Index cards are cheap but the rest might be a bit costly. Maybe downgrade to a lightweight one-ear headset with a custom phone app that runs like a conference call or something? It wouldn't be the same without an enormous springy antenna on top though.
Recommend avoiding anything requiring players and GMs to have to bring to the table. If something is required there will be a number of folks left out or turned off.
I found the volume level to be much better this year. We literally had to yell our intentions in Harold Johnson's game on Saturday last year. Scrapping the band, spreading out and utilizing curtains, if affordable, all sound like good ways to go. I will try to be more conscious of volume next year and control my table if/when needed.
While the over-all volume was better, there were a couple circumstances where the volume was too much. Most notably I had a game that had to be stopped after about an hour due to the volume being too much for our hearing impaired GM. I hope that GM's with hearing issues are allowed to use some of the private "VIP" rooms next year.
This would be great. It also pays to run your game early in the morning if you are hard of hearing or soft-spoken. I will reconsider running my events in the future during the peak hours of the convention, in favor of starting early or maybe running very late in the evening/night.
It turns out one of my regular players is one of the three people in charge of Concentric. I've passed his contact info on so they should have a chance to talk soon. As of right now, there are no CCC cons planned for this year.
Michael- I sure hope you and the whole DGS crew return for many years! We love having you at Gary Con.
That is a really useful bit of information to gather. Do you GM have any conditions that might impact your ability to run a game in a large open room- or something to that effect
Very much this. I was relaying the background intro for the adventure to my players when the music started. I did not bother to fight to be heard as my voice was already shot. While I waited, I could see that many of the other GMs and players at the surrounding tables were not happy.
Other than spread people out more and getting rid of the bar band, I saw sound baffling walls at NTRPG con that really helped reduce noise. Still had fun!
I have also had people complain about people laughing to much during my games so I have decided to take out all the humor from all my game henceforth. Which is weird because all my games have such somber themes.
It's astounding Time is fleeting Madness takes its toll But listen closely Not for very much longer I've got to keep control I remember doing the Time Warp Drinking those moments when The blackness would hit me And the void would be calling .......