Gauntlet Meetup at GenCon 2019

#1

GenCon, a mythical magical land of gamers and nerds, drawing crowds from around the world!

So of course, for my first outing to GenCon, why not also drive myself nuts and try and organize a meetup of Gauntleteers?

Two Large Questions to Answer:

  1. From previous con experience, and from all I hear about GenCon, trying to meet at a place inside the convention hall is kinda ludicrous with the mass of people and constant movement/noise. Recommendations for places nearby conducive to conversation/greetings? I see some of the hotels are connect via skyway, but I’m not sure if that would require going through a re-entry line or causing any other kind of hassle

  2. Instead of trying to make it 1 big moment that you hit or miss, I figure setting up 4 small events would be best to allow maximum hello opportunities, though I’m worried it may be a bit much.

  • Thurs Eve ~7PM
  • Friday Morn ~9AM
  • Sat Eve ~ 7PM
  • Sun Morn ~9AM

Thoughts/comments/suggestions from more experienced and wiser heads are welcome and appreciated. I’ll try and make some semi-final decisions by 25th, and lock it down by the 28th.

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#2

Any meetup we do will almost certainly need to be early morning breakfast (like 8 AM) or later in the evening (post 10 pm) because a LOT of us are working during the day or gaming late at the Magpie Room and/or Games on Demand. There are a gazillion hotels whose lobbies would do just fine for this purpose. I’d recommend picking an evening (ONE evening) and a hotel with lots of space where we can kind of just sprawl out, grab beverages, and socialize.

Past experience has told me that attempting to organize anything more formal will probably be a logistical nightmare and likely result in quite low turnout, not because of a lack of love, but because folks tend to pack their schedules pretty full, and we’re very, very late in the game to pull anything formal together; most folks’ schedules were locked in a couple of months ago.

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#3

Definitely agree it’s way too late to do a formal thing, so the idea was to give multiple chances to meet up and chitchat & say hello, and if there’s time and availability maybe break into some gaming or photo ops.

I appreciate you bringing up the fact that a lot of you will be working, because I know that often gets overlooked. I think earlier 8AM would be more workable for those morning meetups, especially since I suspect Sunday after close would be a rush of people trying to pack and get out of town.

#4

Double Post, but here’s what I’ve come up with:

Morning of Friday (8AM) at Bee Coffee Roasters, just east across the street from the Convention Center
Saturday Evening (7PM) in front of the Magpie Room (ICC 244-245) with a general idea of finding dinner and winding down.

I’ll also be around Sunday after Con, as my flight doesn’t leave till Monday, so feel free to message me on Slack!

Most of all, make sure you have comfy shoes, keep hydrated, and have a great time!!

#5

My schedule’s: Thursday 10:00, Thursday 18:00, Friday 10:00, Saturday 10:00, Saturday 18:00, and Sunday 10:00 running 4 hours slots for Magpie. I’m having breakfast with my sister Friday morning and dinner with a friend Friday, but I’d be glad to meet and hang out with folks during my free times. My plan is to run, avoid the dealer room, and if there’s no one to hang out with, go back to the AirBnB and sleep.

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#6

I also will be in the Magpie room 2-6 pretty much every day! Looking forward to seeing you there!

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#7

I too will be at Gen Con starting tomorrow. You all seem very nice and I’d love to meet you! Most of my time will be spent at Game on Demand in the Regency, so come on over and play something with me or just say hello.

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#8

I am happy to report that Jason Morningstar is affable and delightful in person, so you should definitely stop by and say hi to him.

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#9

Ended up working an extra shift, so stop in at the table to say hello at 7 but I’ll be unable to plan dinner with y’all. Hope everyone is having fun!

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