Garycon

[RexMundi]

Garycon II is coming up in the not to distant future. Would be nice to see some folks where all the Con Craze really started.
http://garycon.com/

~Rex

[Egyptoid]

WTF? (http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:e9fyx5m3GiwJ:garycon.com/+GARYCON&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

[GoldenAge]

I already live in Lake Geneva. I hope to attend. :)

[RexMundi]

Hell GA you're right down the road from me and I still can't find Real HERO players? Damned Stealth fields. I can't fine tune my schedule enough to actually run stuff for the guys, but I will certainly be there work permitting, books in tow. LOT of good people at this show. Pretty much, if your game is over 25 years old, you should be here. :D

~Rex

[GoldenAge]

Hell GA you're right down the road from me and I still can't find Real HERO players? Damned Stealth fields. I can't fine tune my schedule enough to actually run stuff for the guys, but I will certainly be there work permitting, books in tow. LOT of good people at this show. Pretty much, if your game is over 25 years old, you should be here. :D

~Rex

We play every Sat night. I have 8+ players. :-) If you'd like to drop by, let me know!

[RexMundi]

May take you up on that. Saturdays a bit rough for me until after the holidays, then I don't have to Bounce so much. To think, a Real Game as opposed to product demo's and scheduled once a month's, and Hero instead of d20! .........Hell I wouldn't know what to do heh....

~Rex

[RexMundi]

I just wanted to bump this one again. Garycon promises to be a good time for those at least in this area that miss the grand ol days. :D

~Rex

[RexMundi]

WTF? (http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:e9fyx5m3GiwJ:garycon.com/+GARYCON&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

http://garycon.com/ Seemed to work. Not sure what the deal is with the snap shot thing. I'm sure one of the computer smart folk will cough up an answer. I'm about as bright as a 40 watt bulb when it comes to computer stuff.

~Rex

[RexMundi]

Garycon II is now right around the corner. Anyone still planning on tooling out to Lake Geneva, tossing back a few beers and having a good time?

~Rex

[RexMundi]

Had a Blast at Garycon II. Was cool to play games with all the old famous people and better yet. If you didn't go, you missed out on a great fun time (not to mention a lot of things really that would be a good idea for certain Larger Cons to adopt). Tons of stories to tell. :D Best ten bucks I've spent in decades.

~Rex

[rjcurrie]

Had a Blast at Garycon II. Was cool to play games with all the old famous people and better yet. If you didn't go, you missed out on a great fun time (not to mention a lot of things really that would be a good idea for certain Larger Cons to adopt). Tons of stories to tell. :D Best ten bucks I've spent in decades.

~Rex

So what are these wonderful things that you think large cons should adapt? Let's see if anyone agrees with you.

[RexMundi]

Hmmm. Lets see. 1st off, the price was 10 bucks a day. Always a good thing there. You also got a GOOD Lanyard with a clip hook, and some 50 gauge plastic for your badge. Almost as good as the top end badge holders you see the long term folks running around with at like Gencon. Bringing in your own food, and drinks was supported, but they asked if you wanted Alcohol, that you bought them from the Lodge Bar (3 buck bottles of Spotted Cow and Guinness). Right were you got the badges you had the Hotel Caterer who was selling, Kosher Hotdogs, and Brats (something like 2 bucks for 1/4 pound Dogs and Brats, all the fixins), all Fresh, as well as Croissant style (Big ones) Sandwiches of various types, always fresh and please take TWO for like, 3 or 4 bucks. Bottles of Water were a Dollar, Soda a touch more, and the food was there non stop and manned by a pro, for the duration and the line never stopped moving and you had to wait maybe 30 seconds to go from one end to the cash register.

The Badge thing struck me as interesting. To get a Badge Holder and Lanyard like that at Gencon, would cost you more money then two Days at Garycon did me. The staff WANTED you to be there and having fun. You could actually, have all the Silent Auction items out in the hallways sitting in the open on the tables, and no one was trying to STEAL them. All the Guests wanted to be around the gamers, and if you wanted to would cheerfully sit there and talk shop or play games with you. Open gaming, was just that. Set up where you will, use whatever game is here or run your own. No games walking off nothing stolen. Children well behaved as well. Lot of different types of people there, Old and New School. Staff was certainly, CUSTOMER first, Con Second. Hotel (Actually to use the term Hotel isn't quite right, more of a Lodge, Really BIG, amazing views out the Bar Deck) was right behind the Staff with that.

So they followed a cardinal Rule. Good Customer Service. Affordable Refreshment, and convenience and assistance as much as possible. They even sold T-Shirts in Gamer Sized (Triple Extra Elvis for me since the 20 Inch neck and 18 inch Biceps don't fit in a 2 XL, not to mention the well padded Guinness Storage Tank :D ), for T-SHIRT prices, not jacket prices, and even the Con Honor Coin (Brass, Embossed, Cut, and Enameled and encased (slightly larger then a Liberty Dollar and twice as thick), which was a 50 unit run was only 20 bucks for a souvenir. Oh. Plenty of Parking, and CHEAPER then Normal Hotel room rates (No Jacked up Prices, and no "Block" mark up) as well.

So. Good cheap food, fresh, right where you can get it. Super Helpful Staff that wanted you there and having fun. Great guests that wanted to be around the people. Great people with a minimum amount of weirdos, Cheap Con to begin with, Great location with a helpful location staff (Gencon has that as well the Indy Convention center people are a joy to work with), and you get your monies worth out of just the LITTLE stuff. With no one trying to steal anything from you or the other people (Like the old days when you didn't have to lock the doors to your house), and everyone having a good time. Plus, even with their ticket policy (Registered people, had 1st dibs on the game. Tickets bought on site, 2nd dibs. NO TICKETS, could still play if there was room, and usually room was made for them if it could be.), they still ended up, on the positive side of the money, and happy enough with the Con, that they were all (the staff) having a grand ole time with the wine and champagne in the Staff room. Gygax family was fun to be around as usual to, not to mention everyone else.

And I got to play Buck Rogers, with Flint Dille. :D GUESTS, are something that's always nice to have at a Con, and while he certainly Could have been one of the "Special Guests", he bought his own Badge and had just come to see a few of the folks he worked with in the XXVc days and of course, to play Buck Rogers because it was in the pre reg book. Flint was kind enough to give us a few sources to for good Guests and folks to pester to show up at Cons, that actually LIKE con people, and are happy to do it on the cheap as well, so we don't have other dry "BIG CONS", where you get, No Special Guest, or some Pro Wrestling Divas that just happened to be down the road a few blocks for an hour.

Cheap, Value for your buck, People that were happy to have you there, Customer Service, and a whole lot of Good old fashioned gaming. Good Times. Easy to replicate.

~Rex

[rjcurrie]

To be honest, I'm not seeing anything in your post that would be practical for a large con to adapt that would interest me. For a large con in a convention center, things like concession prices and hotel prices are not really within the control of the con organizers.

But I'll admit that I go to cons to play and run games and spend a couple of hours in the dealers room. The night before and the night after the con are the time to get together with friends not during the con itself. And hings like guests, souvenirs, auctions, and such hold little appeal for me.

[Teflon Billy]

Unfortunately, I'm was in a language class that did not permit me time off to drive up to Lake Geneva (after I heard about the Con at last years GenCon from Frank Mentzer I really wanted to go this year) and I'll be in Afghanistan for next years, it'll be 2 years at the earliest before I'll be able to go to a GaryCon, and by then it'll probably have changed. Darn, I really wanted to go this year.

I can still hope.

TB

[RexMundi]

To be honest, I'm not seeing anything in your post that would be practical for a large con to adapt that would interest me. For a large con in a convention center, things like concession prices and hotel prices are not really within the control of the con organizers.

But I'll admit that I go to cons to play and run games and spend a couple of hours in the dealers room. The night before and the night after the con are the time to get together with friends not during the con itself. And hings like guests, souvenirs, auctions, and such hold little appeal for me.

I see a lot of stuff in my post that would apply, but then I've helped/worked with the organizational work on Large Cons (both gaming and Literature as well as a few trade shows) so I look at conventions from different directions then a lot of folks do...

Customer service for example is easy. The Hotel stuff is even easier. It all depends on what level of Greedy you want to be.

~Rex

[RexMundi]

Unfortunately, I'm was in a language class that did not permit me time off to drive up to Lake Geneva (after I heard about the Con at last years GenCon from Frank Mentzer I really wanted to go this year) and I'll be in Afghanistan for next years, it'll be 2 years at the earliest before I'll be able to go to a GaryCon, and by then it'll probably have changed. Darn, I really wanted to go this year.

I can still hope.

TB

Sorry you didn't get to go Billy. Got a bunch of friends of mine and part time Players over in Afghanistan right now, sent them back after they volunteered for the return details, with a set of 6e Core, and 6 sets of the Advanced and Basic books. So I know the game will be over there at least. Working with a few other people on a USO gig (I've done it for state side bases), and a way to pull off the money to do a sort of TroopCon over there. Paperwork is unreal and I'm just now getting through the first round of it so you may be back before I even get a Yes or a No answer, heh, much less get some people and companies......Franks game was way packed though At one point he had 15 people at his table.

~Rex

[rjcurrie]

I see a lot of stuff in my post that would apply, but then I've helped/worked with the organizational work on Large Cons (both gaming and Literature as well as a few trade shows) so I look at conventions from different directions then a lot of folks do...

Customer service for example is easy. The Hotel stuff is even easier. It all depends on what level of Greedy you want to be.

~Rex

I guess Gen Con could try and make separate deals with all the hotels rather than going through Indy's housing bureau. But I'm still not sure how that would result in lower prices. Hotels would still hold out for the rates they want. When the demand for downtown hotel rooms is greater than the supply, the cost of the downtown hotel rooms is going to be high.

