RPG: Gen Con Is On This Year – Slated For September
Gen Con, one of the biggest tabletop gaming conventions out there has announced that they are back on–coming this September.
What a year it’s been and it’s barely past the first day of Spring. And yet even now there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel we’ve all been living in for the last year-that-feels-like-half-a-decade. As more and more people are vaccinated and more knowledge of both efficacy and best practices spread, the world is slowly finding its feet again. You can already see many events that were once virtual pushing to later this year.
Late last week, Gen Con announced that they’d be going forward with plans to hold their convention in-person later this year based on guidance from the CDC and projections from the federal government. Though it will be a modified convention taking place over three concurrent events: an in-person convention, held in Indianapolis, this is the Gen Con most people know and love, but will have a lower attendance cap; there will also be plenty of livestreamed and online content through gen Con Online which last year featured both online panels and gaming, and there will be local events at games stores, called Pop-Up Gen Con.
Let’s take a look at the different events, per their latest press release:
This is the plan. Based on guidance from the CDC, recent announcements by the federal government, and the projections of public-health experts, we believe there is significant cause for optimism for a mid-September convention to be held with reduced attendance and some smart modifications. If that changes and the experts tell us we need to shift course, then the plan will change.
We want to give you options so you can choose how to participate in Gen Con this year, be it in Indianapolis, at your Friendly Local Game Store, or at home from your favorite chair. If you have a badge now but don’t feel comfortable attending in person, I totally understand. You can either roll your badge forward to next year with a price-lock guarantee or get a refund in dollars or system credit.
Schedules, badge, and hotel information will be announced soon once more details are locked in. But for now, it seems that Gen Con, which canceled its in-person event last May (how was that only MAY) will be among the few leading the charge back to in-person events. Here’s a look at some of the precautions they’re taking:
How is Gen Con ensuring safety at the convention?
Our partners at the Indiana Convention Center are continuing to develop best practices for convention safety with the recommendations of state and local health departments. You can read about their efforts here.
AdvertisementIn addition, we will continue to work with events industry professionals and public-health officials to determine safe ways to run this and all future Gen Cons. Our industry presents unique challenges and we will be very diligent in developing appropriate policies and procedures for in-person attendance.
Health and safety measures will be determined as get closer to the show based on public health guidelines. This will include potential combinations of mask-wearing, temperature and symptom checks, and social distancing.
At this time we do not know whether or not vaccines will be required, though we strongly encourage all eligible community members to get vaccinated as soon as they are able!
It’s an interesting place to be, for sure–even with a reduced attendance cap, will people still feel comfortable traveling? Will events like this continue to be a hybrid of physical and virtual? For many who couldn’t attend Gen Con in person even without the threat of a global pandemic, the shift to an online event opened up an opportunity. And even once this pandemic has subsided, how soon will people be ready to face something that looks like this:
Hopefully those same doors will remain open even once we’re all comfortable getting close enough to pick up con crud again.
What do you think? Would you feel comfortable attending a “reduced” Gen Con? What would you want to see there? What precautions would you want taken?
