Gencon OZ... anyone going?

[DemonKing]

Let me ask, having never had the pleasure of making it there, is Brisbane a fully functioning and developed business city or is it more on the touristy side of things?

Having grown up in Brisbane I always think of it as a great place to go to to get to somewhere else. It really has nothing outstanding in terms of tourist attractions although I guess it is nice enough and it's certainly capable of supporting a large convention.

Unfortunately I moved down to Canberra last month so I won't be making it to Gencon...plus it's bloody cold down here in comparison!

 

[leonarr]

Flights to Brisvegas are quite cheap from the east coast of Aus... I fly up from Sydney every month to visit my sons. Brissie is a great city, except for all the Queenslanders =P

 

[OzTenaka]

There are a number of reasons why it is being held in Brisbane.

First and Foremost is probably that the guy who arranged to use the rights etc of GENCON lives in Brisbane.

Also in my experience Brisbane actually has one of the most vibrant gaming communities in Australia.

In the last few years there has been a bit of contraction in the number of stores up here but I would still say that there are probably still more gaming venues/ Stores in Brisbane than in any other city in Australia.

IIRC from my dealings with Store owners/distributors more material is sold in SEQ than in Sydney or Melbourne

Alot of the nationals for some minatures/CCG comps have been held up here as part of Conventions or as standalone events.

The May convention up here NONCON/ The Big Weekend (as it has been known) would regularly get 500+ attendees - I have seen simultaneous 30+ people Warhammer /Warhammer 40K/ DBM convention events

I know that at Gencon there are expecting 25-30 Warmachine players and would love just a few more to hit 32.

Unfortunatley I can't go due to family/work commitments otherwise I would have been there running 4E DnD

 

[Derulbaskul]

Brisbane is also a bit cheaper than Sydney or Melbourne and that may have been factored into choosing it as the location.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

leonar writes:
Brissie is a great city, except for all the Queenslanders =P

Demonking writes:
Having grown up in Brisbane I always think of it as a great place to go to to get to somewhere else.

LOL. But then I grew up there so I'm allowed. Whereas if any suvvanahs make fun of it, them's fighting words!

Seriously: I think OzTenaka has hit the nail on the head with why Brissie. The fella organising it lives there. Hell, if it was me doing all the work I'd make it in my hometown too. Plus it's actually fairly afforabale in terms of things like dining out and accomodation. And winters there tend toward bright blue skies and temperatures around 21C. That's purty darn nice, especially compared to Melbourne. (Australia's most livable city? Clearly they weren't taking weather into account!!) Add the convention centre being in a very central location with plenty of outside attractions (Southbank for the kiddies and West End for bars and dining, casino just over the river) and it all looks very do-able.

Thunderfoot:
As to Brisvegas being a tourist center: it tries to be. But, much like Alice Springs, it's more a case of it's NEAR places that are. The Sunshine Coast is very nice and the Gold Coast is popular with tourists. What this means, especially in the off tourist season, is cheap accomodation. Or so I've heard, I always have a friend or family member to stay with when I visit. Brisbane is fairly big (1.5 million in what I shall dub Greater Brisbane) and will easily absorb the couple of hundred gamers who will blow in from out of town. Australia has a much smaller population than the US (21 million at last census) and that means a correspondingly smaller number of gamers. So this will not be anywhere near as big as the original GenCon and have correspondingly fewer logistical problems/impact on the local economy. But from little things big things grow!

 

[Ant]

Having lived in Brissie all my life I still consider it something of a country town, at least when compared to Sydney (or "Australia's Answer to New York" as we like to call it). Much more laid back and, well, country-ish, is Brizvegas. Oh, sure ... it tries hard to be all hip and trendy but you can't deny your roots. Or something.

Another advantage of having GenCon in Brisbane is that the commute is about 10 billion times easier than Sydney.

I missed the OD&D in the line up. I wonder if there's still time to change my rego?

Unfortunately my game's filled up -- way quicker than I expected, too! Maybe next year?

 

[Snoweel]

Townsville would've been heaps better.

Less Queenslanders for a start...

 

[DrunkonDuty]

No worries, Ant. Maybe next time.
Townsville? Ya gotta worry about a place 'town-town.' Besides, too many back-packers.

Only 2 sleeps to go!

 

[pogminky]

Wish I could go. Spent a couple months in Brisbane (as a tourist) - very nice place if I recall.

Have fun folks!

 

[Snoweel]

No worries, Ant. Maybe next time.
Townsville? Ya gotta worry about a place 'town-town.'

Little-known fact (one I learnt just a couple of days ago actually) - Townsville is named after its founder Robert Towns.

Here I was thinking it was just a place named by unimaginative bogans.

Besides, too many back-packers.

You mean the ones who bought their backpacks or the ones who had them issued?