TOPIC: GenCon 2021?

Iross wrote:

Arcanist Kolixela wrote: If any of your GenCon plans would include non refundable things (like airline tickets) I would hold off on those purchased until GenCon officially announces that it will happen in person.

If you can secure things that can be canceled the week before go for it. But don't pur yourself on the line financially for 2021 gencon. There's too many factors that are unknown today.

This.

It took me several months to finally get all of my refunds this year, and I was at no point confident that I'd be able to get as much money back as I did. I usually like to book things early to save money, but next year I'm not booking anything until it's very clear that things are going ahead.

Fortunately I'm just an hour's drive from Indianapolis, so all I've bought is my badge and a hotel reservation that can be cancelled.

Mike Steele wrote:

Iross wrote:

Arcanist Kolixela wrote: If any of your GenCon plans would include non refundable things (like airline tickets) I would hold off on those purchased until GenCon officially announces that it will happen in person.

If you can secure things that can be canceled the week before go for it. But don't pur yourself on the line financially for 2021 gencon. There's too many factors that are unknown today.

This.

It took me several months to finally get all of my refunds this year, and I was at no point confident that I'd be able to get as much money back as I did. I usually like to book things early to save money, but next year I'm not booking anything until it's very clear that things are going ahead.

Fortunately I'm just an hour's drive from Indianapolis, so all I've bought is my badge and a hotel reservation that can be cancelled.

That is a very enviable position to be in.

I'm aiming for Game Hole Con this year just due to the expected delays in getting vaccine doses and the early buy for airline tickets basically making gencon a no go for me

If Gencon happens and I'm vaccinated in time, I will definitely attend.

My main hope for 2021 is GameHole Con, though.

My GC 2021 will likely be a one day trip like I did in 2019.

Hopefully I can plan it in advance instead of deciding to go a few days before. That way I can get in more than one run.

I'm in group 1B to be vaccinated, so I'll be good.

I was in good shape as far as refunds were concerned. Southwest cancelled the flights, so no problem there. No problem with hotel, either.

The only refund problem I had was in 2019, when I was told by my surgeon I couldn't fly the day before I was going to leave - I had had surgery on my foot four weeks before GC (if he had told me about the flight restriction, I would have limped for a few more weeks!). I had arranged for an electric scooter to use at the con. The scooter company only refunded me half of my payment, but considering they didn't have to do even that, I considered myself lucky.

Maybe everyone knew it, and I didn't, but I was doing some reading on Indy and distressed to hear that The Ram is permanently closed. It was bad enough when Scotty's shut down, but to find the Ram with a list of ten or so other downtown restaurants gone, what will that mean for a GenCon? It was already nearly impossible to find a place for group reservations Saturday, and if all the cool hang-outs are gone, what does that mean for the con experience? Trail mix and cold cuts in the hotels? Fast food? Not much to attract the non-gamers in the friend group.
I must say, I am very worried.

raptorov wrote: Maybe everyone knew it, and I didn't, but I was doing some reading on Indy and distressed to hear that The Ram is permanently closed. It was bad enough when Scotty's shut down, but to find the Ram with a list of ten or so other downtown restaurants gone, what will that mean for a GenCon? It was already nearly impossible to find a place for group reservations Saturday, and if all the cool hang-outs are gone, what does that mean for the con experience? Trail mix and cold cuts in the hotels? Fast food? Not much to attract the non-gamers in the friend group.
I must say, I am very worried.

Sad news, but we always knew it was gonna be different on the other side. Just gotta keep the faith and figure things as we go.

raptorov wrote: Maybe everyone knew it, and I didn't, but I was doing some reading on Indy and distressed to hear that The Ram is permanently closed. It was bad enough when Scotty's shut down, but to find the Ram with a list of ten or so other downtown restaurants gone, what will that mean for a GenCon? It was already nearly impossible to find a place for group reservations Saturday, and if all the cool hang-outs are gone, what does that mean for the con experience? Trail mix and cold cuts in the hotels? Fast food? Not much to attract the non-gamers in the friend group.
I must say, I am very worried.

Per the Gen Con Facebook group, the previous general manager of the Ram is planning on reopening the location as a new brew pub... opening likely to coincide with people actually going back to resturants.

I'm torn about going. I do hope the vaccinations are available for all adults by then. With that said, the vaccination isn't immunity - it means you'll get a lesser level of the disease than you otherwise would. While vaccinated, we'd survive but I am concerned about who we might then transmit it to afterwords if everyone isn't vaccinated.

So far, we're averaging 1M people vaccinated per week. We'll need to pick up that pace pretty dramatically for GenCon to be viable as that pacing takes us 6 years to get everyone vaccinated. By the end of January, we'll need to get people vaccinated at a rate of 14M people per week for GenCon to happen with 90% of the country vaccinated.

We do now have 3 vaccines approved and another 2 likely approved within a couple weeks. Hopefully our public health networks can handle the load to get them out at a rate above 10M people per week.

I'm hopeful but August seems like a long-shot for it to be safe. Even so, that would require that GenCon be restricted to only adults with proof of vaccination (the kids vaccine won't be ready until later in 2021.) GameholeCon seems like a more likely bet for the first major in-person event for 2021.

I'll register but only do it with refundable pieces of going and wait on flights.

Fred

I suspect that GenCon or Orgins will move to October and likely one of them will happen. I don't see a large gathering over the summer going forward safely. With that said I hope I am wrong.

Origins is supposed to make an announcement about dates Jan 17th. That will hopefully shed saying light on what they're thinking, and won't be a "we're watching the situation". Because for something that big to happen they need to start working as if it will sooner than later. It's obviously too soon to tell for sure, but an idea of where a major con's head is at would be nice.

If we do see in-person cons this year, I hope they stringently enforce whatever health/safety measures are in place. Kick people out and take their badges if they can't follow the rules. Concrud was bad enough in the before times.