Derek,

Say I schedule a 64-person tournament and it sells out during the event registration window. Do those people simply register for a spot or do they pay in full for the event? I am curious because if I am charging an additional fee, do I lose that fee from the missing player?

If they are paid in full and they do not show up do I just lose the player?

How exactly do I fill that empty spot? In theory, could people just simply register for events and not show up and then the EO is holding empty unfulfilled slots for an event?

Just curious what to expect and how the player is held responsible for events they pre-register for and what I need to plan for if I have missing players.
 

Everyone who buys a ticket for an event pays in full, but you only get paid for whatever tickets you turn in. If someone buys a ticket and they don't show up, you don't get paid.

You can fill no-show spots with walk-ups who have generics (or other tickets of appropriate value) once the event is scheduled to start. We recommend waiting up to 15 minutes for late comers if you can, but if you need to start on time, you certainly can.

Does that answer your question?

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Yes, at least you have to financially commit to an event if you register which forces some burden on the player to not miss an event they paid for in advance.

Can they 'unregister' or withdraw from an event once registered?

Yes, you can return tickets if you want.  If you do so early enough, other folks can buy them.

--
Michael Miller
http://www.esglabs.com/cons/

Players can return tickets for a refund as long as it's at least 30 minutes before the event starts.

Tickets for one event can also be used for another event as an equal value of generics, so that will happen sometimes, too. Usually for TCGs or other games that have a pretty constant churn of the same type of event.

Events are only paid out based on reconciled tickets, not ticket sales.

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Will the number of player hours for badge reimbursement be changing with the slight increase in the 4 day badge cost this year?

Reimbursement is based on the approved schedule, not final attendance. That is called out in the Event Host Policy.

Only straight-up payments (and space in future years) are based on actual reconciled tickets.

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Sorry, Maybe I should have put this somewhere else. I'm aware of the policy. Just wondered if the player hours would increase to 90 with the change in badge price for 2016.

Ah, yeah, that's not really relevant to this topic about no-shows, but we are not currentl planning on increasing the player-hour minimum for 2016. The revised Event Host Policy will be released shortly for reference.

We tend to not just step the player-hour requirement in response to badge price increases because we don't necessarily expect GMs to just start working more. We try to balance it so everyone can get a badge but also get a chance to enjoy the convention.

Player-hour requirements will likely change if/when ticket pricing changes.

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Derek,
 That is a wonderful policy. I have worked for years to bring a group of friends and this is the first time we are "running" in the catalog our events. Looking forward to hosting some wonderful adventures for players and enjoying the con ourselves.

Thank you,

SAbel

Thanks for joining the family! I hope you have a blast running events this year. If you run into any issues or questions, let us know - or post here and get feedback from your fellow GMs.

Thanks again!

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Players can return tickets for a refund as long as it's at least 30 minutes before the event starts.Tickets for one event can also be used for another event as an equal value of generics, so that will happen sometimes, too. Usually for TCGs or other games that have a pretty constant churn of the same type of event.Events are only paid out based on reconciled tickets, not ticket sales.- 
Derek Guder 
Event Manager 
Gen Con LLC

Yes - you could have refunded them online before June 19. After that, you need to bring the ticket to Customer Service onsite at the convention.

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC