4-Day Badges Sold Out, Limited Single-Day Badges Remain
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Posted by squirecam rbree

rbree wrote:
trace_sl wrote:
shavenskaven wrote:
Well according to some "MAX Occupancy" calculator I found online... The full 1,300,000 sq ft of the property could hold 220k people standing. The 500,000 sq ft exhibition hall could hold 90k people standing. Food for thought. So it's ABSOLUTELY somewhere between 90 and 200 thousand people!

Laws, fire marshal and safety inspectors may disagree with than.  :)  It is like gaming, 3' X 3' square, so that 90k for dealer hall becomes 55k.  Then you have the second floor and weight limits, you have number of exits per people. We know the largest convention has been 70,000 for the American Rife Association, so, I lean to 75,000. 

The last Star Wars Celebration in Indy sold out and attenedence was announced at 75K   That was before the ICC expansion, so maybe a few thousand above that.
80k is going to mean long restaurant times.
 

Posted by dreamitdoit

Really hoping that their cap has nothing to do with building code. If ICC is stuffed to the gills, they'd have to do one-in-one out at the entrances and the convention would be a hellish experience.

Not commenting on numbers before the convention might just be a Gen Con policy, but it would also mean that no irate people can do real math ahead of time to see that Gen Con COULD have capped the number 5 higher to accommodate them.

Posted by mikeboozer

Have plenty of badge stock.

Have sell out numbers for all badges. 4-day limits were reached first.

We are still selling individual day badges while they last...

Mike Boozer
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

Posted by hawxby

Is there a wait list or anything for cancellations?

Posted by ytuni

I'm thinking there are several reasons for this cap...
Attendee satisfaction being number 1
Building/fire codes
logistics of staffing the event
Allowing single day attendees to get into the con without having to but a 4 day badge
I would actually be shocked if there wasn't an attendance cap. Gen Con is dealing with bigger numbers of attendees than ever, I'm sure they're only going to take on as many add they can feasibly handle. 
 

Posted by mikeboozer hawxby

hawxby wrote:
Is there a wait list or anything for cancellations?

There is not a wait list for any of our badges. Once we are sold out there will be no more offered.
The last day to cancel a badge was June 2.

Mike Boozer
Customer Service & Event Team Manager
Gen Con LLC

Posted by quarex

Two things:

1. It really just makes good sense for them to not say what they capped the badge sales at, as WHATEVER number they gave would not only result in angry pushback "OH YOU CAN ONLY ACCOMMODATE THAT MANY???" but also would be the number that stuck in people's minds; say 75,000 is indeed the number.  Suddenly everyone would remember that Gen-Con had 75,000 attendees.  When, in fact, something tells me the single-day badge people have to add another 10-20% attendance to the four-day total.  So to make sure they get the accurate population measurement out, they will wait until they know what actually happened to report it.

2. Dude.  Any amount of money is worth attending Gen-Con.  Buy four single-day badges.  I will buy you a coffee and give you a high-five if you make it ;)

Posted by garhkal rvb24

rvb24 wrote:
Yeah so this actually hurts a lot of people who don't know if they can go until the week of. So I can either spend $270 before tax for 4 days of badges instead of I'm assuming around $120 for a 4 day, or not go for the first time since 2007.... this is the most infuriating choice I'm going to have to make this year... also don't know If I should work on cosplays now since I enter the contest about every year, but looks like I wont be able to wear them. 

I don't know what work you are in, but i've never known of someone who doesn't find out if his time off/leave/holiday request is approved till the week of..  They've usually known at least 1 month away, if not more..
quarex wrote:
2. Dude.  Any amount of money is worth attending Gen-Con.  Buy four single-day badges.  I will buy you a coffee and give you a high-five if you make it ;)

If you are that financially secure, sure.  BUT not everyone's that way.

Posted by gharris

I am waiting for the follow up announcement- what is Gen Con now going to do to curb the population? 

There are obviously going to be too many people at Gen Con this year. Hotels turned into a mess. getting through the exhibit hall will be a mess. Trying to get a bite to eat will be a pain. I remember when Gen Con outgrew Milwaukee- it was NOT fun. You know you have a problem when "parking" is listed as an event.

Badge caps mean we are facing another problem- people who are actually coming for gaming are going to start being crowded out by people who aren't. This should never happen, true gamers should ALWAYS come first. We should never get into a situation like SDCC where people who are actually going to see comic book writers and artists will have a heck of a time going because of all of the people who aren't.

This isn't a 50th anniversary thing. It was too crowded already last year, and just projecting the growth rates over the past few years shows that the problem was going to get worse regardless of any anniversary.

So what is the plan guys?

Posted by rhone1

Just go and have fun.  If the Con is too crowded for your tastes there are plenty of other good Con's to go to in the future.  

 

Posted by choriqueso

People get too negative and stressed about all the details.

I personally love the fact that its going to be absolutely bonkers this year. I can't imagine being around TOO MANY people that are into the same things I am into.

