I need volunteer support to handle that many tables, and right now I don't believe I have that. I'm optimistic that we'll fill those tables, but a 67% jump in tables from year to year is too much, in my opinion. I believe I'll have my work cut out for me. I lobbied for a more conservative expansion -- going from Evergreen12 to Evergreen123 seemed like a logical expansion given our track record for filled games in the last few years.
Agree on the food service, it wasn't good, but the Fourms seemed quieter than they were the year before, and much quieter than evergreen. I'm in evergreen this year, and I'm already working on getting my "coaching voice" back.
I have another question... Let us assume things went as you suggest. You got Evergreen 1+2+3. you only had, say 400 events. Legends went to the Forum. What do you think would happen next year? Wouldn't you end up in the Forum then? I mean, if if you only grew 25% between XII and XIII, you'd still be at the 500 event mark again, and have outgrown Evergreen. Why not make the move now and have all that space into which you can expand?
Last year we filled 80% of our tables in E12. This year, if we had expanded to E123, we would have filled (I suspect) an equal percentage in growth. If we were to be forced to move to the Forums due to actual capacity issues, I don't believe that would have been an issue even 2 years out. And then, I imagine the convention as a whole would have capacity issues with the current facility.
Wait...80%? So you had 4224 sq ft of space, but only used 80%? Does that mean you could have fit in (4224*.8 =) 3380 sq ft? Man, you would have all fit in Loramoor (3800 sq ft). What is your preferred rate of growth year over year?
We had 80% utilization over all 4 days. So, average that out on slow times (Thursday morning, early, Sunday afternoon late) with heavy times (Friday and Saturday nights, all tables full) and it worked out to 80% utilization. I'd prefer to add 4-6 tables overall, year over year. We had 26 tables last year. This isn't Gamehole, where we jump from 70 to 100 tables, and I start to go a little crazy.
We were in Loramoor for 2 years. First year we fit 18 tables, and the second year we squeezed 21 tables. Both years, the ceiling broke open and filled a localized area with water. We called it the "water feature"
So, what, about 160 sq ft per table? So adding six this year would have added another 960 sq. ft. Too much to fit in EG1+2 (unless the 80% utilization is evened out better), but nowhere near enough to justify taking all of EG1+2+3, right? Add another 960 next year and you could take EG1+2+3 and just fit. One more year of growth after that and you're out of space yet again, yeah? Plus, during all of this time, you've put Legends....where again?