This year was my first time ever at GenCon. I had a great time, met many excellent folk and I definitely want to go again next year. Gamers are just my kind of people! However, I could’ve done several things better, reducing some of the real world stresses thereby increasing my enjoyment. And that's the very purpose for this post: to give you the benefit of my first time experience, some tips for surviving GenCon and improving the good time you're sure to have if you decide to go next year. I also plan to refer back to this because a year is a long time back for me to remember...
Booking: I was late booking for GenCon because I thought it would be too expensive to go in the first place and wouldn't fit reasonably into our budget. That changed and I was able to go, so I booked only a few weeks from the con. I'll book much earlier next year so I'll have a better chance of getting a hotel connected to the convention center. This will also reduce almost all non-travel costs and save time otherwise spent walking, standing in long lines and waiting for a badge and event tickets. The lines are football fields long and can take hours. If you book early, GenCon mails everything to you and you're ready to go when you get there. You may not even need a rental car if you're normally a home body or don't plan to go much further than the hotel, local eateries and the convention center.
Event Tickets: I chose not to pre-register for game events because I wasn't sure, other playing the Pathfinder RPG, what I wanted to do or play. This worked out fine for me, but I'd recommend pre-registering if you do know, so you avoid the lines, again waiting for event tickets. Be sure to buy a few generic tickets, since you may find things you didn't know you wanted to do; they give you "second dibs" on "no show" event slots or things that cost generic tickets to begin with. Also, don't over book yourself because you'll want to be sure to have plenty of time to get where you need to be and still enjoy the atmosphere, the dealer room, etc.
Hotels: I stayed in the convention hotel itself, the Coast Bellevue, for PaizoCon and at an outlying hotel, in this case a Best Western, for GenCon. I'll book early to save myself the drive, navigation and walking time to downtown Indianapolis and the convention center. Again, I recommend staying in a hotel connected to the convention center, preferably by skywalk, if you can--GenCon is, after all, held in August so it was real hot outside. This will also save you a lot of money on parking, even if you have to pay nightly hotel valet parking prices. Still, the Best Western was nice and there were even a few gamers staying there too, so this isn't a deal breaker as long as you're prepared for a little more daily travel.
Luggage: Be sure to take an extra bag with you or be prepared to buy one somewhere in town and pay the extra baggage fee, because you're going to spend a lot of time and money in the dealer room. There are things there you can get only by ordering online or locally. You'll want to be sure your stuff gets home in one piece too. I took one suitcase for both PaizoCon and GenCon and had a good deal of trouble repacking. Fortunately, nothing died.
Convention Parking: Just say no. This was perhaps the most ridiculous expense of the trip. I paid anywhere from $14 to $20 per day in parking garages around the convention center. For PaizoCon I decided not to get a rental car at all, though parking would have been free. I'm likely to do the reverse next year--get a car for PaizoCon and no car for GenCon. Oh, and if you see a sign advertising "early bird" parking just remember you have to ARRIVE before 8 AM and LEAVE before 6 PM (the sign doesn't mention the "leave" stipulation). I hate paying for parking. It's like paying for air and they don't even guarantee security.
Airports: Review the government recommendations for packing for air travel. It'll save you some time. I bought a scan-friendly bag for my laptop. I also typically wear flip-flops into the airport with real shoes in a carry on I can change into. If I'm wearing a belt, I stuff it into the carry on too. I've finally grown weary of airport security and so signed up for the Trusted Traveler Program so I won't have to take myself apart just to get to the gate.
Food: I typically find a grocery store when I travel because I don't like relying on hotel vending machines or on being able to find businesses open late at night when I get hungry. I'm a night owl too and sometimes suffer from a bit of insomnia. You can also eat healthier, especially if the hotel has a fridge. The food at the convention center was pretty much movie prices--you're paying for the convenience. However, for GenCon, right across the street was a nice little place called the "AH Barista Cafe." The people there were friendly, their prices were more than reasonable and the quality of the food and coffee was high. For PaizoCon there was a grocery store (a Whole Foods) and a Denny's within walking distance. The hotel also had a courtesy shuttle with a 5 miles radius but food and coffee was easy to find on foot (next time I'll try out the shuttle service though). The hotel restaurant was also reasonable at PaizoCon, though the service was a bit goofy. Take advantage of free hotel breakfasts to save a few silver pieces.
