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Video Game Fan Fest 2015

ColdguyColdguy
in Conventions
Well it is official as it can get now. I am now part of an organization that is creating a convention in 2015.

It is not going to be a major undertaking (yet) but since we are in the early planning stages I can use your guidance to make it appeal to the masses of the forum.

Actuay one of the biggest questions I have to ask you all is if we were to bring a guest to primarily play games who would you want to see? I would love to get a John St John or a Charles Dunvar but not sure how much pull they have to a new can, anyone have figures on that or is it a shot in the dark for those numbers?
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Comments

  • AprecheApreche
    Charles Dunbar will go pretty much anywhere, but he's a draw for anime fans, not gaming fans.

    JSJ will get some draw, but I'm not sure exactly how much. To get a huge draw you need people who have large active online followings that they regularly communicate with. For a video game convention that means you want to pretty much go for all the people that stream on YouTube/Twitch.
  • CremlianCremlian
    Do you have some location? you could always go for someone like Angry Video game nerd who is local.
  • ColdguyColdguy
    At the moment...no. We are in the planning stages on a location and have a short list of spots Including Ocean City MD, Hartford, Lancaster, and Dover.

    The jist of it all is to be a game night with tabletop and video games but also have a dash of other entertainment as well, Hense he Dunbar question.

    Since technicaly I am the 2nd most experienced in this avenue (with the founder being the first and footing most of the bill) I am trying to make it so that I can have a good time and hope a few others do too.
    Cremlian said:

    You could always go for someone like Angry Video game nerd who is local.

    There is a small problem with having James as a guest, he REALLY isn't a people person.
    He will do his own thing and then spend the most of the time elsewhere.

    The vibe we are trying to hit is that everyone wants to hang out and have a good time and willing to mingle outside of the official events. So a John St. John would be perfect fit.

    Its more of a matter of time to get someone to come out vs people who would want to attend due to them being there.

    I am open to suggestions since I want to attract you guys to consider heading down (or up) to it once we have stuff finalized.


  • ColdguyColdguy
    So apparently in there is a chance greater than zero that the Protomen would be willing to come for a show. The bar has been raised.
  • ColdguyColdguy
    Sometimes I am too smart for my own good. There is a really good chance that the badges for this event will actually be 3.25" floppy discs that will hold information that you can use on a computer.

    Before you ask I will make sure they get mailed out to those who pre-reg.
  • CremlianCremlian
    gees, having event creep :-p
  • ColdguyColdguy
    Finally the people have spoken and we are changing the name from VGFF, for an event in which is mainly "Come hang out and play games and meet new friends" VGFF didn't capture that. Now to think of a good alternative...
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    Ah, so no/few panels, then?
  • ColdguyColdguy
    Victor Frost said:

    Ah, so no/few panels, then?

    There is a very long answer to that question that requires me to get into the mission statement of the event.

    The tldr is it is a single track conference and there will be panel space, so we are going high tier. To answer the follow up Victor you would be in said tier. Wait for more details to come after Monday's meeting.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    I wasn't gonna ask, but thanks for the compliment.
  • ColdguyColdguy
    The name has been changed to XP Fest! Heck of a lot better than VGFF, plus we are almost locked in on the final location. Now the real work begins...
  • Punt RocketPunt Rocket
    I have some guest suggestions for you. Nick, Paul, and Josh from Continue? are from PA and Jon Tron is from NYC.
  • RymRym
    Our interest depends pretty-much entirely on the dates. Avoid other major gaming or anime conventions if you want us to come. ;^)
  • CremlianCremlian
    My interest is mostly if it's local to Philly :-p
  • ColdguyColdguy
    edited August 2014
    Rym said:

    Our interest depends pretty-much entirely on the dates. Avoid other major gaming or anime conventions if you want us to come. ;^)

    The good news is that barring a mishap in the contract the dates will be June 12-14th (11 & 15 being load in and out days). This I'd the weekend before E3 and unless you want to go to TooManyGames or AnimeNext there is no conflict.

    As for location...again barring the contract changing last minute, it will be in the Hartford Hilton on Trumble Street. Once everything is locked I have a list of people to contact at ConnectiCon so we can buddy up and co-exist properly.

    So tldr, no conflicts want all to cone and game and make sure we don't lose too much money.
    Punt Rocket said:

    I have some guest suggestions for you. Nick, Paul, and Josh from

    Continue? are from PA and Jon Tron is from NYC.
    I'd had not throught about them as a guest I will place it as a suggestion, thanks for that Punt Rocket!

    Also I managed to convince the team to not suck and MAIL THE BADGES. Yes they will be mailed as a small F U to those who do not.

    Also the swag we are planning to get is on a level that surpassed any convention I have been to (as in everyone gets something not the one off contest to get single thing).

