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Pre-PAX Boardgame Night: Ep. 2016, THE DICE AWAKEN
LexiconGrrl
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
WHAT: A coordinated meetup the night before PAX for anyone with board games, or anyone who wants to play boardgames.
WHERE: The Basement Exhibition Hall of the Boston Westin Waterfront Hotel: 425 Summer Street.
WHEN: Thursday April 21 @ 4:00 PM until Midnight or 2am (shutdown time TBD)
This event is ALL AGES!! It's also FREE! And there are NO SIGNUPS!!! Just show up and have a great time. Feel free to bring your spawn, but remember that PAXers have filthy, filthy mouths and your wee ones may be subject to some exciting new vocabulary.
SPECIAL NOTE: We're getting a thank you gift for the manager who rescued this event for us this year. See this post to contribute to the funding.
DEETS:
-350 seats in the Basement Exhibition Hall - take the down escalator behind MJ O'Connors and follow the signs.
-No gaming in the upstairs lobby this year at all. Gamers will be asked by staff to go downstairs.
-This event is not paid for, endorsed by, or affiliated with Official Penny Arcade. It is a community-run event.
Food and Drink
DRINKS
- We're working on getting a bar or bars downstairs.
- Drinks can be ordered from the Birch Bar upstairs and taken downstairs.
- NO DRINKS CAN BE TAKEN OUTSIDE OF MJ O'Connor's. Please do not order drinks for takeout from them. (Their restaurant license is separate from the Westin and takeout cocktails are illegal).
- No outside boozes. Just don't.
-
FOOD
- There will be no table service.
- Food can be ordered from the Birch Bar upstairs. Please make every effort to order from them - I know it's pricey but it's how we pay for this space.
- The Westin has indicated that for this year only, ordering from outside vendors is OK. We'll try to have delivery menus available. Still, please try to order from the Birch Bar.
- The Cookie Brigade will have a table for dropoff and donations
RULES
THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: The Westin gives us this space for free. They are not obligated to host us and we make every effort to be good guests. We negotiate this every year in exchange for a good bar and restaurant take. This year is a little different from normal since we'll be pretty far away from the bar and restaurant. Even so, please make every effort to purchase from the Birch Bar for food and drink this evening.
- Please don't be an egregious douchebag. For example, one year in Seattle, some guy decided it would be a great idea to vape in the ballroom and the hotel manager came and had an unpleasant chat with me about it. This isn't your buddy's garage man cave, please act appropriately. We pride ourselves on being a responsible, self-policing community, so if you see someone acting inappropriately (smoking, vandalizing or just being a dick), it's a good idea to nicely recommend they knock it the fuck off before management does.
- Be Excellent to each other. We freaks and geeks can be a socially maladroit group, so if someone is shyly lurking by your table, invite them to join. Be patient, be nice. Please don't flip your table.
HOW IT WORKS
1. The Cookie Brigade will be staffing the info table. Additional volunteer staffers are always needed, so step up if you want to take a shift for an hour or two that evening!
2. LexiconGrrl (me) will be off enjoying the fruits of my labors for the first time in this event's history. I'll be "that" middle aged drunk woman with the glasses loudly doing Rammstein Karaoke at the table while everyone else pretends not to know me.
3. If you've got a game and are looking for players, put the box top of the game vertically on your table. This is the universal sign for "I don't care who you are, please join us"
4. If you're looking to join a game, look for vertical box tops.
5. We will have a hosted checkout system at the info table. You can drop off games to loan or borrow games there. If you're dropping off, I recommend doing this:
Weekend Gaming
The mezzanine will open for weekend gaming at 5:00pm on Friday, and the tables will remain up through Sunday night/Monday morning.
Never Been? Here's what you should know:
Pre-PAX Game Night at the Westin has been a tradition for 5+ years at East. At its largest in 2014, Four Hundred seats were filled to bursting with boardgames of all sorts, and the event is one of the only all-ages, free-to-attend activities on Thursday night. Renting this space is cost prohibitive, so we've successfully negotiated with the hotels to give us space for free every year (no small feat).
