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Derek's Soapbox

So the year continues

Alright everyone, let's get back into the swing of things.

I haven't really posted anything in quite a while - I was super-crazy-busy just prior to Indy and afterward was filled with the post-con depression and all those boring wrap-up details. We've been counting tickets, having meetings, writing proposals. We've got a whole year ahead of us this time and it's a very strange feeling to already be trying to pin down some details for something 10 months away (and counting down!).

We've been counting tickets, checking time sheets, coding receipts, and getting all our paperwork in line. All GMs should have received their badge and/or hotel reimbursements and event payments should be going out shortly. I'm definitely glad to have all those firmly and solidly put to bed before 2008 starts - I don't want to have to resolve any lingering issues when trying to plan a new show.

I've got plenty more to do, though - there's still a big stack of mislabeled tickets (or simply not labeled at all).

When we aren't tying up the loose ends, we're laying the groundwork for 2008. The amount of time we have until the show gives us the luxury of sitting back and really reconsidering just about everything. Is there something we want to change? Did something bug us all year or cause a big problem that sent us scrambling? Now is the time to consider what we can change for the next time around. A lot of what I'm spending my time on now is following up with all those ideas I jotted down when I was going insane during the show to do "next time." You have to take those ideas and then hammer them out until you hate them, look at them from all sides and then if it actually seems to work, you gotta smash it around again for a while until you actually like it again. And throughout that you have to get everyone else to like it too.

Lots of fun, that is Wink

Anyway, I just wanted to get back into the saddle a bit with this blog, get back out to remind people that Gen Con does work on this stuff year-round. I'm not sure how much interesting information I'll have to share for the next few months, but I'll try to keep this as regular as I can and remain accessible to anyone who has questions.

Published Nov 02 2007, 03:21 PM by Derek Guder

Comments

Dominic said:

Derek,

This year was my seventh gencon, and I've been playing in games and haunting the show floor happily all that time until Sunday this year. On Sunday I realized that I was restless for some reason. I talked it over with some of my buddies, and we decided we needed something new to do at gencon - we just didn't know what it was.

So - a suggestion for future blogs - I know there are about a million different things to do at gencon. I just don't know how to get involved or find the opportunities. Yes, there are the forums, and all the different event types and listings, but I thought that you might have a different perspective on what types of things you can do at gencon - things you might only hear about after and say - man I wish I'd known about that, or I didn't know they had that - I would have gone if I'd known.

How about starting with volunteering - what better way to get to know gencon than from behind the curtain?

November 9, 2007 5:31 AM

Derek's Soapbox : Finding stuff to do at Gen Con said:

PingBack from http://community.gencon.com/blogs/pmd/archive/2007/11/09/finding-stuff-to-do-at-gen-con.aspx

November 9, 2007 2:09 PM

About Derek Guder

I'm an Event Programming Manager here at Gen Con. My pet projects are the anime & flim events, as well as eGame fun-time, but I also supervise overall gaming event (submission, placement badges, etc.).

I've been going to Gen Con for years as a GM for Eden Studios, running demos of WitchCraft and All Flesh Must Be Eaten that I'd written with "Derek the Elder" and the "Man in the Chicken Coat." It was great sitting down with a bunch of strangers, handing them pre-generated characters (each with their own hosts of secrets) and then sitting back to watch the chaos ensue. Ah, those were the days...

I got into convention work at Anime Boston. I was one of the founding members and with a small group of other dedicated fans, we were able to pull off a wildly successful event: in our first year we have almost 4000 attendees show up and had to close registration and turn people away on Saturday morning, mid-way through the convention.

Ever since then I've loved working at a convention. I almost can't even go to a con anymore unless I'm working in one capacity or another - I just don't know what to do with myself.

So now I'm out in Seattle, but I'm an East Coast boy through-and-through. I grew up all over New England and went to school at Boston University. Seattle's beautiful scenery and weather (c'mon, that ain't rain, it's just a damn light misting) still seems a little unnatural. Where's the snow? The humidity? The sudden drops in temperature? Well, maybe I only actually miss the snow.