From the EO/GM newsletter:
Limited Event Submission for Gen Con Indy 2021 Due to constrained space and time available for events on our new dates of September 16-19 this year, as well as anticipated requirements for social distancing and safety precautions, event submission will be limited to a curated list of event organizers. This list is primarily composed of groups that run sufficient volume of events to manage dedicated space for the whole convention, as well as some additional key events. If you would like to run physical events at Gen Con Indy this year, either because you have enough GMs to manage several tables or have an idea particularly well suited to this year’s limitations, please email [email protected] with a detailed summary for approval. Event organizers that are not pre-approved will not have access to the event submission form for Gen Con Indy 2021. Expanded open gaming space will be provided this year to accommodate independent and individual GMs, though games in those spaces will not be ticketed or scheduled in our registration system. This change is only for this year. Details on event submission for 2022 and beyond will be provided on the typical timeline for convention planning. Existing events submitted in 2020 will be canceled shortly, but will still be visible in your account for future reference. Absence from Gen Con Indy 2021 will not have any detrimental effect on space consideration or assignments for future conventions - this is a challenging year for many and will not be held against anyone. Event organizers and GMs that will not be attending Gen Con Indy are encouraged to run events at Gen Con Online. Online events will follow a different submission, review, and registration timeline, the details for which will be announced soon. For more information on Gen Con’s current plans for the convention in Indianapolis this year, please refer to our April Health and Safety Update. - Gen Con Events Team
Due to constrained space and time available for events on our new dates of September 16-19 this year, as well as anticipated requirements for social distancing and safety precautions, event submission will be limited to a curated list of event organizers. This list is primarily composed of groups that run sufficient volume of events to manage dedicated space for the whole convention, as well as some additional key events. If you would like to run physical events at Gen Con Indy this year, either because you have enough GMs to manage several tables or have an idea particularly well suited to this year’s limitations, please email [email protected] with a detailed summary for approval. Event organizers that are not pre-approved will not have access to the event submission form for Gen Con Indy 2021. Expanded open gaming space will be provided this year to accommodate independent and individual GMs, though games in those spaces will not be ticketed or scheduled in our registration system. This change is only for this year. Details on event submission for 2022 and beyond will be provided on the typical timeline for convention planning. Existing events submitted in 2020 will be canceled shortly, but will still be visible in your account for future reference. Absence from Gen Con Indy 2021 will not have any detrimental effect on space consideration or assignments for future conventions - this is a challenging year for many and will not be held against anyone. Event organizers and GMs that will not be attending Gen Con Indy are encouraged to run events at Gen Con Online. Online events will follow a different submission, review, and registration timeline, the details for which will be announced soon.
For more information on Gen Con’s current plans for the convention in Indianapolis this year, please refer to our April Health and Safety Update.
- Gen Con Events Team
So does this mean that GMs who don't belong to an organization won't be able to run in-person events this year? I saw the bit about "open gaming" space, but if they're not ticketed or in the registration system, then what's the point (who's going to be able to find what events are being run without those listings)?
Not as a scheduled, ticketed event at Gen Con Indy, correct.
Independent GMs who want to run events this year are encouraged to submit events for Gen Con Online, join an existing group, form their own group with other Independent GMs, or run in designated open gaming space.
Exceptions can be made for unique events, and folks can email those details to us, but we won't have the space or time to manage the usual volume of individual event submissions, unfortunately.
- Derek Guder Director of Events Gen Con LLC
What qualifies as a "unique event?"
If you have an idea, email us the details so we can discuss it, but that would generally be something like a LARPs, special event, multi-table game, or similar - something more than a typical "one table, one game" setup we would normally see at the convention.
Since individual events aren't going have their events show up in the official registration system, can we at least get a small corner of this message board to act as an unofficial registration listing, so that we can put the word out about our events?
We'll look into that and see what we can provide for this year.
"Independent GMs who want to run events this year are encouraged to submit events for Gen Con Online, join an existing group, form their own group with other Independent GMs, or run in designated open gaming space."
Forming/joining a group with other independent GMs sounds like an intriguing option, but I could definitely use more info on the metrics required before putting in the organizational effort. For example, how many players and hours would we need to support for viability?
In a normal year, there is no minimum requirement to be a group - a single GM can submit a single event under a group name.
For physical events for this year only, you'll want to shoot for "running several tables pretty much all weekend" as the threshold. For board & card games, that's likely around 6 tables. For RPGs, that may vary a bit - we can probably reserve space in block of 4 tables or so, but that will be a bit more fluid, most likely.
As a rule of thumb, you probably want to form a group of 4-6+ GMs if y'all are running 8+ hours a day or 10+ if it's more ~4 hours per day from each GM.
They key is utilizing a block of tables well enough that we can reserve it for you to manage and maintain over the convention.
This is a devastating decision. I have used ticketed events to justify going to Gen Con for years now and Im sure many others do as well. Will you allow another year of ticket deferment for those who would prefer to wait for a full Gen Con event?
Basically, yes - because of the uncertainty and limited space for this year, as well as the addition of Gen Con Online component at the same time, we're looking for groups and companies that can manage their own areas. That means they can juggle their schedules and keep an eye on potential crowds, etc. - but most importantly, it means that we can coordinate with a single point of contact to handle many events at once.