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BabelCon 2009 (Read 6421 times)
Red Priest
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #15 - Jun 23rd, 2009 at 6:01pm
 
Liam wrote on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 9:43pm:
I'm thinking that yesterday or the day before was the last day to register for a room at the convention reserved price and to get the free con pass with such a room.

If you have the reservation already you are set... if you didn't get it yet, its too late.


Then I should be good, technically, because I made the room reservation weeks ago.  Likewise on the con registration.

But, how are the people working the con registration desk going to know when I made my reservation?  When you check into the hotel, all they give you is a room key.  You don't get a receipt until you checkout of the hotel.

Bayouhalfling/Richard ... can you clear this up for me?   Undecided
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #16 - Jun 23rd, 2009 at 8:13pm
 
The instructions and order form for Program Book Ads have been updated.  You may download the PDF file here:

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Bayou Halfling
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #17 - Jun 23rd, 2009 at 8:17pm
 
[How can the "free badge with a hotel room" end tonight? As I understand the procedure, it is to bring your hotel check-in with you to the registration desk when you show up at the con.  Has that changed?]

An integral part of the procedure was to register for the program using the online form, and make a hotel reservation. The only thing ending is the registration process for the free badges (because the hotel is no longer holding rooms).
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Bayou Halfling
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #18 - Jun 23rd, 2009 at 8:20pm
 
Red Priest wrote on Jun 23rd, 2009 at 6:01pm:
Liam wrote on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 9:43pm:
I'm thinking that yesterday or the day before was the last day to register for a room at the convention reserved price and to get the free con pass with such a room.

If you have the reservation already you are set... if you didn't get it yet, its too late.


Then I should be good, technically, because I made the room reservation weeks ago.  Likewise on the con registration.

But, how are the people working the con registration desk going to know when I made my reservation?  When you check into the hotel, all they give you is a room key.  You don't get a receipt until you checkout of the hotel.

Bayouhalfling/Richard ... can you clear this up for me?   Undecided


Yes, that morning the hotel will give a list of all reservations/names to Sydney, who is doing the at-the-door registration. She'll even know what room you are in before you do  Huh. She will cross check that list with the BabelCon internal list of people that signed up for the Comp program. If you're name is on both lists, then you get a free badge for each night you have reserved.



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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #19 - Jul 5th, 2009 at 8:40pm
 
A low-res digital version of the 2009 Program Book is now available for download from the Schedule page at Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register, but it is still subject to change. An 8-1/2 x 11 professionally printed version will be available at the convention.

~Randy
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #20 - Jul 20th, 2009 at 5:30pm
 
Wow.. I can't say enough how disappointed I am with the gaming situation at BabelCon.

I am disappointed with the lack of support I encountered this past weekend at babelcon.  Their on-line gaming registration system, and their frequent postings to this group, and others, regarding gaming at babelcon led me to believe that gaming was an organized event at this convention.  Soon after arriving at the con, I was readily corrected in this assumption.

Although I registered my game well over a month prior to the con, there was no record of my game whatsoever.  In fact, there was no record of any game to be run.  It turned out that all gaming was open gaming, and tables were first come, first served.  Considering there were only about a half dozen tables in the very small meeting room designated for gaming, this meant if you wanted to run a game in the afternoon, you had to stakeout and sit at your table all day.  Sorry, I wasn't about to to do that.

Yes, I am not happy with the way babelcon treated their gaming guests.  I was misled as to the organization of gaming and I feel duped.

I'll admit to being rather put off by the spamming around here by babelcon.  Whereas it's nice to hear about the doings of local-ish conventions, it would be nice if the representatives would actually participate in this forum rather than just drop their spam here.

Not a happy camper at all.   Angry

I made a very similar post on the bayou wars yahoo group.  Babelcon is guilty of the same spamming on that forum as well.  Their reps only post about their con, and never engage in general gaming discussion.

As one member of this forum, and dupe from the con, I'm tired of it.   That said, if reps from babelcon want to be full participants in groups and forums, and not just view such places as Free Advertising, I would welcome them with open arms as full, participating members.  Until then.  Stop the spam.

Rob
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #21 - Jul 20th, 2009 at 5:54pm
 
Did the room registration go OK?

Your comments put me in a quandry about how to reply (as grand poobah of this forum).  I don't want this site to be commercial.  I pay out of my own pocket so the forum has no commercial ads.  That said, posting about gaming events is certainly within the context of this forum so even if your assesment is correct, I'm not going to ask people not to post about upcoming events.

I also don't have a problem with any gaming store or company posting when they have a sale or that they got in the latest cool game or CCG.  While that is commercial, again, its in the context of this forum.   It seems to me that posting a link from ebay to a big collection of out of print books or minis or something is fair game.  If someone did that weekly or daily I'd have a problem with it.  I guess SPAM is in the eye of the beholder.  (Posts about beholder eyes for sale are also fair game.)

I guess I am willing to tollerate a bit of nuscience posting if it relates to gaming and doesn't take over the forum.

That said, while I tollerant of postings about cons or whatever its also fair game to post your impression of the con or bad experiences you've had in the past.  Again, as long as it doesn't become annoying predicitable spam.  I'm not going to censor content as long as it remains civil and PG-13.  (I do censor some language just because I want to be family friendly.)

In the end we have to remember that everyone plays for different reasons and they value the experience differently.  Personally, I don't go to cons anymore because the entry fee just isn't worth it.  To many of the vendors want collectable prices for old out of print stuff and I don't need a cover to get that.  I just go to ebay for it.

So a thread for each con with updates if something changes is certainly fair.  A single post with your personal opinion of that con is also fair.  Anyone who wants the full on rant can PM the author for more details.

Hopefully the two of you will get to talking about the problems this time and maybe you can get free admission (other perks) for running the game room next year.  Show him you can do it better.   I know it would only take me a few days to write an app that would let people sign up on the web for table space and then anyone could see who had what and when before the con started.
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #22 - Jul 21st, 2009 at 4:53am
 
The room reservation and connected free passes worked great.  I was just very annoyed about the gaming situation.  So much hype, so little realization.

The rest of the con was fine. I enjoyed the three panels I attended and Consortium of Genius, and the Orion slave girls, were very entertaining.

Geez.. next time you hype gaming, just produce what you promise.

With that, my rant is done.
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #23 - Jul 26th, 2009 at 8:02pm
 
I have to concur with Red Priest.

Well, I decided to drive in from New Orleans to see this great turnout of gaming for Bablecon.  So, after a half hour or so of trying to find my way around, through discussion rooms, meet the Renaissance Fest people, and the merch tables, I finally find myself in the hotel and not the Alumni Center.  Down in the left side of the check in desk is the gaming room?  Well...needless to say, it was about as big as my bathroom.  3 tables with 2 to 4 people at each...and one table with nobody around it.  I was looking for the Red Priest...and the D&D table.  Nope...not happening.  Maybe I'm just out of the loop, but the games the few were playing were like Pokemon or Shoots and Ladders. LOL

About 10 minutes later, I find the Priest out in the hallway...but, no game (due to the reasons he's stated above).  So, we just went to a room or two for some Firefly reenactments...and that's about it.  Too bad...I really wanted to see some old school gaming and participate in a good battle.

I can't say the price for one day was worth it...but, maybe I should try another Con somewhere else.  OR maybe we can take this over for next year and create our own turnout…with a larger room…and more tables.
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #24 - Jul 27th, 2009 at 3:13am
 
I tried to find out ahead of time what was what with gaming and found nothing listed in the program guide. I know a couple people wanted to run/play but with nothing in the program I figured mine as well stay home and clean out my garage. Judging from the reviews...glad I did.
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #25 - Jan 8th, 2010 at 11:29pm
 
Red Priest wrote on Jul 20th, 2009 at 5:30pm:
Wow.. I can't say enough how disappointed I am with the gaming situation at BabelCon.

I am disappointed with the lack of support I encountered this past weekend at babelcon.  Their on-line gaming registration system, and their frequent postings to this group, and others, regarding gaming at babelcon led me to believe that gaming was an organized event at this convention.  Soon after arriving at the con, I was readily corrected in this assumption.

Although I registered my game well over a month prior to the con, there was no record of my game whatsoever.  In fact, there was no record of any game to be run.  It turned out that all gaming was open gaming, and tables were first come, first served.  Considering there were only about a half dozen tables in the very small meeting room designated for gaming, this meant if you wanted to run a game in the afternoon, you had to stakeout and sit at your table all day.  Sorry, I wasn't about to to do that.

Yes, I am not happy with the way babelcon treated their gaming guests.  I was misled as to the organization of gaming and I feel duped.

I'll admit to being rather put off by the spamming around here by babelcon.  Whereas it's nice to hear about the doings of local-ish conventions, it would be nice if the representatives would actually participate in this forum rather than just drop their spam here.

Not a happy camper at all.   Angry

I made a very similar post on the bayou wars yahoo group.  Babelcon is guilty of the same spamming on that forum as well.  Their reps only post about their con, and never engage in general gaming discussion.

As one member of this forum, and dupe from the con, I'm tired of it.   That said, if reps from babelcon want to be full participants in groups and forums, and not just view such places as Free Advertising, I would welcome them with open arms as full, participating members.  Until then.  Stop the spam.

Rob


Rob,

Let me start off by apologizing that your experience at BabelCon was not what you expected. Each year we solve new problems that crop up, and make corrections the following year. Unfortunately, the 2009 Game Room was hindered by a series of unfortunate occurences that may have led to some problems with proper execution of said Game Room activities.

First let me clear up a rumor, as there seems to be some misinformation, perhaps due to a miscommunication on the day of the event. There were two game rooms. The game room you spoke of, with 24-hour "open gaming", was the small room in the hotel. The large game room in the Alumni Center was the main game room, and thats where your game was scheduled to run (along with 14 other games). How you wound up in the auxiliary game room, I have no idea.

As to the game room, there were some issues behind the scenes. At the last minute, two bad things happened. One, the game room volunteer host dropped out on us at the last minute. It wasn't his fault, as he had some serious personal stuff to deal with, but it did cause major logistics problems.

