Gen Con 2016 Call for Volunteers!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

As we gear up for this year's convention season, it's time again to solicit volunteers!

Paizo is once again a co-sponsor of Gen Con 2016. As with last year, we will have a booth & card game demos in the Exhibition Hall, seminars in the Convention Center, and Pathfinder Society running in the Sagamore Ballroom.

Last year saw the culmination of several years' growth, during which Pathfinder Society at Gen Con expanded from a side room to all of the Sagamore Ballroom. While we aren't adding any space this year, we're changing up some of the programming. The Adventure Card Guild (ACG) will have 20 tables in its own area of the ballroom, where they are going to run Season of the Runelords. In addition, the ACG Open returns to test the mettle of our Card Guildees, and the Friday night interactive will include an ACG component. There are a few other programming related plans to finalize, and we'll reveal more information on those on the blog sometime in Febraury.

On the Roleplaying Guild (RPG) side, we're offering scenarios covering the second half of Season 7 and the first few of Season 8, as well as bringing back a few favorites. We have several special events planned, including an all-new interactive on Friday evening! In addition, a new series of quests will debut, and there are a few other things up our sleeve to be announced in February.

One of the biggest changes this year is the new "Pathfinder Society Academy" (PSA). Encompassing the Kid's Track offered in prior years, it expands to a third lesson track focusing on transitioning to full scenarios. With 10 tables in their own area of the ballroom, the PSA includes space for our younger GMs and players to have an experience tailored just for them. Games in PSA are family-friendly and sure to bring a smile to our younger players' faces.

The Gen Con lead volunteers and the PFS team worked together to determine a scheduling method to cover volunteer needs for slots while also maximizing free time (allowing folks to join in some of the fantastic Gen Con activities). One of the changes you'll see is the additional of a break between the morning and afternoon slots. This year, games in the Sagamore Ballroom will be run in three slots (8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM, and 8:00 PM to 1:00 AM), with the exception of Sunday (9:00 AM to 2:00 PM). The Exhibition Hall demos will be run from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with the exception of Sunday (10:00 AM to 4:00 PM).

Volunteer slots are scheduled as follows:

Slot	RPG/ACG GMs	PFS Headquarters	Adventure Card Game Demos
Thursday Morning	7:30 AM to 1:00 PM	7:30 AM to 4:45 PM	9:30 AM to 2:30 PM
Thursday Afternoon	1:30 PM to 7:00 PM	—	1:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Thursday Evening	7:30 PM to 1:30 AM	4:15 PM to 1:30 AM	—
Friday Morning	7:30 AM to 1:00 PM	7:30 AM to 4:45 PM	9:30 AM to 2:30 PM
Friday Afternoon	1:30 PM to 7:00 PM	—	1:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Friday Evening	7:30 PM to 1:30 AM	4:15 PM to 1:30 AM	—
Saturday Morning	7:30 AM to 1:00 PM	7:30 AM to 4:45 PM	9:30 AM to 2:30 PM
Saturday Afternoon	1:30 PM to 7:00 PM	—	1:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Saturday Evening	7:30 PM to 1:30 AM	4:15 PM to 1:30 AM	—
Sunday Morning	8:30 AM to 2:00 PM	8:30 PM to 5:30 PM	9:30 AM to 2:30 PM
Sunday Afternoon	—	—	12:30 PM to 5:00 PM

Based on the above schedule, volunteer time commitments are:

Tier	RPG/ACG GMs	Headquarters Volunteer	Adventure Card Game Demos
Tier 1	8 Slots	5 Slots	7 Slots
Tier 2	7 Slots	—	—
Tier 3	6 Slots	4 Slots	6 Slots
Tier 4	5 Slots	3 Slots	5 Slots
Tier 5	4 Slots	2 Slots	4 Slots
Tier 6	1 Slot	1 Slot	—

The breakdown of what benefits are available for each tier are:

Tier	Badge	Hotel	Hardcover Book	T-Shirts	Store Credit	Boon/Reward
Tier 1	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Tier 2	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Tier 3	✔	—	✔	✔	✔	✔
Tier 4	✔	—	—	✔	✔	✔
Tier 5	—	—	—	✔	✔	✔
Tier 6	—	—	—	—	✔	✔

The details of each benefit are as follows:

• Badge—A free 4-Day Gen Con 2016 badge
• Hotel— 1/4 of a room at the Westin in downtown Indianapolis
• Hardcover Book—A free copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Horror Adventures
• T-Shirts—4 limited release t-shirts in purple (GMs)/orange (HQ) for new volunteers
• Store Credit—Paizo.com store credit per slot volunteering ($10 per slot GMed slot and $20 per HQ slot)
• Boon/Reward—An exclusive tier-based boon (RPG) or reward (ACG)

Gen Con badges go on sale Friday and the housing lottery starts Sunday. As in prior years, housing in downtown Indianapolis is at a premium. Gen Con works to house as many people as possible through their housing lottery. We are opening registration today so attendees that plan on volunteering may plan badge purchase and housing lottery involvement accordingly. All folks that complete the registration process by midnight Saturday will have an answer before the lottery goes live Sunday morning.

To register for volunteering, complete this Gen Con questionnaire. You can send any questions to genconpfsvolunteer@paizo.com.

Thank you to all our volunteers and players who make the Pathfinder Society so fantastic! The team and look forward to seeing you at Gen Con 2016! Let's roll some dice!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator