Lessons Learned: My Post-Gen Con Wrap-Up

• Staying at The Canterbury Hotel was nice, and I got a hell of a deal by booking my room back in January. But it's about the furthest you can be from the action while still being connected by the Skywalk. So the hike to the ICC and back got real old, real fast. On the plus side, all of the games I ran were at the Crowne Plaza Hotel -- right next to my hotel which was very convenient. So it was a trade-off. I also saw the Crowne was right next to the ICC, so that may be where I end up next year.
• Next year, I'll run only Mutant Future as I seemed to be the only one who did. So I'll fully embrace the mantle as "Gen Con's Sole Mutant Future GM." (Unless someone else steps up, in which case I shall totally play in your game.)
• And one of those games will be a "Thundarr the Barbarian" Mutant Future game -- I so swear.
  
• Speaking of running games -- next time I won't run so many as I somewhat cheated myself out of two days at Gen Con. I scheduled my games from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. so it'd be most convenient for me. (Nothing too early or too late.) However, the Exhibit Hall is open from, you guessed it, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Plus, by the time 6 p.m. rolled around, I had already been gaming (as a GM) for 8 hours. I was beat, even though I wanted to play in some games of my own and/or participate in the auction. And all of the pick-up games and after-hours funness were held at the ICC. Did I mention the hike? Anyway, next year, I'll run two/three games on one day to get it out of my system, then the rest of the event will be Sniderman Time to enjoy.
  
• BRING. MORE. ASPIRIN. I swear I'm still working out the kinks.
• BRING. MORE. THROAT. LOZENGES. Losing my voice Saturday morning was the pits.
  
• Next year, I need to try to work in a round of True Dungeon. I regret not trying that out.
• The camera I brought sucked. However, although I saw a lot of cool things to take pictures of, those same cool things were covered pretty well by other bloggers snapping shots and posting pix. I'm not one to take pix for my own personal keep-'em-forever use, so next year, no camera.
• But I WILL bring a bigger empty suitcase specifically for the Gen Con Haul. I got so much swag and made so many purchases, I filled the carry-on I brought as well as half my clothes case. (I'll post a list of everything later.)
• I hate fighting departing crowds for any event, so I left early Sunday morning, even though the event was wrapping up that morning. But I don't think I really missed anything of importance other one last sweep of the exhibit hall. Or did I? Nagging doubts linger that something cool happened on that final day and I missed it.
  
• Next year, I need to find and attend more of the yearly traditions of Gen Con. Was there for the Tossing Of The First Die, but I didn't build anything at Cardhalla nor participate in its coin-fueled destruction, I didn't play in any pick-up games scattered throughout the area, I missed out on seeing the costume parade, I didn't play Drunken D&D or midnight Illuminati or Are You a Werewolf or NASCRAG, I missed Hickman's Killer Breakfast, I wanted to check out Dead Games Society's games on Wednesday night, etc. I did, however, get to take my turn through The Tower of Gygax with Luke Gygax as a teammate, I had lunch at The Ram one day, and I attended the Gen Con Forum Members' "Stink," so those were fun times.
• I need to get all of my rulebooks onto a Tablet PC. Dragging my never-once-used rulesbook for the games I ran sucked. But I'm too nervous to NOT have them on hand for a rules call.
  
• I feel like there were too many things to do, but I don't feel like I did enough, if that makes sense.
• I really wish this had been 1986, I was 20-years-old, and I was attending with my old D&D crew from my youth. The tales would be epic.
• The tales I have from my first Gen Con as a solo-flying 44-year-old GM are epic anyway. ;)