This meant running the game room fell to me, as a backup, but I had already been contracted to work out of state that day, on a work gig 8 years in the making. My solution was to procure Little Wars, the Baton Rouge game store, to take over the two game rooms for the entire weekend. They were supposed to schedule and run the games, as well as sell products to the gamers.

When I returned on Sunday, I only heard good things about how the Game Rooms excecution went, so I did not probe any further. I am saddened to hear your experience was not on par with the rest of the convention goers. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, I would be happy to do anything within my power.

If you, or anyone reading this, would like to help organize the game room for 2010, I would be happy to give you/them a free weekend Superpass.

As to the advertising here without participating (we are Bayou Wars sponsors, so that forum does not apply, but its true I do not know people on here, nor shop 100 miles from my home in Baton Rouge), I would happily engage anyone in conversation about games I am familiar. I only play Dungeons and Dragons, so if anyone wants to talk about it, I would do so with vigor. Seems like no one talks much about D&D any more.  Sad

Thanks,
~Randy





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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #26 - Jan 11th, 2010 at 2:11am
 
A word about SPAMing.

These forums were originally designed by Liam and myself in order to be the networking hub for all the New Orleans gamers who wanted to see their past time achieve a reverie of health to pre-Katrina levels.

At the time of the forums inception we were the first dedicated New Orleans networking gaming resources, therefore the forum has happily grown.

We have always prudently welcomed the free advertising of New Orleans gaming events as long as they were concise and contained in one thread per event.

We have found that Babelcon events have essentially followed this tactful edict, and I do not feel it shameful that people have choosing to advertise here. I of course would like it if even the advertisers socialized here as well (and some do), but even their partial participation is helpful to our cause.
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #27 - Jan 11th, 2010 at 3:57am
 
I have to say I went to babelcon because of this forum. While I did not register for any games I expected to at least to find the game room on the convention map in the flyer. It took me and my group (6 of us) about 20 minutes of asking around before we were told that the gaming was in the other building and once we arrived we were very surprised to find a veritable closet instead of a game room.

In hind sight I now understand how the situation went from bad to worse. I don't mind the people behind babalecon talking up the gaming at their convention in these forums, I welcome it. I wish the gaming at babelcon wasn't treated as the bastard at a family reunion though. I went there expecting at least an open gaming area with at least twice the table space and at least a dozen games/demo's/tournament running.

That said I'd be willing to give babelcom2010 a try and see if they get their logistics fixed from last year. I'd be willing to run a pathfinder module or something pathfinder related at the con to "put my money where my mouth is" so to speak.

Halfling shoot me a pm and we can work something out.

Have dice-will travel!!!
better luck next year Wink

   
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #28 - Jan 11th, 2010 at 4:35am
 
Bayou Halfling wrote on Jan 8th, 2010 at 11:29pm:
First let me clear up a rumor, as there seems to be some misinformation, perhaps due to a miscommunication on the day of the event. There were two game rooms. The game room you spoke of, with 24-hour "open gaming", was the small room in the hotel. The large game room in the Alumni Center was the main game room, and thats where your game was scheduled to run (along with 14 other games). How you wound up in the auxiliary game room, I have no idea.


The rest of the con was good enough, that I'd be willing to give the gaming portion a second chance.  We need a good, relatively close, con with decent gaming.

That said, it's not a rumor that gaming was non-existent or at least incognito at the 2009 con.  I asked repeatedly (at least 4 times Saturday morning) at the information & registration desk, and several volunteers here and there, about the gaming area.  Nobody knew nuttin'.  I had to find the gaming room that was in the hotel all by myself, as did ancientgoat.  I have no idea where this mythical gaming area in the Alumni Center was supposed to be, because I checked all over the first and second floors, and no one affiliated with the con seemed to know either.  That's not rumor, that's my first hand experience.
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Re: BabelCon 2009
Reply #29 - Jan 11th, 2010 at 7:17am
 
Red Priest wrote on Jan 11th, 2010 at 4:35am:
I have no idea where this mythical gaming area in the Alumni Center was supposed to be, because I checked all over the first and second floors, and no one affiliated with the con seemed to know either.  That's not rumor, that's my first hand experience.


If you never found it, then it was indeed mythical!

Well, whether you found it or not, someone dropped the ball, and for that I am sorry. This year, BabelCon 4.5 is scaling down the con (half normal size) in order to ride out the bad economy. The 2009 attendance was down 50% over the previous year due to the stock market crash. Many cons did not survive.

Anyway, I am still trying to get the game room situation arranged, but when I do I will make sure to follow through MYSELF this year rather than relying soley on a volunteer.  I have a system that worked in previous years (2006, 2007, 2008) that I will be instituting once again. You can still register games online (on the Games page of Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register), but I will also include a page of registered games.

Once of the types of games we lacked last year is miniatures games. We had D&D games, board games, card games, and video games, but no miniatures (like Warhammer 40k or historical wargames). Thats disappointing. Hopefully this year we can get a few in.


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