Why is there no Gen-Con East, anyhow?

[HiLiphNY]

Actually, Winter Fantasy was held in the NYC area (NJ) this year. That kinda counts as an EC Con.

 

[Henry]

They have a Gencon East, and it's called Gencon.

if you were placing the two conventions, you really couldn't do much better than Indy and San Fran, because of the locations. Indianapolis is within one days' drive for almost half the country; the Mississippi River makes a pretty good dividing line, but the real trick is the Rocky Mountain States - that's a huge amount of territory to span compared to the Midwestern and Eastern U.S.

Then you have the problem of not wanting to split up Gencon TOO much. Too many conventions means some dealers will not travel to all of them; too many conventions means that the turnout gained from several smaller conventions will not offset the small gains in turnout by locals.

In my opinion, Indy is probably the best place to hold Gencon East of the Miss.

 

[Kelek72]

I would love an East Coast Gencon...Just this year shorecon seems to have disappeared and the northeast seems kinda empty without it!

 

[Piratecat]

They have a Gencon East, and it's called Gencon.

I once told someone that I was having a meeting in Chicago because I wanted a location in the midwest. They (quite correctly) replied with a snort that Chicago was only in the midwest if you lived on the East Coast.

 

[billd91]

Back when Origins moved around, it was a typically East Coast con. Now that it has settled in Columbus, OH, I can see that not feeling like an East Coast con anymore.
There also used to be AvalonCon in Baltimore for those of you into board games. Since the selling of Avalon Hill to WotC, I believe this has been replaced by DonCon.
As far as expanding GenCon, I can see why they'd take small steps and expand in Europe and SoCal before starting up yet another convention. So even if there weren't already rumors about Winter Fantasy settling in the East Coast, not immediately having a GenCon East makes sense.
But the main rumor I've heard is that Winter Fantasy is more or less permanently settling in the East Coast as an answer to the regional GenCons.
So there you go.

 

[WizarDru]

I'd say Djeta is correct. I've been to various work related conventions on the East Coast, and the cost is prohibitive. Heck, even San Francisco was cheaper than NYC. This would be a bigger issue for hobby related conventions than for professional organizations, since the attendees have to pay for GenCon out of their own pockets.

It's probably a factor, but I think Henry and drothgery's idea of being more central is probably the actual reason. The cost of living in NYC is the highest in the nation, AFAIK. You hold a convention in NYC for the prestige, not the for the economics. The cost of living in NYC is 206, while San Francisco is 126, Anaheim is 145, Orlando is 95 and Baltimore is 85. That's one reason I mentioned Otakon. Over the last ten years, their attendance has grown, but even when they were half their current size, they could get half of the Baltimore convention center at a reasonable rate on the Inner Harbor.

Origins was held in Philadelphia a few years ago, Bretbo, and it used to move every year. They settled on Columbus after they got a very agressive deal if they guaranteed to stay there. My city has driven away more than one convention with a host of problems that don't bear going into here, other than to say that the city infrastructure built a world-class convention center, then shot itself in the foot with expensive fees and complicated labor problems. They lost money in 1995, and needed to rethink their strategy. I think Columbus' central location also contributed to the decision. I know friends who have driven from North Jersey to Columbus, so that's prolly true.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

While I agree with Henry that the Indy location is a good one for many people, at the same time I think it would be nice to have one on the East Coast. Henry is also right about splitting things up too much. In addition to vendors not attending all of them, there is the issue of how much time and effort is expended putting these conventions together.

My own opinion is that they ought to look at rotating the location of the SoCal GenCon. Keep the original in the Midwest, but then move the second GenCon each year. SoCal this year, Northeast next, Northwest after that, Southeast in 2007 etc. It would bring the exposure of a big convention to different places while keeping the original intact and not overly stressing the vendors, the planners and attendees.

East Coast costs can be an issue (especially New York), but they can be mitigated by moving to slightly less popular locations. Boston has its new convention center and it has a lot of unbooked time right now (good for negotiating a better price) because lots of cities are building or have recently built convention space - more space than there are conventions.

 

[diaglo]

Atlanta is a nice city to hold a Con.

i say they should move Gen Con South to Atlanta.

 

[Woas]

[sidetrack]

You going to dress up as anyone at Otakon at all WizarDru?

[/sidetrack]

 

[WizarDru]

I would love an East Coast Gencon...Just this year shorecon seems to have disappeared and the northeast seems kinda empty without it!

It hasn't disappeared, it's been renamed to Southern Exposure. Management has changed, but the 'con appears to be about the same (including location). Double Exposure ran the con suite last year, so I faith they know what they're doing. I and several of the Meepites will be there again this year, and plan to start a thread for an ENworld gathering again this year. Hope you can make it!

You going to dress up as anyone at Otakon at all WizarDru?

Heh. Not me. There's only a few anime characters I might currently resemble....and I don't have a burning desire to be Bob Poundmax from GunGrave. I exagerrate, of course, but No. The kids, however, will be going in costume. If you see a pair dressed as Snow Fairy Sugar and Link from the Legend of Zelda games, you'll know who their dad is.