Stop signing up for Intercon.
I’m only half joking. As I type this, we’re at 292 signups. We *don’t have enough games* for 292. And we _can’t_ have enough games for 292. We don’t have the space. Three days before game signups opened we were in the 160’s. Even after the first round, even after the second round, we got dozens of new registrations. Even after the signups went wide open, we picked up more registrations. I’m worried that we’re getting a lot of first time Intercon attendees who aren’t going to get into games at all, or worse, feel pushed to sign up for games they won’t enjoy just to play games at all. We’ll be crowded, con suite will have a real hard time turning out the level of food and service we’ve set up expectations for, and people will be bored, feeling trapped in Chelmsford with no where to go and nothing to do.
In short, I’m worried that we’re doing a disservice to everyone. To the new attendees who will have a bad experience because we don’t have the resources to give them a good one, to the long time attendees who we can’t provide the same level of service and experience to, to the staff and volunteers who will be pushed and worked, and have new levels of demands placed upon them. The only group I don’t worry about directly are the GMs, all of whom should have as many players as they could want to fill their games. But they’re players and attendees as well, so they don’t get off easy.
So seriously, stop signing up for the con. Or at least, convince everyone you know to sign up for at least one shift with Con Suite or Ops. Think about what you can do ahead of time to help out, and help us make it a *good* experience for everyone instead of a *bad*.