You don't have to pay to get in, it's open to the public, all-ages, and people are really nice. It's a great way to come and kick off PAX with a massive group of friendly, like-minded PAXers and the selection of boardgames is mindblowing. You can bring your own, or find someone to borrow a game from. There is no central game library but lots of people bring private collections to loan out during the event while other folks prefer to set up a single game ahead of time that they bring. It's very free-form and is a completely volunteer, community run event.
You don't have to pay to get in, it's open to the public, all-ages, and people are really nice. It's a great way to come and kick off PAX with a massive group of friendly, like-minded PAXers and the selection of boardgames is mindblowing. You can bring your own, or find someone to borrow a game from. There is no central game library but lots of people bring private collections to loan out during the event while other folks prefer to set up a single game ahead of time that they bring. It's very free-form and is a completely volunteer, community run event.
Original Post:
The FIRST ORDER has taken control of the Westin lobby in Boston, using their power and influence to push PRE-PAX GAMERS to the outer reaches of the BCEC and beyond.
RESISTANCE leaders are in short supply and are desperately needed to ensure the survival of Pre-PAX Game Night by establishing new gaming bases in other locations...
A small contingent of gamers will be established at Starkiller Base (the Westin), under the capricious rule of Big Money. Additional Resistance bases are needed to seat the throngs of gamers desperately in need of space. Are YOU the leader the resistance needs to establish new bases?
Questions you have? Answers you shall find.
Pre-PAX Game Night at the Westin has been a tradition for 5+ years at East. At its largest in 2014, Four Hundred seats were filled to bursting with boardgames of all sorts, and the event is one of the only all-ages, free-to-attend activities on Thursday night. Renting this space is cost prohibitive, so we've successfully negotiated with the hotels to give us space for free every year (no small feat).
Unfortunately, PAX has gotten popular to the point that there is a very good chance the Thursday evening Westin Game Night won't have enough space for this crowd any more. Big, rich game companies are coming in to reserve the spaces that were previously used by PAXers, making this event harder and harder to squeeze in to the limited corners and floorspace they have.
Coordinators are sought for additional locations outside of the Westin that can accommodate 50-200 people. If you're interested in coordinating a game night on Thursday for a large group, reach out by IM to Lexicongrrl or here on the thread for tips, suggestions and ideas. Basically it means working with the location administration ahead of time to ensure that they know what's happening and are okay with it, then being at the location all evening to help answer questions and match up gamers. It's work, but it's also super fun.
Happily on Sabbatical. Don't bug me.
LexiconGrrl on
+12
Posts
PAX East Attendee - 2015, 2016
Nope, neither is there a location yet. It's not ready for the event thread yet.
Step up! Host a Game Night for the People!
Ok, here is something. I wonder if it would be possible to approach the board and card game vendors that attend PAX, and see if they could sponsor the event. Maybe let them have small tables to sell stuff.
Again, I have no experience doing this kind of stuff, but I don't want to see this go away. If anyone else has ideas, I will be glad to help with the foot work to try to get this done
Thanks
Pete
Restaurants aren't as workable an idea as you'd think, since they'd expect the gaming tables to pay as if they were paying guests at a table that was turning once an hour. It's not an ideal situation for more than a few big spendahs who'd do that anyway.
Approaching a game vendor is actually a pretty great idea and since you suggested it, my mind has been ticking away at an idea I have. But if anybody has an 'in' with a company that might be willing to give us space, definitely let me know!!
And yes, you're absolutely right about the fundraising/crowdfunding/paying for space issue. It's been examined thoroughly and just isn't realistic. It would cost somewhere between $10,000-$15,000 to rent the amount of space the hotels give us for free and because PAX is so big now, a lot of folks show up who aren't on the forums so there's no way to reach everyone who attends before the event. And yes, enforcing a door charge (ticket) would bring in some cash but a) not enough and b) it's important to keep this event free and open to all and c) that's a fuckton more work than just finding another helper to do a smaller satellite event at another hotel. Occam's razor, my friends.
Finding space isn't the issue. Finding more game night coordinators is. We need more coordinators.
Approaching either of those is a terrific, terrific idea. I can send you a PM in a couple of days (taxes right now, ugh!) with some tips and suggestions if you want to talk to them?
PAX East 2019!
