Inevitably, there is always one person who does not show up for the event.  How long should you wait before accepting a generic for that event?  In the past I have waited 15 minutes (that's what we did in college before we assumed the prof wasn't going to show up).  Also, if the person holding the original ticket shows up 40 minutes late (or thereabouts) and insists on playing, what do you do?  I have not had this specific thing happen, but I can see where it might.  Any thoughts?

Every event I've ever played at GenCon waits 10 minutes.  This is my first year running events and that's my intention as well.

For sparks, we do the 10 min thing too..  BUT prefer to start as close to the time as possible.

As for what to do when the ticket holder DOES show up..  Sorry bub..  you're too late. 
Now you COULD be nice and take HIS ticket, and give generics for it..  But its not required.

Now you COULD be nice and take HIS ticket, and give generics for it..  But its not required.

It depends on the event.

We encourage waiting up to 15 minutes for late folks to show up, assuming the event can accommodate that kind of delay.

If you need to start on time, however, either because it's a tight tournament or you have an RPG that is already packing a lot into 4 hours or whatever else, you can technically start right on time, if necessary.

In short, if a player shows up late, they're late. It is a courtesy to wait for them to arrive and you should extend it whenever you can, but it is not a requirement.

(though if we get lots of complaints it happens with all your events, we'll suggest just submitting a longer session to account for that)

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

In this case, if the registered player shows up just after you started and it's too late, then they can just go to customer service and try to get a refund for it. Tell the local HQ that they just missed it and they should be taken care of.

But do not trade tickets.

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

I have had it happen.  This is actually covered in the rules you get as a GM when you agree to the contract.  I believe it is 15 minutes.  What I do is begin an introduction to the game which takes 5 minutes.  I then take the tickets at the table.  If they are all present, I move on.  If I get generics, and I always do, I tell them that I must wait until 15 after start time.  We start the game.  If the boob shows up late and it is within 15 minutes, I explain that I have space in the game for more players.  I allow a vote.  If so much as one person has a problem with it, the generic tickets go back and I take the ticket.  If they are all ok, I welcome both and the game starts.  I have never had a problem.  I set games for 8 players but we have as many at 10.  Once I had 3 ticketed folks and 5 with generics.   

1. In RPG events, some people have a definite comfort level when it comes to playing with a specific number of other players.  For example, they think six is perfect but eight is too many.  They may have signed up for your event in part because it was listed as having a maximum of X players.

2.  By having the players vote, you're putting a player with that comfort level in a very awkward position. Either they speak up and have to take the role of the stick in the mud objecting to the extra player hoping to get in, or they say nothing and have a less than optimal gaming experience. 

If you can run the game with as many as ten, I would list it that way in the catalog. If nothing else, you would get two tables to work with instead of trying to crowd ten people plus you around one standard Gen Con round table. 

Tables?  We use as many as 3 tables.  There is always enough room.   

Last thought here.  I think that players who show up late are rude.  Rude to everyone else the that table.  But I get it, and it is GenCon.  Its about having fun.  I do what works for me and the players and I have made a lot of great friends at the tables at GenCon.  Do what works for you, right? 

(Agreed on not making change, just saying that their ticket is not useless to them, correct?)

Technically true, but if you're like me and schedule your weekend out (and thus haven't used generics for years) it's effectively useless.

My point is just that any event ticket is a generic ticket for a game of the same cost. So making change with generics is unnecessary. 

Watchdog, that's a good point. But still not allowed :) 

I know it's not allowed.  My point IMO is one of the reasons why.

I still think tickets for events that are over shouldn't be usable for other events. Give people incentive to return them.