I guess I'm not seeing the examples of lack of customer service (or perhaps you're referrng to some kind of service that matters little to me) from large cons.

[RexMundi]

It's the little things that count. To shorten it though, the Hotels don't want anything to do with being in the Convention Block, they would rather discount, and keep all the money then be in the Convention Block and have to share. Especially if there is the potential for repeat business and early reservations for said business.

As for the lack of Customer Service. Drag 60 people through the con working for 6 different gaming companies and see how long it takes for you to get an extra table or something as simple as the garbage cans emptied half way through the room. You may not be noticing it because none of it effects what you are doing as an individual, but I've been running Clubs and Demo Teams through the Big Cons for basically 20 Years now, and have an unbroken like of documentation/complaints and suggestion forms that dictate otherwise, and often have to deal with it on a larger scale. I as well tend to have very few problems convention wise, on a personal level. But the more you toss in the pot the more the little things add up, and having worked on those issues on the other side of the equation, I know there's no real excuse other then laziness for those problems to even be a hint of a problem. Prior Proper Planning Prevent Piss Poor Performance. Simple as that. Hells I can even get guests easy and cheap now thanks to Flint Dille.

~Rex

[Melf]

To be honest, I'm not seeing anything in your post that would be practical for a large con to adapt that would interest me. For a large con in a convention center, things like concession prices and hotel prices are not really within the control of the con organizers.

But I'll admit that I go to cons to play and run games and spend a couple of hours in the dealers room. The night before and the night after the con are the time to get together with friends not during the con itself. And hings like guests, souvenirs, auctions, and such hold little appeal for me.


Gary Con is about remembering the roots of gaming and celebrating Gary Gygax's contributions to the industry and society at large. That is why there is a special comeraderie and why so many old hands come and play games- as if they were gamers. So if that kind of vibe does not appeal to you- don't come :shock:. I am looking at ways to limit attendance in the near future in order to keep the friendly atmosphere.

If you like the kind of con described by Rex above- then check out www.garycon.com (http://www.garycon.com) - read the forums, find out the latest news etc. Gary Con III is already in the works. 25-27 March 2011 at the Lodge in Lake Geneva. See you there!

[rjcurrie]

Gary Con is about remembering the roots of gaming and celebrating Gary Gygax's contributions to the industry and society at large. That is why there is a special comeraderie and why so many old hands come and play games- as if they were gamers. So if that kind of vibe does not appeal to you- don't come :shock:. I am looking at ways to limit attendance in the near future in order to keep the friendly atmosphere.

If you like the kind of con described by Rex above- then check out www.garycon.com (http://www.garycon.com) - read the forums, find out the latest news etc. Gary Con III is already in the works. 25-27 March 2011 at the Lodge in Lake Geneva. See you there!


Sorry, I didn't mean slight Gary Con in any way. It sounds like a great smaller convention. My issues were about Rex's claims that were things done by Gary Con that could be applied to large cons (and I'm assuming he meant Origins and Gen Con which are the only two gaming cons that I would consider large). I wasn't trying to say that Gary Con was doing anything wrong -- I was just talking about whether their policies would work for a big con considering what I want out of a big con.

[RexMundi]

They could easily be applied and in fact, used to be the standard Modus Operandi back when I still worked within the Con's, and heck, it was actually Easy. The fact that the M.O. is now basically, "GIMME YOU GAMER!!!" *Takes everything but 1/3rd of the poor Gamer's Dignity*, is the primary reason I don't work directly with the big Con's anymore and went to running Demo Teams and Clubs instead.

At least that way, I can still deliver a good fun gaming experience. At a profit no less as well. So I'm not saying, "Gee Wow that was Neat can't we just plug it into Gen Con or Origns....PWEASE!!!!!"

It used to be there, and was for the better part of Decades, and was there during those Con's single largest Attendances as well. It's not anymore, and the fact that just the fact that the volunteers at Garycon were NICE to you, was worth Lake Geneva's weight in Angry Dwarves. Thanks for posting the dates there Melf, already freeing up the time to actually have more then a Day and a half to kill. Was an exceptionally good time and others could learn from it. :D

~Rex....Trees are cool but if you got no roots, they tend to fall over.

[Melf]

No offense taken- but it does look like I am a little miffed when I reread the post. I should have said if those qualities are not valued by you as a gamer- then go to the big conventions. Gary Con is meant to have a small personal feel to it. We welcome all with open arms (but at a certain point I will have to try to limit attendance or figure out other ways to keep that comeraderie going).

Hope to see you at Gary Con III! :cool:

Luke

[RexMundi]

I wouldn't worry to much about limiting the Attendance Luke, The way you guys are going; you're going to attract more of the good stuff. Con's always attract by their Foundation, and you guys have a great foundation there. The large open gaming area for one thing was a great thing. :D I really think the only gripe was with the Auction on Saturday, but that's just a matter of table shifting and the OG area was big enough to accommodate the nomads.

~Rex