Badges [X] Hotel [X] Time off request [X]
https://www.pinnypals.com/pals/Streetlight345
Last year I attended the ore Pax game night as I was staying at the Westin and really loved it. I'm sad to hear it's on jeopardy. I'd like to lend a hand. What's the issue with the Westin, are they just not willing to guarantee space again? I know a store owner thru a friend that is located in Westerv MA that always attends PAX to sell.. Id be willing to see if I could get a msg to them if they might be willing to put some money up and sell stuff.
The issue is that they don't have the space to give us anymore, and I'm too siphoned off with work and stuff to coordinate multiple new game nights, so am asking the community to step up and help out by doing a couple of coordinated events on different locations.
If anyone needs a hand getting started, just send me a message or e-mail me (I think my e-mail is on my account).
In the coming days after I finalize most things with them, ill make a new thread on the forums with more concrete details. I hope people would be willing to go/this inspires more people to keep finding locations and volunteering to help.
Also the size of the venue needs to accommodate 500+ people, which is why hotel lobbies are our best bet. I seriously doubt a board game cafe can cater for so many people. Please read what @LexiconGrrl has written about this.
*No hard feelings btw about anything except for that comment about reading what @LexiconGrrl wrote. (Of course I read the thread)
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1w_DT31spTMAOofJYHHOkKLrdQFxCWnEslQxXBZ2XiuE/viewform
PAX East 2019!
Badges [X] Hotel [X] Time off request [X]
https://www.pinnypals.com/pals/Streetlight345
Oh and apologies to @Yamskar over my remark on not reading this thread. I was just miffed at losing Westin as our venue and the thought of having a 3 hour round trip to a replacement venue filled me with ire. Especially since I'm traveling 3,000 miles across a rather inhospitable ocean to get to Boston on the first place.
@Kropotkin did we lose Westin? or is the space which might be available limited (moreso than previous years)? I read Lexi's post differently. I thought space was restricted not foreclosed.
I believe it was limited space. If there was a place that has enough space for the entire event then why bother with the Westin right? Hopefully the Aloft fills the need... Extra hopeful because I'm staying there this year.
Thats the jist of what I was thinking was meant about the situation as well. For the person above who mentioned their capacity, the Cafe has a capacity of about 70 give or take staff/game masters working that day. I did bring up with him how unfeasible/unrealistic it might be to expect people to go out of their way to go to the Cafe considering other many local events and he essentially told me (email quote) "No worries, we may still host an unofficial event and waive the gaming fee for anyone with a Pax pass. Let me know if you guys get another option set up, just so we know how to present ourselves when marketing our event. " So yeah... thats the situation in regards to them now.
@kropotkin I meant it more as a joke then anything haha. 3000 miles is a daunting task, Godspeed brother!
Yes I remembered you as being from the UK. I am crossing from Newfoundland so while not the UK I can commiserate. Hence my hesitation in leaving the city proper.
Thanks for working on this.filled out the form. Staying at the Element, so Aloft would be great and i know my party was super bummed about the Westin. If we do this, we should reach out to cookie brigade (though also check with aloft about that too) b/c they are a great presence too. I put a few games I could bring, but that can be flushed out later. I think I'm driving a car with only myself and 1 passenger, so might have some game-transportation room
One thing I thought was interesting was she mentioned that PAX has a hold on the conference rooms and they had to contact them before they moved any further and told me the bad news.
I'm really disappointed and sorry if i got people's hopes up.
PAX East 2019!
Badges [X] Hotel [X] Time off request [X]
https://www.pinnypals.com/pals/Streetlight345
I don't know what the arrangement has been with the Westin over the years or why it is different this year all of a sudden. I had assumed PAX management struck a deal with the Westin previous years. Too bad they couldn't with the Aloft this year for the pre-pax game night. How many normally attend the game night? That's where we should start, to know what size venue is needed. May not be any other options at this time though.
PAX East 2019!
Badges [X] Hotel [X] Time off request [X]
https://www.pinnypals.com/pals/Streetlight345
This is a community event in no way sponsored by PAX, PA, etc. I reached out to the hyatt down the road and pretty much got the same answer. The only option with either is pre-charging attendance so the cost of the rental is covered. Some places will lower the rental fee based on what people purchase, but there's no guarantee of money at that point and you have no idea how much people will spend until they spend it.