The hard work of everyone who runs events at Gen Con is really what makes this such a special convention. As a way to recognize that, we select a number of gaming groups each year that had the highest rate of ticket reconciliation and attendance, as a percentage of their submitted schedule.
Benefits There are a number of benefits to being a premier event group:
Event Highlights Due Monday 1 Event highlights must be emailed to [email protected]. All text must be attached in an .rtf file and images must be attached as separate .jpg or .png files.
List of Premier Groups This is the full list of premier groups for 2016:
Criteria The criteria for inclusion in the Premier Event list are:
Tickets turned in for more than 90% of events. Groups must maintain turn in tickets for more than 90& of their events (i.e. 10 out of 11 events must have some kind of ticket data, even if it’s “0 players showed up”).
Maintain at least an 80% overall attendance rate. A group's total actual attendance (based on tickets turned in) must be at least 80% of the total maximum number of players, as submitted with the group's events.
60+ Actual Players Groups must run events for a total of at least 60 actual players, based on ticket data.
Discretionary Criteria In addition, groups that are eligible for the program as a result of their tickets must still maintain a good working relationship with Gen Con. Specifically, groups must still submit in their events and badge/hotel requests on time (and accurately). We reserve the right to refuse inclusion of a group for any reason, including too many errors during event submission, late requests, excessive complaints, or other significant problems and obstacles.
- Derek Guder Event Manager Gen Con LLC
Thanks for the info, Derek.
I know we sometimes grumble about this or that over the years, but our BYOV GMs appreciate programs like this and the work it takes to coordinate it all. And, by the way, the new Special Interest category for non Premier GMs. That's a great idea.
You mean Gen Con presents? That's not new :)
I know space is limited. Is there a rough idea on how many groups will get their write-ups accepted for the program book?
Not really - I expect it'll be "about the same as last year" which was something like 20, if I recall correctly off the top of my head. I'd have to go back and count.
Thanks! One more question: Do the writeups still need to have the groups refer to themselves in the third person? Evil Fleet finds it to be an awkward read in that format, but Evil Fleet can do that if it's required.
Derek does not recall a strict requirement for third-person voice in previous highlights, so he suspects it will be fine to adapt as appropriate and preferred.
Hey Derek, if our listing of Key Events is incorporated in our writeup, can we go a few words over the 150? I'm at around 155...it's rhyming poetry, and I'd hate to wreck the meter by ditching five more words.
Forgive my naivete, but does this email Look like:
Email body: Company name, 10-word summery, 2-3 event highlight, Love so-in-so Attached: 150 word general description .rtf Attached: 300dpi photo .png
I know that I went ahead and sent a brief note in the body and included the 10 word Event Description, the 150 word Event Highlight and the Key Event info in the .RTF itself since the email said "All text must be attached in an .rtf file ".
Had the same questioning of myself with that one but decided it was better to follow the letter of what was stated than to make assumptions.
- Brendan W
If you're just over 150 words, we'll see what will fit.
And it's better to put all the content in the RTF attachment, to save us the work of having to copy it in. Basically, we make a big folder & document with all the text and images so that our graphic design folks have what they need to work with and everything is labeled properly.
Cool, thanks :) I wrote the bulk of it, and our Event Coordinator added the game ID numbers and formatting. So with those, we're sitting at a 10 word summary, plus one writeup that includes the key events and is I think just under 160 words (counting event ID numbers as one word each). So all total, it's smaller than 150 words plus a separate key events list.
Hope you like it :)
Hey Derek, Slightly embarassing question. Last year D20 Burlesque was told we were a Premier event, but then we ended up not getting any of the premier event perks such as being mentioned in the emails or getting an extra write up, etc. This year I see we are not listed as a Premier group. Has Gen Con decided to not have "mature" entertainment (I see Glitter Guild is also not listed) be eligible for Premier Event status or is it that last year our ticket sales just weren't high enough to get the status for 2016?
Anja D20 Burlesque
Your event from last year was marked as a premier group - what specific benefits did you not receive?
We don't call premier groups out individually in emails, we just reference the category and point attendees to the export that includes all events with tickets remaining.
And by "extra write-up," do you mean the highlight in the program guide? Unfortunately, I don't have the submitted content handy from last year, since I would indisposed while that was going on - when did you submit that?
As for this year, there is no policy change. We don't preclude mature events from the list. Looking at your data, you don't meet the minimum requirements. I'd be happy to go into more detail via email, if you want.
I emailed back to confirm, but haven't heard back. Just given the deadline, I wanted to make sure you got our submission before it's too late.
Edit: thanks for the help Derek :)
You're fine :)