GenCon, 2022, Day 3 and Day 4

Following from Day 1 & 2.

Day 3 (Saturday, 5th August)

Ugh, up early.  Shower, coffee, booth.  First task, all of the stock that was left over from BGN off loaded from the pallet, unboxed and on the shelves.  That went pretty well, Howard, Nick and I are a good team and we had some help with the shelving of games.  After I ran a game over to Black Oak Workshop to trade for lovely dice, I got a Firefly D20 for Howard’s daughter Evie and a dice bag for Nick as well as some dice for myself.  The print pictured is from Kat G Birmelin and actually purchased on Day 2, it was the last one at the Con and I was very pleased (and perhaps fortunate) to acquire it.

Work was work, blew through most of the new items that we had restocked the shelves with and had to bring out lightly used copies of the Guild of Merchant Explorers that had been played at BGN.  And those moved a bit slower.  But the shelves were looking pretty bare by the end of the day.  So after the hall was closed to the public, we brought out all of the games we had on special, multiple cases, and put them on the shelves for tomorrow.

GenCon, 2022, Day 1 and Day 2

Following on from Day 0:

Day 1 (Thursday, 4th August) the first real day of the Con and it was going to be a busy one.

Up early, showered and off to Starbucks for some coffee, the wait was only about five minutes but I suspect it will get longer from here on in.  Then off to the exhibit hall, wandered around and visited Baldali jewelry where I picked up a [REDECTED] as a gift for my lovely wife, the Goodman Games booth where I picked up some Dungeon Crawls Classics stuff, and checked in to see how Drew had done finishing the setup for his booth and picked up a lovely mouse pad from him too.

Finally, back to the AEG booth, which I had kept looping back to all through the above waiting for our team leaders to appear and give instructions.  We were told to report at 9am, and they arrive around 9:30ish.  But the booth was still ready when the floodgates opened

People poured in and started buying things, and things, and things, without a break for the first forty-five minutes.  We sold out of one of our recent games in the first hour and a second by mid-afternoon.  The third of the newest games . . . we only have what is out on the shelves and we are out of that too.  Many of the other games that AEG brought are in the same shape.  We only have significant backstock on one major game and a bunch of games they are using as giveaways.   And remember, Thursday is not even supposed to be that busy of a day for sales at GenCon.  Tomorrow will be interesting.

GenCon, 2022, Day -1 and Day 0

Day -1 (Tuesday, 2nd August) was devoted to travel from Georgia to Indianapolis, not a short hop.  We were trying a new route up through Kentucky and Tennessee which, although it took a little longer (maybe) was really beautiful and included traveling through the Cumberland Gap Tunnel (one of only two tunnels in the United States that cross state lines).

But by far the most exciting part of the day was a little after one o’clock when we had been on the road for about four hours.  We pulled off to stop at a Cracker Barrel and Howard, who was driving, said, “Do you hear that?”

To which I replied, “No, but don’t be surprised.  I don’t hear a lot, I have a genetic defect that prevents me from hearing a range of sounds.”

“It sounds like a cat.”

“A cat?”

Where to Find Me at GenCon 2022

You may wish to review my advice to those going, though the preparation section is of less use as the Con is upon us!

I will, again, be working in the exhibitor’s hall for Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) as usual, and we should have banners up, but you can find us at Booth 903.  Right now my schedule looks something like this:

Thursday, working in the booth 10am-6pm.

Friday, working in the booth 10am-6pm.  And from 6:30pm – latish, you will find me helping with AEG’s Big Game Night (BGN) which is down in the Lucas Oil Stadium.  No idea how it is going to be run this year so I am probably inaccessible until BGN is over.

Saturday, working in the booth 10m-6pm.

Sunday, last day, working in the booth 10am-4pm.

S0, yeah, does not look like I will have much free time except on Thursday and Saturday evenings, at least one of which I hope to be able to hit up Games on Demand for some sweet indie roleplaying.

Spotting me in a crowd!  On duty, I will be wearing a black AEG “Dead Reckoning” shirt, and a red AEG t-shirt the other day, with a geek-adjacent mask.  My hair (pulled back in a ponytail) and beard are mostly white, and I am an average height slightly overweight white man, so, yeah, I will not be that easy to spot.  However, I intend to be wearing these lovely masks made for me by my wife when not of duty during the Con. Photo attached for reference.

Beyond that, who knows?  So drop me a note if you want to try and meet up, I am sure we can work something out.

In any case, to all those going and not going: Have fun and play more games.

