Also, right near the BCEC is the Children's museum. Its amazing. One of the best. They are part of the reciprocal programs for our local one, so its free to me. We used it as an indoor playground for the kiddos.
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DominoKeizen MikazukiNew York, NYRegistered Userregular
I was actually thinking PAX has become too family friendly, give me back my after hours board games and drinks at the Westin and let me get beer in the expo hall again :?
Please correct me if i'm wrong, but Domino, that had nothing to do with being family friendly. The Westin still let's people play board games, but the spaces offered are more restricted now due to the shear size that PAX East has become. They also have to deal with more events happening at the same time. Beer in the expo hall (and i'm assuming you're also referring to the bar at the food court) was stopped because certain people can't control their liqueur consumption, thus ruining it for the rest of us!
I was actually thinking PAX has become too family friendly, give me back my after hours board games and drinks at the Westin and let me get beer in the expo hall again :?
I know this was meant in jest, but this made me sad. One, I’m sad that you don’t get drinks and play games into the wee hours and two, that it’s implied that because one has kids they can’t do this.
I for one spend every night enjoying myself and gaming on the second floor overlook of the aloft lol. The Westin is too loud/crowed. The aloft staff was amazing last year with allowing the use of their spaces. Come join us if you’d like.
As a mom and a responsible parent, this does mean I have to plan and prep for that. I hire a sitter for evenings. Put my kids to bed, bring a monitor, then go play etc. Again, taking kids to these things, just like any trip or gaming night at home even, requires a bit more planning.
All of these convos have me thinking maybe we need to go in for a gamer parent co-op care. Maybe a parent swap system. We have one in my neighborhood, dont know how that would work with strangers. lol But someones missing a drop in care opportunity for real.
All of these convos have me thinking maybe we need to go in for a gamer parent co-op care. Maybe a parent swap system. We have one in my neighborhood, dont know how that would work with strangers. lol But someones missing a drop in care opportunity for real.
Love the idea of a parent share/community sort of situation. As someone who travels to Boston for PAX East, we don't have the option to leave our son with a babysitter for the day. (Well, I guess we could, but it'd be weird since they'd be a literal stranger.)
What I'm getting from this thread is that it sounds like there are parents looking to bring their children to PAX but still want to have a good time without feeling out-of-place. While I think that it's completely doable for PAX to carve out a space (a hallway, a room) for parents and kids, it doesn't seem like something that they're interested in doing. So, instead, I think that it'd be great if we could be that community for each other, you know? I'm not sure what that would look like, but I think that a Parents of PAX East would be a cool thing.
All of these convos have me thinking maybe we need to go in for a gamer parent co-op care. Maybe a parent swap system. We have one in my neighborhood, dont know how that would work with strangers. lol But someones missing a drop in care opportunity for real.
Love the idea of a parent share/community sort of situation. As someone who travels to Boston for PAX East, we don't have the option to leave our son with a babysitter for the day. (Well, I guess we could, but it'd be weird since they'd be a literal stranger.)
What I'm getting from this thread is that it sounds like there are parents looking to bring their children to PAX but still want to have a good time without feeling out-of-place. While I think that it's completely doable for PAX to carve out a space (a hallway, a room) for parents and kids, it doesn't seem like something that they're interested in doing. So, instead, I think that it'd be great if we could be that community for each other, you know? I'm not sure what that would look like, but I think that a Parents of PAX East would be a cool thing.
Maybe we can plan a "Pax Playdate" and see where we go from there. We usually make a trip to the kids museum part of the schedule every year. We are fortunate that we also travel with people our kids call aunts and uncles. We can say "Hey Uncle Pat, go show the kid something cool" and we get a small break. Its mostly nights we need sitters. Cant really game and drink in the lobby with our kids asleep upstairs. Maybe if they were older, but not yet lol.
I'm not a parent myself, but have a wee nephew, 2 and a half now, that I take care of often. He's always been a social baby but even with him we always need some sort of "relax" time if we ever go to a mall or something.
A few cents from my POV as an attendee that isn't bringing in a kid:
- I agree that BYOC is a chill place, and large enough that I don't see bringing more kids in bothering anyone.
