No more media guests?
Posted by auricrav
#1

One thing I always enjoy during  GenCon is meeting the media guests in my downtime. Is this no longer happening? I haven't seen any official announcements about it, nor any saying who they would be.

If there aren't any, I will be disappointed but it won't be a deal breaker for me. Just something I'd miss is all. 

Thanks

Posted by octaviancmb
#2

I don't think it's an official policy that there will be no more media guests ever.

But there are no media guests this year.

You can still meet several content creators, novelists, artists, cosplayers, and songmongers, though, if you're interested in those types of experiences!

Posted by auricrav
#3

I sure do. I have met and talked to some great authors and artists in the past :) 

i was was just hoping I'd get to get some more actors this year, but it's all good. 

Posted by trace_sl
#4

Authors and artist will be there, see the Experience Tab > Guest of Honor at top of page for list. 

   

Posted by brotherbock
#5

There's a rumor they might be bringing in Val Kilmer for an autograph session... 

Posted by gib_rebeg
#6

Do have one kinda media guest of honor showing to do autographs.

Matthew Mercer who is an animation voice actor will be attending. 

Matthew Mercer Autograph Session #1
Thu 4:00 pm - Thu 5:00 pm 0/45 0.00
Matthew Mercer Autograph Session #2
Fri 10:00 am - Fri 11:00 am 15/45 0.00
Matthew Mercer Autograph Session #3
Fri 4:00 pm - Fri 6:00 pm 37/90 0.00
Matthew Mercer Autograph Session #4
Sat 11:00 am - Sat 12:00 pm 57/90 0.00
Matthew Mercer Autograph Session #5
Sat 4:00 pm - Sat 6:00 pm 65/90 0.00
Matthew Mercer Autograph Session #6
Sun 2:00 pm - Sun 3:00 pm 0/45 0.00

Posted by rhone1
#7

It is always cool to meet authors and artists at Gen Con.  I found a couple of great books at Gen Con after meeting the writers last year.

Posted by gib_rebeg
#8

That may be so rhone1.

But I'm old enough to remember when Gencon was in Milwaukee. The Media Guest were a strong draw for locals on Saturday who would buy a one day just to meet and get autographs. They didn't really show for the games or the rest of the convention. For Gencon is was a good source of income from a group of people who found Gencon not really their style. But still went for the Media stars.

To me, it feels more like Gencon is now days passing up another source to draw in locals from Indy who are not interested in the games or other stuff going on.

Posted by brotherbock gib_rebeg
#9

gib_rebeg wrote:
That may be so rhone1.
But I'm old enough to remember when Gencon was in Milwaukee. The Media Guest were a strong draw for locals on Saturday who would buy a one day just to meet and get autographs. They didn't really show for the games or the rest of the convention. For Gencon is was a good source of income from a group of people who found Gencon not really their style. But still went for the Media stars.
To me, it feels more like Gencon is now days passing up another source to draw in locals from Indy who are not interested in the games or other stuff going on.

Frankly, with 60k attendees already, the last thing I want is several thousand more showing up to clog the hallways just to meet celebs. If attendance was waning, they might be concerned. But gaming itself is becoming much more popular and mainstream than it was when we were coming to GenCon in the 90s. No need for celebs as a draw now, not when games are the draw. 

Posted by ladyimm
#10

More than many other guest of honor they've had - Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon were at Gencon 2 years ago and, to me, that was like meeting George Takei or Jeri Ryan! I was waaay more excited meeting 2 of my favorite authors than pretty much anyone else (except the cast from the original Battlestar Galactica... )

Posted by amaranth
#11

This is extremely disappointing to me, especially since I passed up going last year, thus missing out on meeting Summer Glau.  I was hoping someone of equal caliber would be there this year.  It is the media guests that make the difference for me choosing GenCon over smaller, more gaming oriented cons.  Maybe next year it will be Gary Con instead.  At least that would save me some money.  By some, I mean a lot.  Lol

Posted by brotherbock amaranth
#12

amaranth wrote:
This is extremely disappointing to me, especially since I passed up going last year, thus missing out on meeting Summer Glau.  I was hoping someone of equal caliber would be there this year.  It is the media guests that make the difference for me choosing GenCon over smaller, more gaming oriented cons.  Maybe next year it will be Gary Con instead.  At least that would save me some money.  By some, I mean a lot.  Lol

Not being judgy at all, just wanting to ask--at something as huge as Gen Con, what is the draw of 'meeting' someone like this?

Don't get me wrong, I have gotten a few autographs before. I spent over an hour chatting with Star Wars actors one year because there was literally no one else in their booth area and I could actually have conversations with them.

But at something like Gen Con, aren't most of the opportunities to 'meet' someone going to be so brief as to not really count as a 'meeting'? If it's the few seconds you get at the front of the line before the next person is whisked through...what's the appeal? Again, not saying there isn't an appeal, I just don't see it. A meeting where the other person isn't even likely to remember it doesn't seem like a meeting to me.

Anyway, that said, hope you have fun. And certainly don't stop going to meet your favorite celebs because some dude like me doesn't get it :)

Posted by auricrav
#13

The appeal for me is just getting the chance to meet them for a little while, shake their hand and get an autograph. Not every moment of the con is spent playing the games I am interested in, so getting to do that, when sometimes those stars don't come to cons local to me, is an added bonus.

If not for GenCon, I wouldn't have had the chance to meet the Star Trek actors that I watched as a kid. Meeting some of my favorite authors and artists have been awesome too. But when it comes to fantasy and sci-fi, I think the media format is just as important to us fans.

But that's just my two gold pieces...

Posted by columbia611
#14

I'm going to be really bummed if there are no media guests. Honestly, I don't care about meeting authors or artists, I just want to meet people from my favorite shows and movies. The fact that there are no featured media guests this year is very upsetting to me. We always buy our tickets in advance and get our hotel rooms as soon as they open the housing up, and this year I feel like GenCon planners have kinda let me down. 

Posted by galahadkoa brotherbock
#15

brotherbock wrote:
gib_rebeg wrote:
That may be so rhone1.
But I'm old enough to remember when Gencon was in Milwaukee. The Media Guest were a strong draw for locals on Saturday who would buy a one day just to meet and get autographs. They didn't really show for the games or the rest of the convention. For Gencon is was a good source of income from a group of people who found Gencon not really their style. But still went for the Media stars.
To me, it feels more like Gencon is now days passing up another source to draw in locals from Indy who are not interested in the games or other stuff going on.

Frankly, with 60k attendees already, the last thing I want is several thousand more showing up to clog the hallways just to meet celebs. If attendance was waning, they might be concerned. But gaming itself is becoming much more popular and mainstream than it was when we were coming to GenCon in the 90s. No need for celebs as a draw now, not when games are the draw. 

The fact that Gen Con has been growing would make me think they are more likely to have celebrity guests, but business logic also says if they are growing without those kinds of guests then they don't need to spend the money. I know Gen Con isnt the San Diego Comic Con, but it would be nice to see a few guest stars show up. 

Posted by m17336
#16

for all the money for badges and getting the $2.00 ticket to get a autograph they  can't bring someone in is pretty sad

Posted by utherpend
#17

I guess I need to read the forums more since a lot of what I am seeing here would have more than likely caused me to cancel my ticket and simply met friends I wanted to see from out of town. 

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