Why is there no Gen-Con East, anyhow?

[WizarDru]

I hate to be rude, but a lot of the grumbling I'm hearing from the East Coast makes me sick... "well, it's somewhat inconvenient for me, it should be changed... who cares if it's almost impossibly difficult for West Coast folks?" And then they wonder why West Coasters tend to think of East Coasters as self-centered and unable to see things from our point of view...

Well, if you hate to be rude, remember that you really don't have to be. I wasn't advocating getting rid of Gencon SoCal....quite the opposite. I was lamenting the lack of a real, honest-to-goodness large scale gaming convention on the East coast. If there isn't room for three, then I think the underserved west coast should get it's due before the east coast, by all means. I was hoping for a third convention, not a change of venue for a second. A spring convention in Orlando or Baltimore would be pretty cool, frankly. I think trying to hold one in NYC is a big mistake, particularly in at Times Square or Madison Square Garden. Those $80 rooms are not pretty. That same $80 could get me a nice room in other cities, plus everything is good sight more expensive. Your buck just doesn't go as far. And while I may live near and work in Philly, I wouldn't advocate having a convention here, for reasons already mentioned.

 

[Psion]

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

Was just about to say... if it's East of the Mississippi, it's EAST. It's always struck me as rather odd now that I am living here that those living on the Eastern seaboard tend to clump in anyplace that doesn't border the Atlantic as "the West."

Until we get one Gencon per time zone, I think that's gonna hafta do.

 

[Fiery James]

Snow in November

Total tangent, but is snow in November really a concern for these suggested locations? Wow, all of the jokes about Canada being a perpetual land of ice -- I'd never expect snow in November. November's still in the autumn!!

(Of course, I'm in the T.O. suburbs, which is south of most of the rest of Canada -- but most people in Canada are more south than most people think!)

I said most too many times there.

GENCON! WHOO HOO!

- James

 

[Fieari]

As an East Coaster, I tend to think of anywhere that you spend the majority of your drive on I-95 as being eastcoast, which, yes, does more or less mean just those states which border the atlantic. We're a provincial people, you might say.

 

[WizarDru]

Was just about to say... if it's East of the Mississippi, it's EAST. It's always struck me as rather odd now that I am living here that those living on the Eastern seaboard tend to clump in anyplace that doesn't border the Atlantic as "the West."

Until we get one Gencon per time zone, I think that's gonna hafta do.

Why does it strike you as odd? With the Exception of California, most of the U.S. population is densely-crowded onto the Atlantic seaboard, or just along the border with Canada. Yeah, we've got a myopia going, but I've talked to my friends who've lived in Iowa and some in Texas, and the general impression is that there's a lot of empty space out there.

As one of my friends put it "I wasn't in the middle-of-nowhere...but if I stood on the roof of my truck, I could it see it from there."

 

[Psion]

Why does it strike you as odd?

Why? If you are going to divide something between "east" and "west", then you'd think that you'd pick a place somewhere in the middle as a dividing line. The Mississippi is actually being rather generous as a dividing line, because it's quite a bit East of CL.

Yeah, we've got a myopia going

Seems to me like you answered your question.

But hey, if you think you can get them to move Gencon to the mid-atlantic, that's be cool with me, since I live just south of DC.

 

[Desdichado]

Excellent arguements Sigil and I have to agree with most of your reasoning. One thing I'll take issue with is your consideration of weather. Unless you are in the snowbelt along the Great Lakes, it is honestly unusual to have significant snowfall in late November in the Northeast. Yes it is cold, and raw and overall not the most pleasant climate, but I would not consider snow to be a major issue.

Even then, is it really a major issue? The premier auto show in the world is held in Detroit in January, for goodness sakes, and it gets almost a million visitors a year.

 

[Elf Witch]

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.

This is not true for most of the area. I have gone to cons all over the. And the ones in the east are no more expensive than the ones in the midwest or the west.

I have found cons held in Orlando tend to be pretty cheap. There are a lot of choices of where to hold it and you can find good rates to fly into Orlando.

 

[MacMathan]

This is just a guess but from reading what has been said about Gen Con SoCal it sounds like a Convention needs to stay in one play for at least 3 or 4 years to build up a reliable (read profitable) fan base. I think moving it around would not be a good idea. It sounds like a good plan to think about further expansion around '06 rather than over expanding too much at once.

 

[Dogbrain]

WorldCon (one of the biggest SF conventions) travels. Indeed, it's a feather in the cap of the geeks who host it, and geeks compete for the privilige. You think Olympic politics are vicious? You've never seen geeks bent-for-leather on hosting WorldCon.