It’s hard to believe Gen Con 2009 is over already, but it’s been over a week now since I was standing in Indianapolis. With the whole thing still a strong memory, I wanted to get it all down here and share it with you.
Attendance and Exhibit Hall Presence
I’ve heard some say that they thought attendance at Gen Con seemed down this year. That struck me as odd, because it felt exactly the opposite to me. I felt like I saw many more people in the hallways at the convention center, sitting in the seminars I attended, walking through the exhibit hall, etc. It felt more crowded to me than in past years. (Just look at the photo below… most of the aisles in the Exhibit Hall were that busy most of the time.)
On the other hand, while pretty much all the names you’d expect to see in the Exhibit Hall were there, it was clear that vendor and publisher partcipation was down somewhat. There were fewer video game exhibits, large expanses of open tables where people were sitting and entertaining children, and what seemed to be a much bigger art show than in the past. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like the Exhibit Hall was a ghost town. Far from it. It was filled with a lot of high-quality exhibits and great vendors. It still felt “huge”, just a little less “huge” than the past couple of years. I guess the economy is hurting everyone, including the games industry.
More Writing, Less Gaming
Usually, I begin to get excited as Gen Con approaches. I start looking forward to a few days away from home, enjoying the foods and micro-brews near the Indianapolis Convention Center, and getting some gaming in. For some reason, I just wasn’t excited this year. Maybe it was all the gaming I did here in Columbus at Origins back in late June. Maybe it was the stress I felt at work the week before I left. Whatever it was, I never quite found myself really psyched about Gen Con.
On the other hand, although I wasn’t as excited about the convention itself, I was excited about the opportunity to attend seminars in the “Get Literal” writer’s symposium. In the end, I attended four.
The first was “Writing Right” featuring a panel of published authors who discussed what makes a successful writer, how each of the panelists approaches writing a novel, and their suggestions for improving a writer’s productivity.
The Panel for “Writing Right”
The other three I attended were presented by author Michael A. Stackpole, whose “Rules of Writing” session I attended at Origins earlier in the year. The first, entitled “Plotting”, talked about how to construct a plot that is compelling for the reader. The second, “21 Days to a Novel” focused on exercises a writer should attempt prior to starting work on a novel, to ensure that the characters are well-thought-out and three-dimensional. The final, “Edit to Perfection”, talked about how to edit your novel to best prepare it for submission to a publisher and eventual publication. I found them all to be very interesting and helpful. (Someone stood up as I took my picture during Mr. Stackpole’s talk and I didn’t realize it until I got back home after Gen Con so I don’t have a picture of him speaking.)
Fire! Or not…
Saturday night, someone thought it would be fun to pull the fire alarm at the convention center. All the Gen Con attendees were required to vacate the building. This caused the streets near the convention center to be filled with gamers and emergency services personnel. Fortunately for me, this happened as my brother and I were waiting for the shuttle to take us back to our hotel. We weren’t there to witness the aftermath. From what I understand, it was a false alarm. I hope the authorities catch the culprit.
The aftermath of the false alarm…
One of the attendees I spoke with before getting on the shuttle brought up an interesting point. This must have been a terrible thing for the Magic: The Gathering players. They probably had hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of cards on the tables when the alarm went off, which they either had to leave behind (and risk having stolen or burned up) or gather up quickly and run out (still potentially losing some).
Costumes Everywhere
Any time you get a group of geeks together, whether for a gaming convention, science-fiction gathering, or other event, there are plenty of people who will put on a costume as part of the fun. I saw quite a lot of costumes this year, though I only took pictures of a few. First, there was this couple at the Champions Online booth:
I’ll admit, I have no idea what this costume was intended to be, but this young lady certainly turned more than a few heads with her very revealing look… I assume the stuff was glued on because there wasn’t a body suit underneath it…
As did this young woman, who was at least appropriately armed to defend herself against the inevitable passes made at her:
And so was this staffer at the Legends of Norrath booth:
From this beautiful young woman, I learned a lot about the price of wearing an elaborate costume to Gen Con:
Her costume was impressive, and I understand it won high honors in the Gen Con costume contest. But with such an impressive costume comes a high cost. I watched as she came from a business across the street from the convention center toward the Exhibit Hall and down the hall. Before she made it to the edge of the street, people stopped her to take a picture. Before she finished crossing the street, they stopped her again for more pictures. Before she got in the convention center, more pictures. Once inside, more again. About 10 feet later, more. And so on. It must have taken her 30 minutes to get from the business across the street to about 50 yards inside the convention center. I’m not the costume-wearing type, but if I ever had the idea to don an elaborate costume, I’m not sure I could be as kind and patient as this young woman was. My hat is off to her, both for the impressive costume and the poise and grace she showed walking around in it.
As usual, there was quite a selection of Star Wars themed costumery…
Above we see a “sand person” whose costume was complete with a staff, sound effects, and mask. A Darth Vader with full head mask and a partial mask underneath. Stormtroopers, and an Obi Wan Kenobi Jedi costume. All of these were really impressive work. Unfortunately, I was on the phone at the time all these folks gathered and I missed the high point… when there were two Darth Vaders, three or four Stormtroopers, a couple of Jedi, and more. You could have filmed a movie scene…
Conclusion
For me, Gen Con always signals the end of the summer. That makes the end of the convention a little sad. I’m already looking forward to next year, though.
As I get the time (work has been very stressful lately), I’ll post more about the games I saw, people I talked to, etc.