Anyone out there think the dealer hall should adjust it's hours a bit?  It would be great to see it open a bit longer in the day/evening.  I was not able to spend enough time there due to playing games and having it close so early.  Maybe keep it open until 7pm or something, at least 1 day.  Just an idea.

Agreed.  It needs to open before 10am and definitely needs to stay open until 7 or even 8pm.

I'd say 730am (to catch purchases before that first major slot of the day..I know I would have shown up to grab a set of dice or a book I wanted to use for one of my 8am games) to 7pm (since there's a two hour window for lots of events, from 5 to 7).

 Yeah, 730am to 7pm would be just about right.

The problem with extending the hours is that the vendors are extremely tired after standing on their feet from 10am - 6pm. Many of the booths are worked entirely by a couple people, and thus they are locked to that booth from the time the hall opens until after it's closed.

Also, many of the exhibitors are also gamers, and closing later, even for one day would mean cutting into their possible evening plans/games. 

I realize a lot of people didn't get to spend as much time in the dealer hall as they would like. Personally, I didn't get to see all of the dealer hall this year, BUT I think extending the hours would only make it harder on the exhibitors.

Yeah, for me personally, sure, I'd absolutely LOVE later/longer hours.  But practically speaking, the vendors I've talked to tell me that they are often hard pressed to staff their booth the hours they already have.   I think extending the hours would make it really hard for a lot of smaller companies to even attend.

TygerLily:

The problem with extending the hours is that the vendors are extremely tired after standing on their feet from 10am - 6pm. Many of the booths are worked entirely by a couple people, and thus they are locked to that booth from the time the hall opens until after it's closed.

Also, many of the exhibitors are also gamers, and closing later, even for one day would mean cutting into their possible evening plans/games. 

I realize a lot of people didn't get to spend as much time in the dealer hall as they would like. Personally, I didn't get to see all of the dealer hall this year, BUT I think extending the hours would only make it harder on the exhibitors.

I agree. I was with an exhibitor and some of my other booth workers were limited on their ability to play games as it was. Making the hall hours longer would decrease their chances even more. We (Exhibitors) like to play games too.

As a first time GC attendee, I would also love to see extended hours in the dealer hall, especially in the evening.  I really do sympathize though with those working the booths; I spent seven years in the retail industry, a good chunk of it standing up to 12 hours a day in pumps as opposed to gym shoes or comfy sandals.  I for one wouldn't be bothered if the smaller merchants were given the ability to close down for a bit to get a meal or to play a game if it meant overall that the hall would be open later.  The larger and more well-staffed ones can fend for themselves much easier in that aspect and schedule accordingly so they're not included in my idea. 

 Mind you, this is just a brainstorm and not yet subjected to a SWOT analysis.  I'm not sure what the merchant policies are and of course this would have to fit within the constraints of that.  I'm just throwing this out there to see if there could be another solution besides this that could be workable, or at least get my fellow forumites and the Powers That Be thinking about one.    

Many of the booths staff with volunteers, and THEY also want to play games, so (and this topic comes up every year) I just don't see it. Plus, the ENnies come up at night, and many of the larger groups have parties. I don't see the hours changing anytime soon. Just saying.

 I too would like longer hours.  However, as a practical matter for the reasons stated by many above, I just don't see it happening.  

Please excuse me for getting a bit off-topic, but if I may ask...

Where would I look to check into becoming a volunteer for a booth (as opposed to a con volunteer)?  If anyone knows, would you post a link or otherwise point me in the right direction.  Thanks in advance.

 If you are interesting in helping out with a booth at the con, the best thing to do is go to the company you are looking at helping's web page and see if they have a program or an email that you can personally contact them and be a demo person or what not. Sometimes prior to the con there will be vendors using the forums to look for people as well. But they don' generally start trying to look for help till a few months prior to the next con.

 While I would love extra hours, I can understand why they don't have them. Now maybe split the hours up on the first two days. Like a morning shift and have a 4 hour break between and a night shift. But don't keep it open past 9:00 pm. Because these guys just like us love to have dinner with friends and family and kick back in the swimming pool or hot tub after a long day of con stuff. 

Kheti sa-Menik:

Yeah, 730am to 7pm would be just about right.

Seriously, we'd all love more time to wander around & give the dealers more coin, but earlier seems like it'd go against the grain of how GenCon is: especially by Sat, many people are skipping pre-noon events to catch up on sleep.  Or just getting to bed.  

I generally treat the Dealer's Hall as an event and just add it to my schedule.  I may not be able to get in when it opens or stay until it closes, but I try to get in there for at least 4 hours a day.

As one who has work for several different companies at Gen Con I can tell you that the present hours are hard enought, and making them longer would be rejected out of hand by the dealers. I've always said if the dealers room is that important to you PLAN IT OUT. Set aside time to hit the room, not once, not twice, three or four times is a good start.  Just as you pick what events your going to play say "I am going to spend three hours on Thursday after lunch to see the dealer's room before True Dungeon." Just treat it like another event.

Randu

You could always do what Origins did this year and put a blackout on game starts during the last hour of the dealers hall each day.   Games could not begin between 5 and 6 and games that started prior to 5 were asked to be done by 5 with the eception of tournamnets.   At least that's what was in the GM guidlines.  Not sure how many people stuck to it.   I think this was to free up more gameers to visit the dealers hall.

I really do agree with both Braelun and Keeper above.  If going through the dealer's hall is important to you, plan it as an event and block the time.  Make sure you block enough time too.  The Gen Con Dealer's hall is big.  Just walking it and seeing everything once can take hours.  You add actually purchasing and game demos and I could easily take one whole day of my Gen Con and spend it in the dealer's hall during the open hours.

My group has always been good about blocking our time for the hall hours.  We always scheduled our True Dungeon runs after the hall closed for example.  This year I got the RPGA game session I wanted in the evening block after the hall closed - granted this took time away from drinking at the RAM that evening, but it was a choice I had to make. 

As a practical matter, the Dealer's Hall hours are pretty much set in stone and not going to expand, so people should just plan accordingly to make room in their schedules to the time they need to go through the hall. 

And please remember that the Auction -- right across the hall -- really starts to rock when the dealer room closes.

Frank

Aklevah:

really do agree with both Braelun and Keeper above.  If going through the dealer's hall is important to you, plan it as an event and block the time.

Just as stated above, what you do at the con is based on your priorities. Just because you choose to do other events instead of visit the Exhibit Hall doesn't mean the hours should change to make it convenient to YOU. Exhibitors and their booth staff are gamers too.  

I have a solution, what about just extending the Con an extra day? I would certainly be up for a 5 day con. Anyone else?

 Of course, I have no idea if this is even practical and I realize the amount of planning involved in doing an extra day would be heavy. Still, just throwing it out there. I'm sure its been mentioned before.

raphael76:

I have a solution, what about just extending the Con an extra day? I would certainly be up for a 5 day con. Anyone else?

I know the exhibitor I work with would not be up for that. Because is would involve paying more booth costs and more for manning the booth. And trying to plan for having another days worth of inventory on hand so you don't run out (and finding place to store it on site.) Badge costs would go up and well as housing costs, etc.

I know. I totally realize its not feasible. I just always get to the end of the con and wish it had been longer. But that's just cause I have such a great time.