GenCon UK is no longer

[reveal]

Gen Con UK Dead • Forum • UK Role Players

I had an email fron Adrian Swartout, CEO Gen Con LLC, last night regarding my enquiries about GCUK 2010, and it seems the group that were awarded the license were unable to find a venue.

"Peter and I had a long discussion recently and determined we will not be looking to solicit a license for a Gen Con UK show – or any other country for that matter. We felt the experience and people brought together by the group working on this project were our “dream team” for the event and if they aren’t able to pull it off, it’s unlikely anyone else would be able to. Having a licensed event start up and then stop is more damaging to the brand than beneficial so that being said we’re putting the Gen Con UK show to rest."

 

[Upper_Krust]

Thats a sad state of affairs. Although that said, I hadn't been to it since it left the Olympia venue in London which must be about 6-7 years now.

Frankly I never understood why it left Olympia in the first place, the first year I went there (2002) the place was completely packed every day. Then the following year (2003) they rescheduled it from August to April (Easter weekend) and the venue was basically empty that year.

Rather than move it back to August, they they up and moved the site to other places away from the capital. Clearly that hasn't worked for them.

 

[wedgeski]

Well... bugger.

 

[S'mon]

My experience matches Upper_Krust's, unsurprisingly since we did the 2002 & 2003 cons together. 2003 was embarrassing, painful to watch all these big-shot guests like Margaret Weiss and Chris Achilleos sitting around in a nearly empty hall. I felt sorry for them, which was just more embarrassing.

 

[dpmcalister]

Frankly I never understood why it left Olympia in the first place, the first year I went there (2002) the place was completely packed every day. Then the following year (2003) they rescheduled it from August to April (Easter weekend) and the venue was basically empty that year.

Rather than move it back to August, they they up and moved the site to other places away from the capital. Clearly that hasn't worked for them.

It moved away from London because the 2003 show was such a mess (Peter Adkison refused to take the advise of those who had been involved in running it previously and moved it from it's traditional August weekend to Easter) that it became a licenced event. The people who got the licence couldn't afford Olympia's rates so went with something they could afford. Unfortunately that was a tent in November! After that it just went downhill.

(Note: I was the RPG Area Manager for the 2004 event (in the tent) and was Marketing Manager for part of the 2007 event)

 

[brunswick]

Thats a shame. I'll admit that I havent experienced Gen Con UK in recent years but I went to (what was then) Gamesfair in the late 80s and early 90s and GenCon when it was held in Loughborough and then Manchester (early 2000s) and always had a fantastic time - sorry to hear that there wont be any more.

 

[Upper_Krust]

It moved away from London because the 2003 show was such a mess (Peter Adkison refused to take the advise of those who had been involved in running it previously and moved it from it's traditional August weekend to Easter) that it became a licenced event. The people who got the licence couldn't afford Olympia's rates so went with something they could afford. Unfortunately that was a tent in November! After that it just went downhill.

(Note: I was the RPG Area Manager for the 2004 event (in the tent) and was Marketing Manager for part of the 2007 event)

Surely Peter must have been privy to the 2002 data so that following the 2003 fiasco the smart idea would have been to move it back to August in 2004?

I mean I looked at wikipedia and theres no attendance data for 2002, but anyone who was at that event and 2003 will tell you the difference was ridiculous. The last day (Sunday) in particular was bunged in 2002, the floor was jampacked, the artists and writers were swamped. I couldn't get near Wayne Reynolds. The trade stalls were like a mosh pit.

Fast forward one year later it was all but empty (Easter Sunday). I think I was chatting to Todd Lockwood for about 25 minutes and only about 2 other people walked past me on the trade floor during that time.

Simon, we should have took Todd and Margaret Weiss across the road to the pub and bought them a beer.

 

[dpmcalister]

Surely Peter must have been privy to the 2002 data so that following the 2003 fiasco the smart idea would have been to move it back to August in 2004?

I wasn't one of those with access to Peter's ear during that time but do know some of those who did and he wasn't interested in listening to anyone. Likewise, when 2003 failed and everyone was, politely, telling him "we told you so" he took a completely different tack and decided that he didn't want to run it again in the UK. He was willing to licence it out which is how Horsemen Events got the licence (and ran the show at Minehead, Bognor Regis, and Reading (twice)).

I did interview Peter while he was at Gen Con UK 2002 (which you can read over at UK Role Players if you're interested ) and he obviously had plans for the European market for Gen Con (he announced in 2002 that the 2004 event would be in Amsterdam) but possibly (and this is entirely conjecture on my part) took the view that the lack of support for a changed date would carry over to a changed location. Personally, I believe that if he had reverted to the August dates and kept it in the UK for 2004, we'd still have a successful show in the UK

 

[Mark]

I think there are logistical problems to running two conventions in the same month on opposite sides of an ocean that probably influenced the decision. Perhaps it was too much of struggle to continue doing so despite it seeming successful?

 

[dpmcalister]

I think there are logisitical problems to running two conventions in the same month on opposite sides of an ocean.

Possibly, but TSR and WotC both managed it for 12 years.