Do we have one of these threads going? If not can we? I don't have many games but I have superfight with all the expansions I bought at PAX East last year. Lot of fun. Anyone down for some games to kick off the con?
there is a prepax game night at the Westin on Thursday night...if you are looking for something like this it will be right around the corner from Element!
I would say also that last year's pre-Pax game night was overfull and it was tough to find any open space/tables in the evening. Not sure if there would be room to do this at the Element (or Aloft), but more space would be helpful!
I know that in 2014 there were two sites ... Westin and I think Long Wharf but agree table space was definitely at a premium at the Westin as I recall ... and each had a separate organizer.
PAX East 2016 .... gots my Passes [x] Hotel [x] Flights [x] Packed [..] .... ok we're all good !!!!!
Hi All! I've coordinated many of the 'big' pre-pax game nights, and here's the Scooby doop:
-We've been able to successfully negotiate huge Thursday night boardgame events FOR FREE with the hotels (like the Westin Waterfront in Boston or the Sheraton in Seattle) for the past few years. You can see a couple of the threads here and here.
- Over the years, PAX has gotten bigger and more popular. For boardgame night, that translates to more outside paying vendors taking up the otherwise-unrented space that the hotels give us for free. Last year was a good example of what happens when a big company comes in at the last minute and rents out the entire restaurant at the Westin. Just a week or two before PAX, the game night coordinator was informed that Sauciety was being rented out to some big ass rich game company for an exclusive party, and game night subsequently lost about 250 seats. Hence the crush.
- Alternate game nights have been held in other locations successfully, but I strongly recommend getting a coordinator who understands event planning and hotel management in order to create an event that that particular hotel wants to host again the next year. The last thing you want is for the hotel to have problems or resent the attendees because nobody understood or addressed the hotel's expectations and requirements.
- The Seaport has been approached a couple of times but didn't want to do it. If management has changed (or softened) this year, they might be willing - it certainly can't hurt to ask but do be aware that we've tried with them before and not been successful.
Hi All! I've coordinated many of the 'big' pre-pax game nights
I just wanted to post a big thank you since the Pre-PAX boardgame nights are always awesome and well organized. With a group as large as PAX it could have very easily gone wrong and scared the hotels from allowing it to continue through the years.
Posts
-We've been able to successfully negotiate huge Thursday night boardgame events FOR FREE with the hotels (like the Westin Waterfront in Boston or the Sheraton in Seattle) for the past few years. You can see a couple of the threads here and here.
- Over the years, PAX has gotten bigger and more popular. For boardgame night, that translates to more outside paying vendors taking up the otherwise-unrented space that the hotels give us for free. Last year was a good example of what happens when a big company comes in at the last minute and rents out the entire restaurant at the Westin. Just a week or two before PAX, the game night coordinator was informed that Sauciety was being rented out to some big ass rich game company for an exclusive party, and game night subsequently lost about 250 seats. Hence the crush.
- Alternate game nights have been held in other locations successfully, but I strongly recommend getting a coordinator who understands event planning and hotel management in order to create an event that that particular hotel wants to host again the next year. The last thing you want is for the hotel to have problems or resent the attendees because nobody understood or addressed the hotel's expectations and requirements.
- The Seaport has been approached a couple of times but didn't want to do it. If management has changed (or softened) this year, they might be willing - it certainly can't hurt to ask but do be aware that we've tried with them before and not been successful.
I just wanted to post a big thank you since the Pre-PAX boardgame nights are always awesome and well organized. With a group as large as PAX it could have very easily gone wrong and scared the hotels from allowing it to continue through the years.