you a ticket. It is the judges responsibility to give a maximun number of people for the event. If you are running an event with multiple tables you either give a maximun for all tables combined or list each table seperately. If an event has multiple listings it is the customers responsibility to look up and know the other event numbers as backups.

Bad: Food and accomadation was expensive (but that's London, not really GCLLC's fault).

Good: Cheap and wholesome food was available across the road.

Rooms at GenCon Milwaukee/Indy should be about equal. Food at the Milwaukee Convention Center was expensive since it is monopoly pricing by the convension center, expect the same at Indy. As before there is a mall foodcourt close by for cheaper food.

Bad: Slot times were so close together you could not get across the road to eat and shop in the trade hall. In some cases the slot times effectively overlapped, IE: If you did the afternoon slot for the RPG's you had less than half an hour to order and eat you tea, and then get to another building before the LARP's started.

In the past at Milwaukee there were only 10 minutes between each event plus events in different buildings. Later they aded a 1 hour dinner break. This year they are putting 1/2 hour breaks between slots with no dinner. For us old timers 1/2 is an increadaly long break, plus at indy everything is under one roof. If you want exibit hall time I would recomend a 2-4 hour slot, especialy with the 50% increase in exibitors from last year. The Exibitor's hall is using 3 standard convention halls merged together this year.

Good: There were plenty of slots and games available nearly 24 hours. If you had a generic ticket you could usually find a game if you hung around and asked.

Bad: This was probably due to the low attendance and the terrible training of the ticket selling staff.

Even at its buisiest in the past at Milwaukee there have always been some games availible. The hardest to find will be specific RPGs, but if you are willing to compromise something will be availible. Depending on the game you will also have a good shot at getting into a game with a generic.

Good: GCLLC won't be responsible for organising it next year.

Bad: Because they have cancelled it.

Its a shame they are canceling GenCon Europe. As for GenCon Indy, there should be enough returning volunteers that know what to do that it can't be run much worse than the last couple of years. Many of us are already somewhat jaded after WotC took up direct responsibility for the event the last few years. Peter Adkinson's staff was at last years GenCon Milwaukee learning how to run it. Hopefully they learned something and things will run no worse than they have been (not a high standard recently)

 

[Bagpuss]

Many of the bad issues are either non-issues at GenCon Milwaukee/Indy or ones we have been used to for years.

No doubt you are right I expect it to be great.

I don't know in the past whether Credit Cards were taken (Maybe yes but I always paid cash). There are ATMs around if this is an issue.

Most of the ATM's near the centre where out of cash the banks having closed on Thursday, and wouldn't be restocked until, Tuesday due to the long holiday weekend. There was one in the centre but it charged you for withdrawls.

Due to the sheer volume of sales at GenCon Milwaukee/Indy Ticket sellers know nothing about individual events. It has always (at least for 15+ years) been the customers responsibility to know what they want to purchase. You give them an event number they give you a ticket. It is the judges responsibility to give a maximun number of people for the event. If you are running an event with multiple tables you either give a maximun for all tables combined or list each table seperately. If an event has multiple listings it is the customers responsibility to look up and know the other event numbers as backups.

The UK has never used a system like this and nothing in the publicity or brochures indicated that such a system would be used. Previous GenCon UK events have worked on all the tickets being tied to the particular events, tables are assigned to players at the mustering areas. Thus most customers only gave the number to the first event, not knowing they had to do any different.