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Stay on target. News about other events is not Gen Con specific. Other conventions sure. Save your at large discussion of other events for your social media channels.
Mike Boozer Customer Service & Event Team Manager Gen Con LLC
In saying this, I neither advocate for nor against Gencon actually happening, given the length of time between now and then.
Gen Con is, timewise, in an odd place. It's far enough out that it can plausibly happen, not so far that cancellation is implausible either. The Olympics just made their decision to postpone a year and I won't be shocked if Gen Con does the same. As with the previous poster, I do not advocate for or against cancellation.
OK, here's a question for Gen Con. Let's say that Gen Con does decide to go ahead. Then the decision is in the hands of the individual attendees and presenters.
Nascrag usually brings about 24 judges/staff or more. I'm not sure how many I could convince to still expose themselves even if the virus is past peak. Remember the 1918 virus had 3 peaks. Maybe life will be back to normal by then and going to a baseball game or a convention will seem commonplace again. But maybe not.
But what if the convention happens but I can't get enough judges to meet our commitment? We've got cancer survivors (immuno-compromised), diabetics, and some folks over 60. All very much at-risk.
Yep, if the Con goes forward, and I hope it does, it'll be fascinating to see what attendance looks like. Will it feel like attending Gen Con in 2006? I'm kind of excited by that idea, actually.
The attendee part of me is going to understand if I sign up for an event and it gets canceled for these reasons.
I'd also think that GenCon would be good enough to not hold cancellations this year against GMs and GM Groups for determining things like Premier Group status and scheduling priority. :)
But in retrospect it was quaint. We were still impressed when restaurants had Gen Con themes. Housing wasn't impossible to get. The dealers hall was navigable.
I have been checking the housing portal periodically and, still, I don't see available downtown hotels (at least not for 4 people, which is my search strategy). That suggests to me that, at this stage, a lot of people are still planning to go forward if the opportunity is still there. Yeah, I'm sure there would be some event cancellations for the reasons listed above. Maybe more than most years, but there are always some. I think people would be understanding of these situations.
Still hopeful this Convention can move forward this year. Starting to worry about the lasting impact of shutting down the economy for a long time. Oh, and I've got an intact 1986-2019 Gen Con streak to maintain. I was going to celebrate my 35th anniversary.
For example, can you guys try to get an idea now of who might not attend even if GC happens, and then scale down the tickets available--knowing you could scale them up later on if those people decide to come?
Vendors can't wait & hope for more people to sign up at the last minute. They can't make a go/no-go decision in July.
See what happens with origins. If that doesn’t go forward, that’s a huge clue as to Gencon.
That may be fine for events & the GMs, but that's really not workable for the vendors. Some vendors probably spend a good 5 figures for their Gen Con trip, and they have to make a decision early enough if the attendance will make it worth spending that much. Even a vendor with a small booth is spending several thousand when you factor in employee travel, booth decorations, and bringing stock to sell. Vendors can't wait & hope for more people to sign up at the last minute. They can't make a go/no-go decision in July.
So the vendors are in the same spot that we all are in that sense--they have travel plans and expenses, and if the Con doesn't happen, they'll have to do their best to cancel. And yes, they have more financially on the line than the rest of us do. But that doesn't change their options. There's no Plan B in times like this. You're right that they'll have to decide whether it's worth it, and some of them may have to decide earlier. But again, with no other place to go should GC not happen, I don't see why most of them can't wait.
Listen guys we just have to wait. Worrying about it is just going to stress you out.
It would be good to have a decision by mid-April.