RatPunk:
Derek,
I don’t think any of these would be considered confidential and they might actually help others, plus we’re far enough out that there’s no rush yet, so I’ll post the first set of questions here.
Being new to the whole Event Organizer role, some of these may be silly, but that’s how we learn. :)
Absolutely. It's alwasy better to ask than not 
1. Is an event’s previous history looked at in any way for space determinations or attendance expectations or is it solely based on how many people we cap it at on the event registration form? I ask because the event we are taking over has had pretty low attendance the last couple of years (8-12 people). Since we announced on the game’s forums that we were taking over, we’ve had ten times that many people say they are planning on attending next year (80+ at last count). If we cap the event at 100 people during registration, is the previous year’s info even a factor for figuring where you'll place us?
Space allocation is based on the maximum number of players you submit your event for. It's simply not really feasible for me to refer back to previous year's attendance for every event submission - there are far too many and there's no way for me to tell if you forgot to add more players or are actualyl down-sizing and shrinking.
I do refer to historical attendance when dealing with special requests or space conflicts, but it is not automatically a part of the placement process.
To clarify, you get assigned space based on the number of players you submit events for each year, with no bearing on how may tables you had in the past. You are only given what you ask for this time, not what you got before.
2. Is it possible for Event Organizers to come in on Wednesday to help set-up/coordinate their area? Since we’re running what would be a fairly sizable miniatures tournament, the ability to come in and set-up all of our terrain tables on Wednesday would be a huge help.
It can be, but that's something you'll want to ask permission for. It'll almost always be OK, but it does depend on the Ops schedule. It's possible you might have been placed in a room where we simply can't arrange for that, so you need to check with us.
3. What is GenCon’s policy regarding having a charity donation box at our event HQ table? An affiliated group in Kansas City started a charity fund in the name of one of their 12-year old members who was killed in a car accident last spring and we thought we might see what we could do to get contributions. We wouldn’t actively solicit donations, of course, but we thought a donation box with an info sheet next to it would be good if GenCon policies permitted.
I'm not positive offhand, so I'll have to check on that. I'd like to say it'd be OK, but let me confirm before telling you anything official.
I also want to point out that if you want an HQ (in addition to your event tables) you will need to request it and this is a perfect example of details you would want to "declare" about your needs for the HQ.
4. I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this one, but what is the policy for on-hand refreshments? Namely the idea of having a cooler or two on hand with free bottled water for participants?
That really depends on where you end up being located. Some hotels are a little less strict, but as a general rule you should assume that no food and beverage of any kind is allowed without the express permission of the venue you're in (the hotel or convention center) and/or the catering company that controls that area.
So... no, basically. Not unless you want to pay a corkage fee for everything you distribute.
5. Just to clarify from the AV section of the Event Policies, if we bring our own projector to display tournament standings on the wall, that’s ok right?
It's OK in the sense that it can be arranged and we obviously won't charge you for bringing in your own equipment, etc, but that is something you absolutely need to make a special request for.
In a case like that, you would submit all of your events and then email us to clarify and ask for space against a wall so you can set up a projector, etc. We'll do what we can to accommodate that.
It would not be OK to project over anyone else's play area, however, and you need to make it clear what you're using the projector for - displaying tournament results is very different from splashing a company logo or ad on the wall.
Those are the questions I have for now. I had others but forgot to write them down, so I’ll have to ask those when they come to me again, probably after our next organizational meeting...
Thanks in advance, Scott
Not a problem. If you think of anything else, just let me know.