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You can get the details here at Living Dice.
I would really hope that doesn't mean that there wouldn't be a GenCon this year. I would like to get my Pathfinder hardback there.
I hope that most of the transition is kind of behind the scenes, and there aren't any major changes. I really like the Indianapolis Convention Center, and to be honest, I probably wouldn't be able to make it if it moves farther away than Indy.
I know its selfish, but I'm really hoping that it stays in Indy because both of my girls are really excited about going in 2009, and I'd hate to not be able to follow through on taking them.
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I was mostly joking anyhow (particularly about Kevin Siembieda).
Yes, I figured the Kevin Siembieda statement had to be tongue in cheek. Or a horrid attempt to make us wet our pants in fear. :)
I wasn't trying to prove you wrong or anything, just pointing out a line in the article that applied to the conversation at hand.
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I know its selfish, but I'm really hoping that it stays in Indy because both of my girls are really excited about going in 2009, and I'd hate to not be able to follow through on taking them.
I generally agree. It is nice to have it so close. On the other hand, there is a part of me that wishes it would move for the sake of Origins.
Chief Technical Officer
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I hope that most of the transition is kind of behind the scenes, and there aren't any major changes. I really like the Indianapolis Convention Center, and to be honest, I probably wouldn't be able to make it if it moves farther away than Indy.
I know its selfish, but I'm really hoping that it stays in Indy because both of my girls are really excited about going in 2009, and I'd hate to not be able to follow through on taking them.
I think Gen Con has the Indy convention center booked in advance for a while yet; new ownership could probably get out of that, but I doubt they'd find it worthwhile to do so.
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You can get the details here at Living Dice.
I would really hope that doesn't mean that there wouldn't be a GenCon this year. I would like to get my Pathfinder hardback there.
I think the writing on the wall was pretty plain this year regarding this eventual outcome. Between the money problems and lawsuits to WotC's "We're not going to attend", the signs that the show was under serious problems was clear.
The shame is that we really need nice big conventions where the players can meet the manufacturers of such favored gems and let them know just how much we enjoy their work, to share in the group gaming gesalt, and to generally bask in an environment of absolute nerdism.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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So... if I'm reading that correctly, all that was was an act of sabotage?Gen Con is rejecting the LOI to purchase.
I don't know if I'd call it an act of sabotage, but it certainly was made to sound like an unfriendly/hostile takeover attempt. Reading between the lines, it also seems to me to be saying, "the offer undervalues Gen Con". If Gen Con has realistic plans to come out of bankruptcy in January, and expects to remain profitable, then the amount offered simply could be too low, on top of the mysterious unnamed buyers and uncertain plans for the existing Gen Con employees.
The reply also seemed to answer something I was curious about, i.e. if Gen Con Indy did well this year, which it seems is the case. If they know that Gen Con Indy and Gen Con UK are their core business and focus on that, and they are profitable, then they shouldn't have a problem with the reorganization.
In fact, when I first read about the potential buy out, my first thought was that, if Gen Con is considering this, they must not have done well this year. As it turns out, it doesn't sound like they knew about it much before the news broke to the public.
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Chief Technical Officer
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If they know that Gen Con Indy and Gen Con UK are their core business and focus on that, and they are profitable, then they shouldn't have a problem with the reorganization.
Gen Con Indy is their core business; Gen Con UK, Gen Con Paris and Gen Con Australia are all run by other companies under license from Gen Con, LLC.
Gen Con Indy is their core business; Gen Con UK, Gen Con Paris and Gen Con Australia are all run by other companies under license from Gen Con, LLC.
Gotcha . . .
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Latest news on the Gen Con Aquisition Group.
I posted here as well but the thread does not want to show up.
I will post what I said there:
I don't know Anthony Gallela personally but I do know how I feel about the state of Origins since he has been at the head of GAMA. My opinions have not been very high.
I have been to Origins as a GM, a fan, and a vendor in the exhibit hall. While the con has never been terrible, it has never been what it was when Wizard's owned it. And certainly nothing like Gencon was under Peter.
I will admit there are many reasons why Origins seemed to drop, not all of them GAMA's fault.
Honestly, I would much rather see Gen Con just go through their court ordered payment plans and try to come out of this in that manner. I think that a change in ownership at a time like this is going to be a lot more potentially detrimental than if it were sold when Gen Con was interesting in changing owners.
Maybe I'm just leery of the comment about "outside the industry" investors. They may indeed have more money, but honestly, I'm kind of hoping some vestige of the hobby remains focused only on the hobby and not on how to use the hobby to dovetail with other hobbies.
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Chief Technical Officer
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ICv2 has an update on Gen Con today....
If you ask me, that article pretty much buries a big part of the story: that Lucasfilm has filed an objection to Gen Con, LLC's reorg plan. I think the courts will take the objections from a company trying to perform a hostile takeover with a grain of salt, but the objections from Lucasfilm will be pretty hard to dismiss.
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Things seem even more uncertain for Gencon UK :(
I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's no GCUK this year -- though I suspect that there will probably be some form of Ratty-Con in Reading in early September.
Whether there'll be something called "Gencon" in '09, and who'll run it in '10 I couldn't guess -- though I might speculate on who who I'd like to be involved (eg Angus Abranson).
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Chief Technical Officer
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Latest update: the US Bankruptcy Court of Western Washington has confirmed Gen Con LLC’s plan of reorganization and approved the company’s rejection of a hostile takeover bid.
I mark this as good news.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Could someone remind me why Gencon had to go into chapter 11? I seem to recall something about Lucas trying to sue them.
The official reason given was "a result of significant unforeseen expenses associated with attempts to expand its core business to encompass externally licensed events." The only key expansion in their business that involved externally licensed events that I'm aware of was Star Wars Celebration IV, and Lucasfilm did indeed sue Gen Con after that event. If you'd like to look more into this, TheForce.Net has a summary with some good links. Note, though, that the lawsuit was dismissed in November after Lucasfilm decided that their issues could be solved as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.