Sean’s GenCon Advice 2022

GenCon is about two weeks away!  Time flies.  I am hoping this year will seem a little more normal even if masks are still required.  So, I thought I would (once again) share my hard-earned experience and try and help out people who are going as I do every year.

Preparation:

Looking Back Over GenCon, 2021

Another year, another GenCon, gosh it is nice to say that.  After a year off, it was good to be back, even later in the year and perceptibly smaller.  Still doing its utmost to be the “the best four days in gaming.”

As usual I was working for AEG, so we arrived late Tuesday evening and ended up having dinner at the Rathskeller, the German restaurant that many years back we had an L5R event at (memories).  Service and cider remain excellent. 

Wednesday was devoted to finishing booth setup, rah.  It was very strange to be in a different section of the hall, with a smaller booth, in a smaller exhibitor hall with no Paizo, Asmodee (and the other companies under their umbrella such as Fantasy Flight) or Goodman Games and many more beside.  It imposed a certain disconnect between what I was used to and what was at GenCon this year.  By pure luck, I ran across my friend Drew Baker, who was just in for a few hours helping some of his friends get their booths ready.  Had dinner at Goodwood which took over the Ram’s, which was very good though the cider was overpriced.

Where to Find Me at GenCon 2021

Should you wish to, first review my advice to those going, then look below:

I will be working  in the exhibitor’s hall for Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) as usual, and we should have banners up, but you can find us at Booth 903.  Right now my schedule looks something like this:

Thursday, working in the booth 11am-5pm.

Friday, working in the booth 11am-5pm.  And from 6:30pm – latish, you will find me in the JW Mariott helping with AEG’s Big Game Night (BGN).  I will be busy but if you want to come and learn one of the recent AEG games, drop by after 9pm and you can join in and play (though not get any swag unless you already have a ticket).  As it winds down, I will have more free time, though you may have to talk with me as I check and pack away demo games.  In any case, feel free to drop by.

Saturday, working in the booth 11am-5pm.

Sunday, last day, working in the booth 11am-2pm. 3:30pm on.

Spotting me in a crowd!  On duty I will be wearing an AEG t-shirt and mask.  My hair (pulled back in a pony tail) and beard are mostly white, and I am an average height slightly overweight white man, so, yeah, I will not be that easy to spot.  However, I intend to be wearing these lovely masks made for me by my wife when not of duty during the Con. Photo attached for reference.

Beyond that, who knows?  But I arrive late Tuesday to help with setup on Wens.  So drop me a note if you want to try and meet up, I am sure we can work something out.

In any case, to all those going and not going: Have fun and play more games.

Sean’s GenCon Advice 2021

GenCon is about two weeks away!  Yikes!  So, I thought I would (again) share my hard-earned experience and try and help out people who are going as I do every year.

Preparation:

Finding Me at GenCon 2019

Should you wish to, first review my advice to those going, then look below:

I will be working primarily in the main event hall, the one in the Indiana Convention Center, for Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) as usual, and we should have banners up.  Right now my schedule looks something like this:

Thursday, I will be teaching Thunderstone Quest from 8:30-11am and again from 2:30-5pm.

Friday, It will be War Chest, 11:45am-2pm and Thunderstone Quest from 2:30-5pm.  And from 6pm – 2am(ish), you will find me in the Board Game Hall overseeing and helping with AEG’s Big Game Night (BGN).  I will be busy but if you want to come and learn one of the recent AEG games, drop by after 9pm and you can join in and play (though not get any swag unless you already have a ticket).  As it winds down I will have more free time, though you may have to talk with me as I check and back away demo games.  In any case, feel free to drop by.

Saturday, the day starts with the new Walking in Burano, 11:45am-2pm, and then Thunderstone Quest from 2:30pm-5pm and again from 5:30-8pm

Sunday, last day, Thunderstone Quest, 8:30-11am and ending with Walking in Burano from 1:45-4pm.

Spotting me in a crowd!  On duty I will be wearing an AEG t-shirt and my hair (pulled back in a pony tail) and beard are mostly white, and I am an average height slightly overweight white man, so, yeah, I will not be that easy to spot.  Photo attached for reference.

Beyond that, who knows?  But I arrive on Tuesday to help with setup.  So drop me a note if you want to try and meet up, I am sure we can work something out.

In any case, to all those going and not going: Have fun and play more games.

Sean’s GenCon Advice 2019

GenCon is about three weeks away (where did the year go?), so, I thought I would (again) share my hard-earned experience and try and help out people who are going as I do every year.

Preparation: