Your "One Week to Go" Checklist

We’re taking over the hall!

Or at least next Wednesday we will.

Since you’re already packing and prepping, here are a couple of items to help you lock down your plans:

Swap Meet

BUY BUY BUY! SELL SELL SELL!

Year after year, the swap meet just gets bigger and bigger. It’s kinda nuts. And totally awesome.

Bring your stuff, and some cash, to the swap meet. We’ll have tables set up all day Wednesday and Thursday, and then Friday until noon. Also, you can post your games for sale our Game On Swap Meet Facebook group any time before, during, or after the con.

How to Sell

• Bring your game

• Mark it with your name

• Include a price

• Add your phone number—sometimes it’s easier for people to find you if they can text you

• Reclaim any of your unsold games by Friday at noon

• You can still sell them online via our swap meet Facebook group even when the swap meet is no longer on the floor

Food and Drink and Stuff

As in years past, you’ll have food and drink brought to your table—should you so desire. And you’ll have more options this year as well. The good folks at the Red Lion took your feedback and have expanded the menu from last year’s fare. If you’re staying at the hotel, you can simply charge it all to your room and settle your tab when you leave. Or, you can pay as you go with cash or card.

No tabs for peeps who aren’t staying at the hotel this year, as last year we ate so much that the number of open tabs overwhelmed their system. Good news is that the servers will be following our table numbering system, so it’ll be that much easier to get the right orders to the right people. Again—shout out to the Red Lion for making these improvements!

Also, the Red Lion is absolutely fine with folks who want to order in , whether that’s pizza, Uber Eats, or what have you. For peeps who who are staying at the hotel, you have a fridge in your room for stashing grub, plus there’s a Trader Joe’s about a half mile away and a Whole Foods about one mile away if you want to make a run.

So, eat, drink, and be gamey!

The Around the Table Pop-Up Shop

Shout out to Nick and Tim for supporting Game On once again!

The Around the Table Game Pub will be with us from Friday at noon until Sunday at noon with a full spread of new and used games. Be sure and drop by and pick up a copy of that game you just played and MUST HAVE NOW. Also, feel free to give them a shout if you’d like to arrange to purchase and pick up a particular game at the con.

One Week Away

Needless to say, we’re looking forward to seeing all of you. The room opens at 8am Wednesday, and you still have until Friday the 31st to schedule your games before we lock the list (we’ll still keep it live for viewing when we do).

See you sooooooon …

GAME ON!

Pete

ASL Scenarios Posted!

Hey, if you want to rubble the Seoul rail station branch of the Korean Post Office with an 8+1 leader with a Russian last name, we’re not gonna stop you.

Once again, David has put together another sweet batch of scenarios for the Northwest ASL Championships, which starts Friday afternoon and runs through Sunday. (Plus there’s plenty of pick-up action before that too.) Pop over to the Game Schedules page and grab your files. Or, just clickety-click the link below.

GAME ON!

Pete

The Waiting (List) is the Hardest Part

Like in years past, we set up a waiting list the moment we hit our registration cap.

Because life happens.

A year never goes by without some folks having to bow out. Which is bummer for them and good news for you—if you’re on the waiting list. What we do is we take a look at our actual registration count shortly after January 1st and see what kind of space we have available. With that in hand, we turn to the waiting list and reach out to the folks on there and offer up a spot.

So, if you’re on the waiting list (or will be after you sign up here), hang tight. Enjoy those holidays. And look for an email from us after January 1st.

As a reminder, refunds are available through December 31st. Contact us if you (sadly) gotta bail so we can hook you up with a refund.

GAME ON!

- Pete

SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?

The 2020 game schedule is LIVE!

Yup, the Google Spreadsheet of Glory awaits you. As in the past, we have a couple of options for you.

1. Scheduled Games, where you reserve a table (or tables) for a set period of time. Here, you’ll list the game and the number of players it can accommodate. Also, you can sign up for a hosted game that has a slot available.

2. Open Games, where you list games you’d like to play or host on one of our many open gaming tables. No set time, no set table … just round up some peeps and play.

Note that we have a handful of slots for multi-day games. (Wargamers, we’re talking to you and your monster games.) Given that some monsters can fit on one table and other monsters can gobble up to four, we’re asking hosts to include their email address so that we can fit you in accordingly. This space is limited and subject to the fell whim of our master scheduler, Ralph, who’ll do his utmost to accommodate as many monsters as our space permits.

Enough of the blah-blah-blah … HERE’S THE LINK!

Pete

We're Full!

It was bound to happen—Game On 2020 is officially full.

Happily, we do have a waiting list again. So if you haven’t registered and are still interested in attending you can hop in on that. We typically see a few folks drop, and there may be a chance that we can wrangle some extra gaming space this year. (Stay tuned for more on that!)

Head on over to our Registration page. The waiting list is waiting for you there. It’s wafer thin!

Pete

I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!

Hey, invoices for 2020 are going out this weekend! Check your inbox and remit away—doing so will lock in your registration. Remember, your registration is only final once you pay. And should things get wonky with your schedule, you can always back out for a refund prior to December 31st.

If you don’t see an invoice this weekend, drop us a line at: gameoncon@yahoo.com

Get a Room (Code)!

If you’re booking a room online for multiple days of unmitigated gaming chill, be sure to use the following code to get the special room rate …

GAMEON20

You can book online here, and if you want more info about the hotel you can get that here on the site as well.

Giddy up—rooms with the special rate are booking up fast!

Pete

Great Jumping Jeffrey, Game On 2020 is Already 75% Booked!

You folks are the best.

Just two weeks ago, we announced on our Facebook page that registration was open. And now here we are, 75% booked after that one post. Figured that today would be a good day to give you all a little update on how that’s been going, seeing that Game On! 2020 will give rise to five rocking days of gaming just five months from today. Thanks to all of you who’ve registered for our 9th con!

As always, we’re limiting registrations to 140 people to keep that cozy feel where you’re likely one introduction away from knowing everyone else in the room—which is how we started this thing way back in 2012 when Game On! was a word of mouth thing.

For those of you who’re still on the fence about registering, hop on it, lest you fall victim to an early February case of Game On! FOMO. (It happens.) The good news is that you can register now and still cancel by December 31st if your schedule gets wonky between now and then.

In a few days, we’ll shoot out an email to our mailing list, which includes all of our attendees from years past and a few new friends too. Our guess is that’ll rack up a few more registrations, so now’s a good time to sign up to ensure your spot. Wanna register? We’ll make it easy—here’s the link!

Per our registration page, Jeff will start invoicing folks in October, so keep your eyes open for an email then.

In the meantime, get clipping, sleeving, and sorting—you only have five months left until GAME ON!

Pete

We're Live, People!

We’re all about the new this year, aren’t we?

New convention digs, newly fallen snow during the convention, and now a new website. It’s about time too. One of the things we’re fixing to do is publish more news and info about the con here on the site, rather than our Facebook page. Let’s be honest. Despite Zuck’s efforts, not all of us are on Facebook. So, it makes sense to publish here (and share stuff there).

Another thing we’re suggesting for folks is to sign up for our mailing list, so we can totally spam you. Not! Rather, it’s just another way you can be sure you’re up to date on all the important con stuff, like when the registration opens, when we post the game schedule, etc. Give it a try. We absolutely won’t spam you and your info won’t be shared with third parties (sorry, not sorry, Zuck).

And oh yeah, REGISTRATION IS OPEN!!!

Can’t wait to see you folks in February!

Pete

Survey Says!

(Originally published 09 March 2019)

Around 40 of you sounded off in our 2019 Game On survey, and what you had to say came across loud and clear: you really dig the new location.

Beyond clicking a few boxes in responses to our questions, you shared a raft of thoughtful feedback in the written sections. All of it is helpful, as we can take this feedback to the good folks at the Red Lion in prep for 2020 and put some thought into how we run things too. Here are a few themes that came across …

Feed me, Seymour!

Many of you would like to see a bit more diversity in the “gamer’s menu” that Red Lion put together. While plenty of folks were fine with it, the choices were a bit limited. Next year we’ll look to broaden the scope of the menu and work in some vegetarian options, along with lighter fare and some salads. You can’t live on fried food alone. OR CAN YOU? The free snacks and free breakfast buffet were a hit too, ‘natch.

As for the hotel’s food service, it was spotty for some and good for others. You were all forgiving of how the snow impacted staffing a few evenings, which led to a dip in service. Likewise, we feel like the Red Lion may have underestimated our might in the first place—just how quickly we can go through food and drink. This is a point we’ll bring up for next year so that they can staff accordingly and turn around your orders and payments much more smoothly.

And oh yeah, we will have coffee service next year.

We heard you too about the proximity to supermarkets and coffee shops. At the Holiday Inn, we had options within walking distance. Now, not so much. Whole Foods is about a mile away, and the Trader Joe’s just a little less than that, which is not the same as walking across the Holiday Inn parking lot to the PCC or Tully’s. Next year, let’s hope there’s no show-stopping snow that keeps you from taking advantage of that and delivery services like Uber Eats.

Related, you gave your room stays high marks overall. Just remember to check the thermostat on the fridge in your room. There were reports of frozen tuna salad and Modello slushies.

Let there be light.

How about that new gaming space? From what we heard, you loved it. The light, the noise level, the climate control, the way you could get around … all those points were called out and more. The best feedback (and we love this) is how you were all stoked to be in one room. You called out the feeling of camaraderie that created, how easy it was to find a pickup game, and there was at least one person who played a wargame for the first time because it was “right there.” In fact, among the survey respondents, 25% of you say you come to Game On to play both wargames and board and card games. Music to our ears, and we have always felt that the old Holiday Inn layout created an unnecessary distinction between the two.

So, Red Lion or Holiday Inn next year?

It’s the Lion, by a mile. At least in your estimation. And that’s our plan as well. Obviously, we balance quite a bit when deciding to hold Game On, but this gives us a pretty clear path forward.

That’s just a quick summary. You shared other helpful feedback about what went great and where we can improve. We’re taking all of that in too and applying it toward 2020 AND BEYOND!

Thanks to all of you for showing up this year and giving this new venue a shot. We’re super-stoked to hear how much fun you had at this year’s con. Got more feedback? Bump on over to our Facebook group and chat us up.

GAME ON!

Pete