It's becoming more clear every hour that GaryCon2020 will have to be canceled. It's heartbreaking for all of us that we won't be able to celebrate Gary in person and meet up with all our friends and have a great long weekend of gaming. But it's the world we're in right now. Luke is in a really hard spot right now as the leader of the event. Not only does he have to struggle with everything we're going through, but he's responsible for making the call as to whether to go forward. In a very real way, lives may be in his hands. Plus he and the team have already spent money up front for this con that might be lost. Plus he has to navigate contracts with the venue. Plus he has tons of questions to answer and details to nail down. In the event of a cancelation, Luke has to figure out how refunds would work. Would TableTop refund their processing fees? Can GaryConInc (if there is such a thing) fully refund all badges? Would a penalty be due to the venue? Will he mail everybody their swag bags? Will Grand Geneva refund all hotel rooms? Will Fairfield refund all "nonrefundable" hotel deposits (this is where those bumped out of Grand Geneva were sent, with a nonrefundable deposit provision)? What about scheduling for 2021 GaryCon which is something that happens normally about now anyway? Is there insurance? Can 2021 badge prices be increased to make up for 2020 losses (which maybe is needed anyway due to supply/demand curve)? So much more. There's so much on Luke's plate right now, and I'm sure he wants to get all these issues resolved before he makes an announcement. We all greatly need certainty in this uncertain time, so it's understandable to want answers and closure. Let's be patient and let Luke figure it all out. He's proven to come through for us in the past and will again. I think it's a great idea to organize separate online events (see other threads) to keep the gaming going. Or other alternatives to remember Gary.
Great idea!!! The show must go on. I’ve been hearing a lot of DMs are going in that direction. let’s do what we can to move online.
For anyone using just this forum and not watching Facebook, Luke posted the below last night: If you have trouble reading between lines, Luke is ready to cancel, but there's an active contract with Grand Geneva that has as of yet not been invalidated by current governmental action on the pandemic. Talks are underway. Also, I see some talk about online gaming also on Facebook. I really hope we cross post those activities and get games together!
Hold on. No badge refunds? I never imagined that the badge money would be involuntarily kept. Not even money-hungry corporations do that, perhaps because they don't want to get sued for even more. With refunds, I would have been willing to hand over more than that voluntarily to help out the Con in a tough situation. Without, this feels really dirty. Maybe if the discounts for 2021 badges are in the 90% plus range, we could consider that to be effectively a refund. I guess do whatever you think is right, and we'll do what we have to do from there. Right now you're on the path of taking my favorite Con and turning it into one I would actively shun.
