jmucchiello said:
People who don't read this website do not know what an ENnie is. They will not leave the convention center to walk two blocks to the ballroom just to check something out they know nothing about no matter how many little inserts are placed in the con bag. I fail to see how being offsite can help with awareness of the awards.
I think you are overestimating the ability of an on-site location to gather interest. Remember that if we hold it in an on-site room (none of which are as attractive as the site we had last year, which is less attractive than this year's site...), wandering gamers will still only see a door leading into a room with a bunch of people in it, much akin to any other event room.
Attendees educate themselves pretty well, IMO. And this new location is a lot closer than last year's (as well as sexier-looking, from what I've seen so far).
And the ENnies -have- been advertised outside of ENWorld. They've been covered on the Wizards of the Coast website, they are pimped on many other company sites and discussed with pride by many companies who have won ENnies in the past or who are nominated this year. Check out the pimping by Necromancer Games, Paradigm Concepts, Green Ronin and Malhavoc Press, not to mention the front-page presence we've had on DTRPG for the past month. They have also been covered in the pages of Dungeon/Polyhedron.
And gamers WILL walk a block to see something they read about in the convention book (the awards get prime coverage in the GenCon booklet) or that they read about in the attendee bag. I am proof of this, as are a lot of other people who have trekked around the various Con sites to check out events, seminars, performances and so on.
That said, I do agree that it would be even better if the location of the event was actually within the convention centre proper, but getting this kind of space, with a bar, in the convention centre is currently beyond our means. I don't even know if such a site exists.
