Who's going to GenCon

[Felixgamingx1]

Nah

 

[ART!]

Due to the cost of such systems, I am both curious and a little skeptical about how much public information is available concerning this. It is a simple thing to claim, but equally simple to back up if it's true.

A player and long-time friend works at a trauma center where they had medical HEPA/Germ-filters installed to the tune of more than $60k for about 10-12k sqft.

I had similar skepticism, but Gen Con isn't the only event held in that facility, so whoever owns and runs the place could have done the math and deemed it worth the expense in the long run.

 

[Henry]

Yeah, I decided to attend. I already had the funds set aside, and I'm both fully vaccinated AND caught COVID and survived last month, so I decided to brave it. I'll keep an eye on this thread in case anyone else is here and wants to touch base.

 

[RangerWickett]

I decided not to go.

Alas, I had a panic attack when I visited a theater due to the crowds. So I felt going to a con was just asking for trouble.

 

[Henry]

I decided not to go.

Alas, I had a panic attack when I visited a theater due to the crowds. So I felt going to a con was just asking for trouble.

Sorry to hear it, man, but completely understandable. Another year we'll get together?

 

[RangerWickett]

Definitely. Here's hoping Russ does well with Level Up and he decides to go in 2022 with a booth or something.

 

[Umbran]

I decided not to go.

Alas, I had a panic attack when I visited a theater due to the crowds. So I felt going to a con was just asking for trouble.

Okay, while I am on record as thinking that going to a convention right now is not wise, I do not wish panic attacks on anyone. That's not fun. My sympathies.

 

[ART!]

So, I went!

I've heard conflicting accounts of what the attendance was, so I'm going to say it was vaguely in the ballpark of 1/2 of what it was last time, in 2019.

Side note: 2019 definitely feels like more than 2 years ago.

Google tells me that attendance was 70,000 in 2019 - but half of 70k is still an awful lot of people! Because the con was able to plan for lower attendance and somewhat fewer exhibitors, and because they wanted to create as much distance between people as possible, the exhibitor booths/tables were spaced out more and it was easier to get around - and easier to get out of an aisle if you wanted to. As a result, the stress of being pressed in among the throng was much, much less. It was also easier to get into seminars, workshops, and games even if you didn't have a ticket.

Everyone wore masks. Lots of exhibitors has hand sanitizer you could use.

One of my take-aways is that I might shop around for a smaller gaming convention. I love that GenCon is only an hour drive away from me, but normally I find it just unmanageably large.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Gen Con says 35,000, which puts it back to 2011

Gen Con | Gen Con Indy 2021 Returns to Indianapolis, Drawing Over 35,000 Attendees

The Best Four Days in Gaming

www.gencon.com

 

[ART!]

Gen Con says 35,000, which puts it back to 2011

Gen Con | Gen Con Indy 2021 Returns to Indianapolis, Drawing Over 35,000 Attendees

The Best Four Days in Gaming

www.gencon.com

Ah, so officially half of 2019's attendance.

Wow.