#331760
Vacation time - Let’s face it: We don’t have a whole lot of vacation time and many of us have kids. What would be an easier selling point: GenCon and Indianapolis or Orlando and its myriad of amusement parks and other assorted activities? Choosing a location that has more to do for not just we as players but for others that may want to come along is a good thing, especially if you’re making a vacation consisting of more than just Trek.
Community - The events will be held at Campus Cards and Games, a store owned by a member of our community. Also, Orlando was the most popular selection on the Period of Review for locations for Worlds and/or Continentals along with GenCon.
On its own - GenCon has way more events than can ever be done in four days which is great… unless you want to have more focus on your game. Continentals should be the biggest event for that continent of the year (except when Worlds is on the continent of course) and it should have as much focus on our game as possible. The easiest way to accomplish this is by having the event away from GenCon where it can be about us.
Cost - Typically speaking, the airfare is cheaper to fly to Orlando (which practically every airline based in North America flies into, thus keeping flight prices low due to competition), the hotels are cheaper than downtown Indianapolis, there’s no badge fee cost among other costs. If our events are less expensive for people to attend then there’s a greater chance that more people will attend.
This was not, however, due to the monetary issues related to last year’s room block.
We will always have a high-level event at GenCon, whether it is Masters, Continentals or Worlds. We’ve gotten years of good will with GenCon and we’re not about to turn our back on that this or any other year. However, this doesn’t mean that North American Continentals *has* to be here. While I know that this decision won’t make everyone happy, I do hope that this helps to at least explain the why’s behind it.
Michael Van Breemen,
North American Organized Play Director
Community - The events will be held at Campus Cards and Games, a store owned by a member of our community. Also, Orlando was the most popular selection on the Period of Review for locations for Worlds and/or Continentals along with GenCon.
On its own - GenCon has way more events than can ever be done in four days which is great… unless you want to have more focus on your game. Continentals should be the biggest event for that continent of the year (except when Worlds is on the continent of course) and it should have as much focus on our game as possible. The easiest way to accomplish this is by having the event away from GenCon where it can be about us.
Cost - Typically speaking, the airfare is cheaper to fly to Orlando (which practically every airline based in North America flies into, thus keeping flight prices low due to competition), the hotels are cheaper than downtown Indianapolis, there’s no badge fee cost among other costs. If our events are less expensive for people to attend then there’s a greater chance that more people will attend.
This was not, however, due to the monetary issues related to last year’s room block.
We will always have a high-level event at GenCon, whether it is Masters, Continentals or Worlds. We’ve gotten years of good will with GenCon and we’re not about to turn our back on that this or any other year. However, this doesn’t mean that North American Continentals *has* to be here. While I know that this decision won’t make everyone happy, I do hope that this helps to at least explain the why’s behind it.
Michael Van Breemen,
North American Organized Play Director
North American Organized Play Coordinator. PM me anytime.