This announcement has been a little while in the making, delayed a bit by the launch of event submission. I am please to finally announce the official form of the Premier Events Reward Program, designed to reward and recognize gaming groups and companies that closely follow Gen Con's policies (most specifically in turning in their tickets and accurately estimating their expected attendance).

The requirements for inclusion in this program are:

• Turn in Tickets for at least 80% of Events
  Groups must maintain a minimum of 80% rate of ticket return (i.e. 8 out of 10 events must have some kind of ticket data).
• 70% of Actual Attendance vs. Submitted Maximum Number of Players
  A group's total actual attendance (based on tickets turned in) must be at least 70% of the total maximum number of players, as submitted with the group's events.
• At Least 60 Total Players
  Groups must run events for a total of at least 60 players.
• Discretionary Criteria
  In addition, groups that are eligible for the program as a result of their tickets must still maintain a good working relationship with Gen Con. Specifically, groups must still submit in their events and badge/hotel requests on time (and accurately). We reserve the right to refuse inclusion of a group for any reason, including too many errors during event submission, late requests, excessive complaints, or other significant problems and obstacles.

The benefits in the program include:

• Priority Placement of Events
  Qualifying events will be placed before other events submitted within the same cycle. They would still be subject to the overall cycle format, but would get top priority within each cycle.
• Premium Event Chart Listings
  Event listings for qualified gaming groups would receive the Indy flag icon and release of a separate downloadable event chart of just featured groups.
• Inclusion in Two Email Blasts to Attendees
  At least a week before event registration begins, a list of premier event organizers will be included in an email blast to attendees. At least a week before event registration closes, a list of events run by premier groups that still have tickets available will be sent to attendees.
• Eligibility for Program Book and Web Site Event Highlights
  Premier event organizers are eligible to submit descriptions of their events and their group/company for inclusion in the event highlights in the program book and web site (formerly these were open to anyone who submitted).

A number of valid concerns were raised when I asked for feedback on the program, and it should be explicitly understood that this program will be subject to change in the future. Specifically, it will be closely scrutinized this year before, during and after the show. If you have any concerns or encounter and problems with it, please let me know so that I can try to address them.

The List of Premier Event Groups

Eligibility for the 2009 Premier Events Reward Program is based on data from 2008. The following 31 groups met the criteria outlined above and will be part of the initial trial run this year.

1. AEG - Heroes of Rokugan
2. Amorphous Blob Games
3. BYOV
4. Catalyst Game Labs
5. Chaosium, Inc.
6. Code Monkey Publishing
7. Crafty Games
8. Dayton Regional Aerodrome Group
9. DragonHearth Productions
10. Evil Fleet Productions
11. Fantasy Aspirations
12. Greymalkin Designs, LLC
13. Infinite Imaginations, Inc.
14. M Collective
15. Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
16. Millennium Interactive Gaming
17. MU Skulls
18. Northern Virginia Gamers (NOVAG)
19. Ottawa Red Shirts
20. Paizo Publishing, LLC
21. Paradigm Concepts
22. Playroom Entertainment
23. PST Productions
24. Rogue Judges
25. Smirk and Dagger Games
26. Steve Jackson Games Men In Black
27. The Indy Mavens
28. The Shining Jewel
29. The Wrecking Crew
30. TwinBlade Games LLC
31. Zombie Buddy Productions

I will be contacting event organizers from these groups to coordinate with them, as I will need additional event details to use for program book and web site highlights.

If you are an event organizer for any of these groups and have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly and I will be happy to help you.