First time GenConner, but not last-time. The organizers have their hook set well into this fish's mouth (and wallet).

The Good:
- No way to compare to previous con's for the Exhibition Hall, but it was navigable, and I expected much worse based on podcasts. 
- Big specific shoutout to fun people who welcomed an RPG newb to their tables for Brass Tacks' Pellokoi SW settings and Cereal Victims Unit. I learned a lot, felt really awesome about playing games and bringing that experience back to my local group. 
- Some vendors staged their sales of high demand product so that if you were careful or planned, you could get away with picking up a game after the running of the bulls on Thursday. Our group had events we desperately wanted to do fairly early on Thursday morning, so we would've missed out, and it was nice not to have to choose to not get a game by playing important events. I'd like to see vendors do more of this for high demand product or product in very limited supply.
- The Tak tournament featured very kind people and a surprise visit from James at Cheapa-- Games. It's really good to be able to share in the formation of a new community of gamers around a classy game, and it was an extreme privilege to be able to take part in the first event of this game, ever - it's a special memory [ even if i finished 1-3, who cares! did you have fun? YES!] I'll get to keep because I took a risk and took part in GenCon and this event. It's something more events should seek to create in their attendees.
- Time to get carded for the beer garden was fast and most food trucks when I went were not having ridiculous lines, merely long ones in some cases. And, lots of variety, with some semi healthy options. Very cool.
- Random time in the Artists area netted a quick fistbump and picture with Pat Rothfuss that I had not planned on or expected when his line was empty.
- The Drive Home: to help keep our driver awake, there was a request for a car-based RPG. We tried doing some Roll20 in the car, but couldn't make it work, so I picked up a scenario for Don't Rest Your Head, and we -almost- finished it on the way home. I've never GM'd before, and didn't know the setting, but it was fun to practice and be creative, which my experiences at GC inspired - and for that, I thank you all.
- Multiple plays of Secret Hitler, although I'm not sure what the gods of gaming are suggesting when I'm a Fascist 3 times in a row. The organizer of our table was awesome at teaching the game, and helping us meet as a table. Well done on social gaming!
- Seeing how well the community welcomes kids and newbies into their midst. One of my group snagged a shot of a group of adult cosplayers in Star Wars "villain" gear welcome a little tiny kid in an Obi-Wan getup. The look on the kid's face? That's another reason to come to gencon - happiness and joy and "you're home". "They want me?" - how very very cool.

The Meh: 
- On me entirely, but I sweat pretty quickly and easily, and I'm sure that even though i bathed REGULARLY, I may have stunk up a table or two. Not by intent, just by being a big guy who sweats. My apologies to my table mates, and even if I flop-sweated, no one called me out (which is good), just wish I didn't melt before I even got into the building. Next time, lighter clothing.
- Some events which were ticketed didn't really start on time, which puts the whole day at risk. I'm sure this is a recurring issue, but I'll a) watch for this in my scheduling next year, and b) lesson learned: don't overschedule myself
- The Escape Room itself and the Game for it weren't necessarily clear about which was which to our group. Perhaps clearer labelling of live-action vs boardgame when such crossovers are possible would be helpful.
- Choke points getting into Hall A-E and Exhibition Hall were a bit annoying, esp after the Exh Hall closed.
- Somewhat limited play times in the "playtest" room - although could be a function of our schedule. Would love to see this expanded. Is there any thought to a dedicated Unpub concept or is that trademarked by the Unpub conference folks and couldn't be run at GC?