- Family Break Room to allow for a larger area (than ONE bathroom) for diaper changes etc. would be wonderful. I know it's "up to the sponsors," but there might also be a concern of "would this make people upset." I can totally see someone complaining "there was one less room for panels this year". However, those complaints are there anyway: I love the Arena, others don't, etc.
- Related to the above, I wouldn't make this room really big. I mean, in the end as good as it is to accommodate parents, even the AFK room itself isn't that huge, and it works. PAX is a con, and when the morning rush of checks finishes, you can come and go as you please, I'd rather they focus on the crucial con elements than making a humongous family room. I know nobody here asked for that, but just saying!
- This might be silly and not make sense vs how many babies/toddlers come, but a few of my friends use baby ear mufflers to bring their kids to concerts etc, how awesome would it be if you could get them PAX branded? Yeah, I'm a merch wh--lover. I'd 100% get one for my nephew, and the expo floor *is* loud.
- The Enforcers I've seen have all been great to families in the line, but I wasn't with a kid. Is there anything to make lines easier, people with kids? Or are they OK as is? Because "crowds and lines" are the usual worries for anxious people I know.
- mommy.gamer I think it's a bit unrealistic to expect NYCC level in BCEC... PAX team can do their utmost best and not manage. Just the main expo space in NYCC is ~1.5 times that of BCEC I believe, and it's spilled over to many other locations a la PAX West. I admire the faith you have in them, but I don't think they can compare.
- mayapple's advice is great for parents: PAX is overwhelming. It really is. My boyfriend absolutely refuses to go, the one time he did come was miserable for him, despite his love of gaming. We stayed at the Westin which was great so he took frequent breaks, and used the AFK room once too. Even those of us like me who have zero issue with crowds don't necessarily want 90k people around them at all times. I ate outside of the center almost every day, it was good to get away and get fresh air too.
So a few questions I would love some feedback on. I have experience in recreational management and working with programming groups, and it got me thinking: why has no one done this type of thing before? Either no one has started it, or there really isnt the need we think there is, or it is just really poorly advertised. Ie. What if we organized a camp day at the local climbing gym for kids to go to "camp" on the friday of PAX from 9-4. What if the daycare center located next to aloft did special evening drop in care for a set price? These are things I have done with other places before here in TN. I have started to look into options that are local to the BCEC, but usually in these cases you need confirmed payments of X amount of kids ahead of time. For the record, these would be things totally separate from PAX, completely not associated, and run by the private companies themselves with their own already hired staff.
So wanted to get some feelers and opinions. Thanks!
-If there was some type of drop in care (outside of the BCEC, but in the surrounding area) available, what times would you be most likely to utilize it? Would you prefer daytime or evening?
-What age children would you be needing the care for?
-Would you want to attend a Family Party on one of the evenings hosted outside of the BCEC? Would you prefer it to be "kid geared" or "game geared" or a blend?
So a few questions I would love some feedback on. I have experience in recreational management and working with programming groups, and it got me thinking: why has no one done this type of thing before? Either no one has started it, or there really isnt the need we think there is, or it is just really poorly advertised. Ie. What if we organized a camp day at the local climbing gym for kids to go to "camp" on the friday of PAX from 9-4. What if the daycare center located next to aloft did special evening drop in care for a set price? These are things I have done with other places before here in TN. I have started to look into options that are local to the BCEC, but usually in these cases you need confirmed payments of X amount of kids ahead of time. For the record, these would be things totally separate from PAX, completely not associated, and run by the private companies themselves with their own already hired staff.
So wanted to get some feelers and opinions. Thanks!
-If there was some type of drop in care (outside of the BCEC, but in the surrounding area) available, what times would you be most likely to utilize it? Would you prefer daytime or evening?
-What age children would you be needing the care for?
-Would you want to attend a Family Party on one of the evenings hosted outside of the BCEC? Would you prefer it to be "kid geared" or "game geared" or a blend?
Love this idea!
I probably wouldn't use a drop-in care center right now (because my little one is under 2) but if I had an older kid, I'd probably use it between 11am-3pmish.
I would be into a Family Party outside of the BCEC, as long as it was still pretty close or very T-accessible.
If this becomes and thing and you need help planning, I'd be happy to help!
Posts
I know this was meant in jest, but this made me sad. One, I’m sad that you don’t get drinks and play games into the wee hours and two, that it’s implied that because one has kids they can’t do this.
I for one spend every night enjoying myself and gaming on the second floor overlook of the aloft lol. The Westin is too loud/crowed. The aloft staff was amazing last year with allowing the use of their spaces. Come join us if you’d like.
As a mom and a responsible parent, this does mean I have to plan and prep for that. I hire a sitter for evenings. Put my kids to bed, bring a monitor, then go play etc. Again, taking kids to these things, just like any trip or gaming night at home even, requires a bit more planning.
Love the idea of a parent share/community sort of situation. As someone who travels to Boston for PAX East, we don't have the option to leave our son with a babysitter for the day. (Well, I guess we could, but it'd be weird since they'd be a literal stranger.)
What I'm getting from this thread is that it sounds like there are parents looking to bring their children to PAX but still want to have a good time without feeling out-of-place. While I think that it's completely doable for PAX to carve out a space (a hallway, a room) for parents and kids, it doesn't seem like something that they're interested in doing. So, instead, I think that it'd be great if we could be that community for each other, you know? I'm not sure what that would look like, but I think that a Parents of PAX East would be a cool thing.
Maybe we can plan a "Pax Playdate" and see where we go from there. We usually make a trip to the kids museum part of the schedule every year. We are fortunate that we also travel with people our kids call aunts and uncles. We can say "Hey Uncle Pat, go show the kid something cool" and we get a small break. Its mostly nights we need sitters. Cant really game and drink in the lobby with our kids asleep upstairs. Maybe if they were older, but not yet lol.
A few cents from my POV as an attendee that isn't bringing in a kid:
- I agree that BYOC is a chill place, and large enough that I don't see bringing more kids in bothering anyone.
- Family Break Room to allow for a larger area (than ONE bathroom) for diaper changes etc. would be wonderful. I know it's "up to the sponsors," but there might also be a concern of "would this make people upset." I can totally see someone complaining "there was one less room for panels this year". However, those complaints are there anyway: I love the Arena, others don't, etc.
- Related to the above, I wouldn't make this room really big. I mean, in the end as good as it is to accommodate parents, even the AFK room itself isn't that huge, and it works. PAX is a con, and when the morning rush of checks finishes, you can come and go as you please, I'd rather they focus on the crucial con elements than making a humongous family room. I know nobody here asked for that, but just saying!
- This might be silly and not make sense vs how many babies/toddlers come, but a few of my friends use baby ear mufflers to bring their kids to concerts etc, how awesome would it be if you could get them PAX branded? Yeah, I'm a merch wh--lover. I'd 100% get one for my nephew, and the expo floor *is* loud.
- The Enforcers I've seen have all been great to families in the line, but I wasn't with a kid. Is there anything to make lines easier, people with kids? Or are they OK as is? Because "crowds and lines" are the usual worries for anxious people I know.
- mommy.gamer I think it's a bit unrealistic to expect NYCC level in BCEC... PAX team can do their utmost best and not manage. Just the main expo space in NYCC is ~1.5 times that of BCEC I believe, and it's spilled over to many other locations a la PAX West. I admire the faith you have in them, but I don't think they can compare.
- mayapple's advice is great for parents: PAX is overwhelming. It really is. My boyfriend absolutely refuses to go, the one time he did come was miserable for him, despite his love of gaming. We stayed at the Westin which was great so he took frequent breaks, and used the AFK room once too. Even those of us like me who have zero issue with crowds don't necessarily want 90k people around them at all times. I ate outside of the center almost every day, it was good to get away and get fresh air too.
So wanted to get some feelers and opinions. Thanks!
-If there was some type of drop in care (outside of the BCEC, but in the surrounding area) available, what times would you be most likely to utilize it? Would you prefer daytime or evening?
-What age children would you be needing the care for?
-Would you want to attend a Family Party on one of the evenings hosted outside of the BCEC? Would you prefer it to be "kid geared" or "game geared" or a blend?
Love this idea!
I probably wouldn't use a drop-in care center right now (because my little one is under 2) but if I had an older kid, I'd probably use it between 11am-3pmish.
I would be into a Family Party outside of the BCEC, as long as it was still pretty close or very T-accessible.
If this becomes and thing and you need help planning, I'd be happy to help!