This might do better in the publisher forum. Still, I'll throw my two cents in.
My name is Eric Price. I am one of the partners for
Dragon Scale Counters We attended our first GenCon as exhibitors just this year. We were located in booth 1232, about half way back on the far right side. Sales, while not as brisk as we had dreamed of, more than covered our expenses. Beyond that we've seen a dramatic increase in website traffic following the convention. A major conventions advertising effect should not be underestimated. Your mileage may vary. Some other comments I would make.
1. Take advantage of the entrepreneurial discount if its offered. You have to wait to get your booth but you'll save a couple hundred dollars or more.
2. Booth placement, if you arent front and center as you walk in, probably isnt THAT important. People meander through the whole place. I asked a lot of people who stopped at our booth and most had already been through the hall. For that reason I'll probably ask for a booth on the left side in the future.
3. We split a booth with Skeleton Key Games this year. It saved us money on the cost and allowed us to get a corner booth. There is a little bit of trust and overhead involved with sharing a booth, but it can be beneficial.
That said, a corner booth probably isnt the best booth to "split". traffic on the cross aisle is lower than on the main aisles. If I had it to do over again, I would have simply split a regular booth, bought two booths, or gone with some other arrangement.
4. Decide how big a gamer you are and what you are going to do outside of your time at the exhibition hall. We elected to stay at my father in laws house and plan for the 10 minute commute rather than pony up for $150 a night housing. While you probably wont have inlaws in the city, you might consider a hotel other than the ones right around the hall (unless of course you plan on getting loopy drunk or gaming all night, in which case I thoroughly recommend somewhere close to the festivities).
5. Ask around about cheap parking. It was $15 a day at the lot across the street from the center. Down the street it was $5.
6. Dont forget to budget time and money for good booth signage. Frankly, our sucked this year. It was so bad I was embarrased. We all live and learn though...
Well, Im sure there is more but Im supposed to be working. More later?