The bad:
- I share a previous poster's wish that the Exh. Hall didn't close so early, especially on early days of the con. I get that the ICC needs to be vacated on Sunday, but perhaps longer hours on Thursday and Friday would be helpful, maybe till 8? I realize this puts a strain on already exhausted vendors and exhibitors, but it would be helpful for those who can't or won't run with the bulls to pick up a game or visit a vendor
- Overscheduling Thursday and Friday: totally my fault, not knowing. We were all wiped out, and rolling our stamina checks with a -2 on Saturday.
- My credit union's fraud division stopping my card, clearing it, then STILL stopping it as my group was trying to leave Sunday and I was making a last minute purchase. First time that's ever happened in that inconvenient a way.
- Lugging purchases around. I have no idea where GC would put it, but it would be nice to have a Game "coat check" concept somewhere, with a time limitation, and/or lockers around the hall where people could drop gear for a limited time. IE, have an event over in one of the hotels, and don't want to lug 30 pounds of games somewhere in the heat? Drop with a game-check agent for the price of $x, with a 4 hour clock (or something) to pick it back up. Again, no idea where it could be, real estate is not readily available in the ICC, but, maybe a hallway space between ICC and Lucas Oil? Give a ticket, pick up stuff, but otherwise, can't pick up without? And of course, can be stowed in backpacks/luggage, but it's an idea. and GC could charge a reasonable fee for such a service, and I'd happily pay.

The Ugly:
- Having to go back to work. Ugh.
- Nothing I saw made me question that the vast majority of gamers, players and observers in this community are welcoming and awesome folks. Were there some minor over-competitive folks in some events, yes, but there are some in every crowd. I see that even in my weekly cribbage games, but... people were awesome.

Speaking of: I'll see if the ACC can setup some Cribbage Events as part of GC. Classic games still have a home too!

Great place for avid runners and complete beginners to enjoy an early morning at Gen Con. Fun fact, it was the first 5k for the guy who currently runs it too :)

We never got a reason why we weren't notified for either the second or third. Hotel HQ just said that the second game had been cancelled in advanced (not sure how advanced though!).

Overall it was my best Gen Con ever.  I had a great time, played in more games than I usually do and tried to play in games I dont normally play.

The Good:

• It felt A LOT less crowded this year.  The expansion into the stadium, the expansion of the vendor hall and further expansion into the surrounding hotels has really helped the congestion.  Yes, there were times it got crowded but overall it was a welcome change!
  
• The ICC staff was great, the restrooms I went into were mostly clean.  The food staff was polite, friendly and accommodating.
  
• Goodman games did a great job of getting me into a game with a great GM when all 7 other players failed to show for a game of DCC.
  
• Every game I played in was full (except the above mentioned game) and all GM's showed.
  

• People with giant sized backpacks that stick out 2 feet from their back in the vendor hall really get on my nerves.  Most dont pay attention and forget they have this giant thing on their pack and smack people around when they turn or take up much more space than normal in skinny aisles.
  
• Although overall I had very little problem finding readily available food, the food truck lines were exceptionally long at times and so once again I did not eat at them.
  

• I had what amounted to probably the worst RPG game I have ever been in.  Unknown to us at the beginning this was to be a "killer DM".  The DM was loud and obnoxious to the point of shouting the entire time, every other word out of his mouth was an "F" bomb or some other cuss word.  Around 30 minutes into the play session a player had his character killed.  He politely asked if another opportunity would come up for him to jump into another character and the GM shouts "NO! You're *^#$@*&^ dead!".  So 30ish minutes into the his 4 hour game he was done.  It became quickly obvious this was a killer DM, out for a TPK in a home-brewed style "Tomb of Horrors".  He got his TPK with absolutely no combat and almost no dice-rolling in around 2-2.5 hours when I (being the last of 6) died by doing something stupid on purpose to end the misery.
  
• I saw a near fight almost breakout between some drunk guys at the Battletech pods one night.
  

I really appreciated the way you accommodated my last-minute character request for your game!
 

The Good:

• Embassy Suites - corner king suite was HUGE! Breakfast was tasty and plentiful, the staff were all smiles and friendly, everything was clean (with an exception noted below in The Bad).
  