-No matter what happens, YOU'LL BE AT GENCON 50!
-Lines will always be a thing in life. Slow down, breath and be patient.
-You MIGHT not get the game you wanted, or... you will! That will ALWAYS be the case at GenCon. Don't give up so soon just because 4D Badges sold out. It's more about the demand for what you're wanting.
-If anyone touches my Nightmare Edition Malifaux crews, there will be an incident.

Enjoy!

Posted by stiehle gharris

gharris wrote:
I am waiting for the follow up announcement- what is Gen Con now going to do to curb the population? 
There are obviously going to be too many people at Gen Con this year. Hotels turned into a mess. getting through the exhibit hall will be a mess. Trying to get a bite to eat will be a pain. I remember when Gen Con outgrew Milwaukee- it was NOT fun. You know you have a problem when "parking" is listed as an event.
Badge caps mean we are facing another problem- people who are actually coming for gaming are going to start being crowded out by people who aren't. This should never happen, true gamers should ALWAYS come first. We should never get into a situation like SDCC where people who are actually going to see comic book writers and artists will have a heck of a time going because of all of the people who aren't.
This isn't a 50th anniversary thing. It was too crowded already last year, and just projecting the growth rates over the past few years shows that the problem was going to get worse regardless of any anniversary.
So what is the plan guys?

How do you get crowded out of a game?  Aren't there a set number of tickets at these games/events?  I don't see how that works...

Posted by stahlnee

One can be prevented from enter the building or parts of the building if the fire marshall deems it necessarily. This was done at Comic Con in San Diego and resulted in people missing the beginning of events along with entering the exhibit hall.

Posted by braewe

So now I guess we either convince the fire marshall to up the numbers a bit since all 75K or 80K of us are NOT all in the convention center, or else expand the space? I'm honestly still not sure why badges would be capped since there really really really really is PLENTY of room and we are all spread out over blocks and blocks. 
 
I mean for heaven's sake, they ddn't cap all those motocycles. And at the time it was gen con people AND all the motorcycles!!

The more I think about it, the less it makes any kind of sense. If it's solely a dealer hall opening crush, make the dealer hall opening an event you need a free ticket to.

Posted by ytuni braewe

braewe wrote:
So now I guess we either convince the fire marshall to up the numbers a bit since all 75K or 80K of us are NOT all in the convention center, or else expand the space? I'm honestly still not sure why badges would be capped since there really really really really is PLENTY of room and we are all spread out over blocks and blocks. 
 
I mean for heaven's sake, they ddn't cap all those motocycles. And at the time it was gen con people AND all the motorcycles!!
The more I think about it, the less it makes any kind of sense. If it's solely a dealer hall opening crush, make the dealer hall opening an event you need a free ticket to.
You also have to think about the fact that Gen Con is putting on a show, an experience, a once-a-year event and they want people to come back every year. If the place is so over crowded that people don't have a good time then people aren't going to come back (yes I KNOW that a lot will attend regardless, no questions asked). They want to have a flourishing business and make tons of money but they also have to consider the well-being of their attendees and the attendee's satisfaction with the convention. I, for one, am glad they have capped attendance. SDCC has an attendance cap, and for good reason. I can see Gen Con becoming a con where you have to get your badges the day they go on sale or be shit out of luck. We're all there to have a good time and being boxed into a sardine can with thousands of other people unable to move due to sheer numbers is not the experience anyone wants, Gen Con itself least of all. It makes PERFECT sense that they would cap attendance, it's the right thing to do for every one involved.

Posted by wendel

The selling out of badges shows that Gen Con is closely watching the attendance numbers which is a very good thing. If they continue to sell badges past the building capacity, areas of the convention could be closed by the fire marshal which would negatively impact everyone. We all want to have a fun experience and it is no fun to be locked out of a convention, trust me I have experienced this.
I commend the Gen Con staff for taking these steps to insure a fun and safe experience for attendees.

Posted by brumcg

Tom Vasel (Dice Tower) said on the Board Game Breakfast episode on 7/11 that he thinks the cap is 65k.  I'm not sure if he's guessing or if he knows something.

Posted by triad1 brumcg

brumcg wrote:
Tom Vasel (Dice Tower) said on the Board Game Breakfast episode on 7/11 that he thinks the cap is 65k.  I'm not sure if he's guessing or if he knows something.

Nah, can't see it.

If that were the case, I think these badge sell out warnings would have gone out last year as well.   I'm guessing it's added 50th bloat.   My best guess is that it's a 75k hard cap, but final attendance will be JUST below that.  ...and I mean JUST barely below full sell out.  We'll see.

Posted by garhkal

Wow.  Saw the recent email send out saying Sat badges sold out (or nearly sold out)..

Posted by lord thrifty the cromulent

Holy cow.  This may uncomfortably crowded.....  I'm glad I pre-ordered mine.  I initially considered just waiting until the convention and seeing if I felt like going.

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