Documents: By the time you get home you're going to have paper coming out of every orifice, from your itinerary and receipts to boarding passes, flyers, book marks and other free convention handouts. I wished I'd had something to keep it all in and next time I will.
Indiana: I had a great time at GenCon, but didn't enjoy the city much at all. The roads were poor, which I found strange considering this is a town that worships the automobile. There were also many boarded up buildings, urban poor, homeless and beggars--I make the distinction because I encountered one--and tons of road construction. They closed a huge section of I-465, the city's main outer loop from the airport. Even the road right in front of the convention center itself was under construction, which meant enjoying the smell of hot tar in August. City government must be on drugs. Most of the local people didn't seem very happy either...
Wi-Fi: Ah, yes. We have the technology... and we're going to charge out the ass for it and it's going to suck. I highly recommend you rely on your smart phone if you have one. Whether wi-fi is even available at the airport appears to depend on its size. Most small regional airports seem to have adequate free wi-fi for checking email. I even managed to play a game or two of Starcraft II so Warcraft is probably playable too. The larger airports, such as DFW, don't offer free wi-fi. Instead, third-party companies come in and offer wi-fi for about $15 a day, only in that airport. So if you have an hour to kill it's obviously not worth it. American Airlines also offers wi-fi on the plane, but I suspect it too is expensive.
Check hotel amenities for free wi-fi or Internet, many offer it these days. The PaizoCon wi-fi was entirely messed up and I had to go down stairs near the lobby to access it. The wi-fi at the Best Western for GenCon was sort of laggy, but adequate for email and such.
You can forget wi-fi at the convention center. They're going to charge airport prices. Nearby hotel lobbies have limited range free wi-fi including the Westin and the Omni. I really didn't check any others but suspect it's about the same. If you have a reading device (I have a Barnes & Noble Nook) you can also use it as a wi-fi tricorder.
Money: I use Quicken. I wished I'd installed it on my laptop, because it would have made my expense tracking much easier. Opinions vary on whether it's safe to wi-fi banking information, but I've read that you're in more danger of having someone read over your shoulder, so track your expenses back at the hotel. There are also expense tracking apps for smart phones, but I'm not real keen on the idea of connecting to my bank without better security measures and wi-f banking is relatively new which means it probably still sucks.
Interestingly, I was a victim of identify theft after PaizoCon. However, the probable source wasn't even electronic. In the future I'm going to carry cash or travelers checks because too many folks are still using antiquated carbon copy credit card sliders. I'm fair certain that my card number was lifted from a SuperShuttle receipt, by a Spanish speaker (the purchases were very telling). Avoid this: get some petty cash or traveler's checks. If you can, leave your check card at home or in your wallet and use an identity-theft protected high credit limit card for everything. This isn't the first time either, but I've never had a problem reversing the situation because I protect myself. It can happen to anyone.
6 comments:
great comments. I hope to go to GenCon next year so this is helpful.
If you do, look me up and maybe we can game together! I'm always looking to meet new folks. :)
Hey Richard,
I may be able to get out there next year. Perhaps sharing accommodations will be beneficial?
I certainly would. The overall highest expense is the flight and the hotel runs a close second. The hotel I stayed in was like a small apartment with two rooms, a living area with comfy couch and a bedroom. There was a group of 3-4 guys down the half who shared a room to cut down on expenses.
Hmm, back in June Southwest had a 40th anniversary special where flights upto 450 miles were $40 and flights upto 1,250 miles were $80 (one way). Perhaps we can find a deal before next year;). How many days did you go for?
I went a day before and left the day after, so 6 days total. I don't like to rush around when I travel. :)
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