Luke: Regarding Registration Changes

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by heyscot, Feb 3, 2016.

  1. mr.peabody

    mr.peabody Level 0 Character

    @brendar, @athornton - Hey guys. It's my first year at the con, but this (event ticketing and IT system logistics) is actually what I do for a living and have for over a decade. I'd split the beer tab with with @athornton if you guys wanted to explore how to build this out in the future robustly, but on the cheap. There are more options than you might think, and I'm pretty familiar with most, depending on your needs.
     
  2. gizmomathboy

    gizmomathboy Spellbinder

    Two beers even, or a beer and a shot of whiskey. Don't want to think their might be something up the other sleeve...
     
  3. jim skach

    jim skach Troubadour

    Can I just sit and listen? I mean, I'll buy a round of course...
     
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  4. athornton

    athornton Footpad

    This is sounding sort of awesome. I look a lot like my avatar with a more luxuriant beard. And I'll probably be wearing contacts rather than my glasses. And you'll probably run into me during the four days of the con anyway.
     
  5. Handy Haversack

    Handy Haversack Chevalier

    @athornton , it happens that @mr.peabody is a friend of mine. I can vouch for his skills and ability to pick up bar tabs. We'll make sure to hook all up. Maybe Paolo and I can get Into the Odd while you guys talk shop!
     
  6. mr.peabody

    mr.peabody Level 0 Character

    an IT logistics conversation at GaryCon over beers. What could possibly be better?!?! >I think my wife is making fun of me again< I'll keep an eye out for you
     
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  7. athornton

    athornton Footpad

    Well, you could, but this is also Paolo's shop talk, so he might be in this conversation as well.....
     
  8. brendar

    brendar Staff Member Staff Member

    A lot of assumptions and judgements are made based on the fact that this is year 8 of the Con. I can't speak to years 1-7, as I wasn't running things then.

    All I'm gonna say is, this is the first year Luke gave me the keys, and I'm just getting started.
     
  9. Jarlaxle

    Jarlaxle Troubadour

    If they start doing a per-event charge, then Garycon VIII will be my last Garycon.
     
  10. athornton

    athornton Footpad

    It just struck me that "fat bald middle-aged white guy with a big beard" isn't going to do a lot to distinguish me at Gary Con. Eh, we'll find each other.
     
    PBurke and mark like this.
  11. gmbarry

    gmbarry Footpad

    Ok, as a first year attendee, here are my thoughts on Registration. I bought the gold badge in order to attend. I wanted the GP games... There was another game I wanted more than the GP Games and I did not get that

    So, before you say, I am a first year and my opinion means nothing let me say this. I am running 9 games and 32+ hours of games for about 70 seats more or less, I have gone to tons of conventions in NJ /and some in PA.

    I scheduled my games around playing in certain games, not getting into one game out of the 3 is disappointing. I understand the fairness factor, but buying a gold badge and rearranging my schedule to make sure I was able to register and having the server error several times cost me a slot... granted it may be a blessing as I have really never went to a con to play, only to run and if I played in a game, that was a bonus

    SO the game I missed out on was a SP game.

    my recommendation is to

    have a few GP games open to gold badges (Like a total of 3-6 GP games - one or 2 each on Thursday, Friday afternoon and Sunday) for early registration and if they do not sell out, open it to everyone...

    Open registration of SP games to GM's who are running more than 4 sessions or 16 hours and give them the first pick...

    I don't think this would upset the fairness of registration
     
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  12. Melf

    Melf Administrator Staff Member

    At the time I made the comment that we have to scrap GP/SPs, I was under the impression there was not a feasible way to accomplish this feat. I like the one cost for a badge and done- even if it skews price comparisons a little. We can pull in some of the knowledgeable folks and look at options and cost (time as well as $). The imperative is NO MORE REG NIGHTMARES! I find it really frustrating and disappointing to experience these problems just like all of you. I am the leadership for Gary Con and that means I share in all the successes with the staff, but the failures belong to me. And I don't like to fall below the standard. As always, we as a team appreciate all the constructive criticism. Targeted feedback allows us to identify issues and develop solutions to make GC a better experience.

    See you all in like 25 days!
     
  13. Melf

    Melf Administrator Staff Member


    GMBarry- first off welcome to Gary Con! I like the idea of offering GMs an incentive like that versus the badge credits or x dollars per event. I like GMs to come and run because they love gaming and we can give them cool perks like GM cup, Unique GM shirt and something like this. We'll see if its feasible to implement.

    See you at Gary Con
     
  14. Liverpuncher

    Liverpuncher Level 0 Character

    Luke -

    The community clearly holds your family in the highest esteem - and we'll continue to support this con through thick and thin.
    With that said, I think it would be helpful if the con had a broader/ larger IT advisory board. The volunteers have clearly put a ton of time and effort into this con - and tried their hardest to customize the solution. Throughout the registration challenges they've had a great attitude and been very helpful. With that said, it's clear there are too few technical people supporting the con.

    The good news is that there are many highly experienced IT folks who are gamers / who attend the con - and I know they'd be willing to participate in some capacity. From being an advisor in stress testing the technical architecture assumptions - and even participate in testing. If this is of interest let me know, and I can help get folks together next year.

    Regards,
    Nick
     
  15. Jon

    Jon Level 0 Character

    > broader/ larger IT advisory board

    Agreed. GaryCon clearly already has wonderful, caring people involved, and the empathy does help. Nevertheless, the problems remain agonizing to those impacted and are technical execution in nature, not relationship management in nature. If there were a board, I could bring 30+ years of software development and technical leadership.

    Jon
     
  16. Traxion

    Traxion Footpad

    What if you restricted people to only registering for 1 or 2 events per day?
    This would sort out the preference thing and still give people with more GP more VIP events.

    In the first 6 years, I only managed to register for half a dozen events total because of the all-at-once registration system. Typically, I wander around looking for games with open slots. This year I splurged to try and get into more "choice" games. I still missed out on 3 of them and then I missed two (2nd choice) when registration re opened. BUT, I'm registered for a ton of great games this year. I'll likely still end up wandering to fill a few times slots and I had to spend a lot to get them (both in money paid to the attend and in time off work to register). I doubt I'll do it again, and I'm satisfied this year, but I do hope for improvements. Individual ticket charges wont solve the problems of systems jamming, or checkout being hacked, or people opening multiple windows to register faster. Having a tiered and/or throttled registration process will.
     
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  17. mwisconsin

    mwisconsin Administrator Staff Member

    Oddly enough, this was proposed last year after the last web developer went AWOL. I was the only one to survive the suggestion of a board. I'm not sure what that says about me, but I feel as if Gary gave me a gift in my life I can never repay.
     
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  18. francisca

    francisca Troubadour

    You forgot "black t-shirt".
     
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  19. diaglo

    diaglo Chevalier

    dark socks, sandals, and cargo pants.

    hey, there must be pics from the previous Gary Cons on here somewhere.

    diaglo "i fit the profile but not necessarily my shirt" Ooi
     
  20. Jarlaxle

    Jarlaxle Troubadour

    Does that mean I will stand out, in work pants and boots?
     

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