I need to repay a kindness to a couple who is already going. Is there anything I can buy them for 250$ or so on the down low? I don't know a lot about the convention, but I know they go every year and I would like to make this year's trip a bit more special.
thanks in advance.
If you know what hotel they are staying in you could arrange for delivery of some snacks to their room upon check in.
It's a bit hard to get them anything directly related to the con, as event tickets must be purchased by a badge, and generally it would be hard to know whether any event you'd like to give them access to would be compatible with their schedule.
That wont really work. I was thinking more along the lines of paying someone to announce their name and give them some vip treatment for a game or some such thing. I'll admit that I don't know how these things work, just want to do something nice for them.
If they're playing True Dungeon, you could buy them a tokens pack.
Are they on your friends list? If so you can see what they have purchased tickets for, look at the event , and email the organizer. You may be able to work something out with them.
If they are not on your friends list you can add them but they need to approve you, so that might tip them off.
You could treat them to a nice dinner by making a reservation and paying over the phone, as another suggestion. Oceanaire printed a special menu for my anniversary with our names and such on the top (this was not during Gen Con- I am local to indy, so if you would like other fancy restaurant suggestions feel free to ask)
Terraformer, Do you know what types of games they are interested in? It might help us come up with some ideas. If they are on Boardgamegeek.com and you know their user name, we might be able to look at their profile for ideas.
If you know what hotel they're staying at (especially downtown hotels) you can pick up their parking (upwards of $30 a day for valet).
If the hotel offers any kinds of upgrades (breakfast, wifi, etc.) that can be a nice add for their vacation :)
Travel back in time and put them in the Klingon Jail & Bail for a few hours.
Honestly even though this is a cool idea it really is not overall the kind of event where throwing money at something creates anything special. You would probably have to be on-site to figure something like that out (like finding a rare item in the Auction they would be interested in and putting in a proxy bid for them).