With most of the moderation staff in attendance at Gen Con Indy this year, we thought it might be kinda nice to actually get to meet some of the Dumpshock folks and put Faces to the Handles.

With the crowds and the hustle and bustle of the convention, it's tough to pick out people in the crowds, and I've found that some of you mugs are really bad about introducing yourselves, even if you know who we are. Trust me, it's perfectly ok to say "Hey, you're Bull? I'm X from Dumpshock." I don't bite. Much. Anyways, we figured the easiest way to do this would be to get together at one of the events at the con, and what better one than the "What's Up With..." event, the little Q&A seminar where Adam, Rob, and the IMR/Catalyst guys will talk about the upcoming products and answer questions from the unruly masses.

This year the "What's Up with..." Seminar is at the Embassy Suites at Noon on Saturday, the 18th, in "Coronation 2". It's about an hour long, and afterward we'll round up any Dumpshockers to hang out and chat down in the Embassy Lobby, maybe go do some lunch or something.

Like I said, might be a good chance to put some faces to the names, chat for a bit. I'll be glad to attempt to answer any questions I can about Dumpshock and what we do here. And if anyone's really unhappy with the DSF Moderation staff, well be happy to let you have a free swing or two at Caine

Hope to see you there!

Bull

Is someone going to record and make available the "What's Up With ..." seminar this year?

Dammit sometimes I'd like to live in the States, it would make going to GenCon possible...

Does anyone have any restraining orders or anything out on me? I need to know before I get to the convention center, much less go about looking for specific rooms full of Dumpshockers. 100 yards is a lot of distance, indoors.

<laugh> I'll double check, but I think it expired last month, so you should be ok

Or we should be ok. One of the two.

Bull

I just did a Yahoo check on Embassy Suites in Indianapolis and I was kind of wondering which one the meet and greet is going to be at? There seem to be several choices.

Doing a little more searching, I'm guessing the one on Washington Street, downtown near the Convention Center?

Yeah, it's the one on Washington street. Link to Embassy Home Page

From what John (The_Dunner) has said, events are REALLY freaking spread out this year at the con. It's gonna make those guys that pack in as many events as possible cry, when they have less than 15 minutes to book it from one event to another and they're several blocks away from each other in different hotels

The event book on site should have maps of the hotels, and they usually have an Indianapolis Visitors Guidebook magazine thingy available at the main information desk at the convention center that has a nice map of downtown.

Maps! The first one on the list is especially good, and one as a general area map, especially for finding hotels.

Bull

2006 was nice, there was the SR4 games room where you could go meet all the crazy people.

Oh, whoops. Just realized this thing was on Saturday. Can't make it. I'll be square in the middle of a ten hour long tournament.

Oh well. Maybe I'll run into a few of you in games or whatnot.

I haven't been to a Gen Con before, and here I even live in Indiana. I'm gonna try to move Heaven and Earth to get to this thing this year. All I need is a lever long enough to reach Hell.

For those of us who will be driving in daily (hotel is 8 miles away), where do you recommend parking? How long to navigate getting parked?

I am staying at:
Hampton Inn Indianapolis-South, 7045 McFarland Blvd, Indianapolis, IN United States 46237
It is off of I-65. They say a cab from there is ~$25 so I might as well drive in and no shuttles or city buses.

I really don't mind walking from free parking, but how is the downtown crime? In the end I am probably better off paying the parking, possibly commuting.

So we're talking an A?

The next trick is syncing up people's schedules.
For example: My game starts 8am Friday and the last one ends at 11pm, Saturday is 10am to 11pm.

It was less than $20 to cab from the airport to the convention center area a couple years ago. If you're looking at close to that in parking, it may be most convenient to just get the name of a cab company and call for a ride to and from.

I know if you're within a couple miles, it's a $5 flat rate around downtown. 8 miles out will probably be a bit more though. Something to look into, I suppose.

Bull

Check with your hotel; they may be running a shuttle to the convention center, as well.

My experience is that Indianapolis cabbies are crazy in the best kind of way.

What time do the doors open to the Convention Center on Saturday? I've tried looking on the website, but it's kind of confusing to me.

In previous years, I know certain sections/rooms have certainly been locked up at night, but for the most part there've been people coming and going from the convention center itself at all hours.

I have left the Convention Center at about 6am and gotten funny looks from security, the only people visible. I have arrived at the Convention Center at 7:45am and the doors are unlocked; however, other aras inside the building can still be clsed. I think th Dealers room opens at 10am.

I have tried getting into the Convention Center at just past Midnight and found the place locked up.

It also looks like Sunday is going to bad for traffic and crowded as the Colts are hosting the Bears in an exhibition game in the dome which abutts the Convention Center.

They have had games there before during Gencon. The big problem is hotel related. We book months ahead of time, they might book weeks.

Either way, have fun guys! Tell the Con team I said Hi.

Got my lever, pushed against Hell, gonna see you there! Thanks for the advice (and answering the dumb questions without making fun of me).

I've been coming up I-65 to I-70 then downtown. I've been parking on the lot just south of the railroad tracks and walking the ~1/2 dozen blocks to the convention. Parking has been $2 to $5 for the whole day (depending on when you get there). The area is well lit and as noted above lots of police. I never didn't feel safe.

There are a number of pan-handlers, but not nearly as many as San Francisco and they don't harass you like the one's in SF either. In fact the absolute worst thing I can say about the whole con is Gen Con Management. Opening day of the Hall, they held the opening of the hall for an HOUR and blocked the red carpet area, effectively trapping like a thousand people in the hall. (Was in a game as that was going on, so the info is a little second hand). Second, in my first game, four different people, four DIFFERENT locations (other hotels or buildings) printed on their tickets... none the final location...

I can't imagine how many people ended up frustrated and gave up finding their games...
Otherwise, been a great con... Beware Nimnu-Net and Mel Gibson, though.. Those of you who know what I mean.. Well, you know what I mean...

Thanks for doing the "What's Up With?" seminar fellas. I enjoyed it a lot, and now have a bunch to look forward to. It was great to be able to put a face on you guys, even got a neat drawing done by Klaus in my Shadows of Europe book (which is going to be my default 'troll guy' for quite a long time). I didn't get a chance to say "Hey!" to Loren, so I settled for buying 3 more of the Battletech novels he wrote.

Hey! I got a TON of pics from gen-con and some of them just completely and utterly awesome. I figured others might like to see them and whatnot. I'd be more than happy to post some of the pics up but do I need to start a new thread for that or just add em on this one?

Someone already started a thread here

Holy crap am I wiped out. It was a goooood con, but exhausting. Too much walking, too much talking, too little sleeping, and too much drinking

Good to meet the folks I met, especially those I was meeting for the first time. And a damn shame I didn't get the chance to hang out a little more with any of y'all. Gen Cons crazy like that, though.

I'll get my pictures and stuff online soonish, I hope.

Bull

Thanks.

awww I missed it. If i woulda gone those barbarian babes woulda been all mine. No hot chick can resist my sexiness.

got any more scantily clad babes?