    Once the website is up I will share but for now you can say hi on twitter @xpfest if you like.

    I will throw this out there, we have a chance to request arcade machienes to the event so besides 3 player rampart what else should we get?

    Post edited by Coldguy on
  • NukerjsrNukerjsr
    edited August 2014
    Jon St. John will come. He came to my college's local convention, he should spring for you guys if you all accommodate him. One of my favorite stories from the people who organized the event is when JSJ was looking to get some beers and food at late night from the first day, but wanted to stay at the hotel.

    Organizers: "Let's go to Sheetz."

    JSJ: "What the hell is a Sheetz?"

    (10 Minutes Later)

    JSJ: "Dude, Sheetz is fucking awesome."
    Post edited by Nukerjsr on
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    I can hear him saying that in Duke's voice.
  • MattMatt
    You mention a conflict with TooManyGames. Are they the same weekend? I'd think that would actually be a rather large conflict.

    I've never been to TMG. Always on my long list of things to check out, but never have.
  • ColdguyColdguy
    edited August 2014
    It's Official! Dates Set and contract signed it will be June 12-14th 2015 ALL DAY THREE DAY! At the Hilton on Trumbull St. in Hartford Connecticut.
    Matt said:


    I've never been to TMG. Always on my long list of things to check out, but never have.

    As someone who has been there several times I can tell you that you are not missing much.

    They are a giant dealer's room with a few added extras (concerts mainly) however unless you like to go to an event in which the primary focus is buying retro video games, it is simply a pass.

    Plus (thankfully) they officially did not announce 2015 dates yet and there is a chance it may be pushed to later anyway.

    It appears I do not have permission to edit the topic of this thread? Any chance I could change it so a new one does not need to be created/merged with this conversation?
    Post edited by Coldguy on
  • AprecheApreche
    The guy who runs Connecticon doesn't like competition.
  • NeitoNeito
    Hmmmm... Hartford is reachable....
  • ColdguyColdguy
    I am following rule number 1 about conventions in emailing everyone back right away if they ask me a question, the problem is that I have about 25 more emails to go.
  • ColdguyColdguy
    Sending a slew of emails out today but on the lighter note xpfest.com is up and running smoothly. Lack of details there but it is a start of something. I am still in the middle of operation email with a long way to go.
  • MattMatt
    A tale of caution
  • MattMatt
    Oh and btw, while most sites of this nature are blocked under my employer's "games" category filter, xpfest.com came up as "Malicious Outbound Data/Botnets." Not sure if that means anything but figured a heads up can't hurt.
  • ColdguyColdguy
    Matt said:

    Oh and btw, while most sites of this nature are blocked under my employer's "games" category filter, xpfest.com came up as "Malicious Outbound Data/Botnets." Not sure if that means anything but figured a heads up can't hurt.

    Thanks for the heads up. We are a bit more realistic and aiming between 50-200 people in year one. IG we get more that be great but we are going to properly get this going to something substantial.
  • CremlianCremlian
    Matt said:

    A tale of caution

    having helped build and run a fast growing convention from 300 people to over 4k over 5 years, I cringe every time someone says "Go big or go home".
  • AprecheApreche
    Cremlian said:

    Matt said:

    A tale of caution

    having helped build and run a fast growing convention from 300 people to over 4k over 5 years, I cringe every time someone says "Go big or go home".
    What's surprising is that it seems like they actually ran the convention well other than the big mistake of overestimating attendance.
  • CremlianCremlian
    edited August 2014
    Apreche said:

    Cremlian said:

    Matt said:

    A tale of caution

    having helped build and run a fast growing convention from 300 people to over 4k over 5 years, I cringe every time someone says "Go big or go home".
    What's surprising is that it seems like they actually ran the convention well other than the big mistake of overestimating attendance.
    They were pretty clear they didn't break even. Which means they didn't do it right. I mean Dash Con said they would be back next year right afterwards...Give it a few months and they will go bankrupt or disappear.
    Post edited by Cremlian on
  • AprecheApreche
    Cremlian said:

    Apreche said:

    Cremlian said:

    Matt said:

    A tale of caution

    having helped build and run a fast growing convention from 300 people to over 4k over 5 years, I cringe every time someone says "Go big or go home".
    What's surprising is that it seems like they actually ran the convention well other than the big mistake of overestimating attendance.
    They were pretty clear they didn't break even. Which means they didn't do it right. I mean Dash Con said they would be back next year right afterwards...Give it a few months and they will go bankrupt or disappear.
    Yes, but they didn't break even only because they made the convention way bigger than the number of attendees that showed up. At least from the story, it sounds like they got sponsors, advertised, and did a lot of things right.
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