• Best gaming experience ever - I was a newb in on a Lord of Waterdeep with expansions at Fight in the Skies on Friday (maybe? It all runs together), and received the single best explanation of any game ever. The GM was helpful without being pushy, fielded all of our questions like a pro, didn't infodump and guided us rather than pushed us along. 
  
• The Colts Grille - great food, no wait, fast service with a smile. I think they refilled my glass every other time I took a drink. We'll be back.
  
• Giordano's - Well worth a 2 hour delivery wait. So. Freaking. Good.
  

The Meh:

• AC in the Westin - It was nonexistent on Friday night in the ballroom areas. I cancelled my ticket to the Pallet Painting SPA event over there because entering the area was like hitting a wall of stench from unwashed bodies. Barf. 
  
• Garbage cans in the crossroads in the dealer hall. Not a rocket scientist-type idea. Let's move those to a less congested space, shall we?
  

The Bad:

• ADA access to/from the Embassy - We LOVE the Embassy, except the logistics of getting a motorized cart to the 10th floor are no bueno. Pull up, drop off luggage, and drive to park. Then hoof it back and find the bellstand to get the cart that was dropped off by the rental service. Take the smelly GARBAGE elevator aka the service elevator to the 3rd floor to check in. Get keys & parking pass. Take the regular elevators to the 10th floor and go to our room. In the morning, take the regular elevator to the 3rd floor for breakfast, and then take the smelly GARBAGE elevator to the 2nd floor to get into the skywalk. There has to be a better way. There is a lift from the 2nd to 3rd floors, but it's pretty close in there and feels rickety. I keep hearing that they are remodeling, but no evidence as of yet.
  
• Vendor Hall - they need to spread what they have out and manage the high-traffic areas better. Case in point: Asmodee. Why is it smack dab in the middle when they always have a line that wraps the booth? This could be better managed by putting them in a corner with a line snaking out the doors. 
  
• Vendor Hall, part 2 - Why are there gaming/demos IN the Vendor Hall? This area should be for purchases only. Demos should be relocated to the play halls. This would cut down on confusion and the hordes stopping to observe.
  
• ICC Hallways - Could we run some traffic control on the busiest days/times? 
  

I agree in part, the number of demo games is growing out of control.  I dont mind the demos so much but there do seem to be a lot more of them and there appeared to be companies that had little to sell and were only doing demos. 

Happy to accommodate. It's too difficult to get anyone the cast list and let them pick specifically by the time of the con, but your request for type of character wasn't too difficult to manage. I'm really glad you enjoyed the games. 

Look us up next year, we'll have another four or five games, and if you get ahold of us early after ticket sales, we can work with you on a character to some degree. 

Nice gaming with you :) 

To those who are offended /  upset by the Cosplay Deviants booth at Gen Con I would love to bring a few things to light and possibly put some of your worries to rest. 

Cosplay Deviants has had the pleasure of exhibiting and hosting events at Gen Con since 2010. While some of our events are 18-21+ our booth at this show and every other show we exhibit at is family friendly. ALL of our displayed content is either in costume or printed censored, meaning it is physically impossible for anyone to see any nude content at our booth without having made a purchase. 
We ID EVERYONE for adult content merchandise! This actually annoys some of our customers but more often than not I would rather be safe than sorry. Our Cosplayers are given strict rules not to engage minors, or sell to anyone beneath a certain age.
We only hire actual geeks, meaning many of the games you're interested in, they are too. We're not just some porn site putting girls in costumes and trying to make a quick buck. These are people just as passionate about geek culture as you are.
We hosted more than 750 players at our events this year, and look to expand our event schedule in 2017. We are interested in bringing more content to Gen Con, not just selling our wares. 

I often tell people that out of all the conventions we attend that Gen Con is my favorite for how well it's run, and the people that attend it. I know we cannot please everyone, and some people will be unhappy about our content but if you have any uncertainties, please feel free to come to me here, or anyone at our booth and we can do our best to put them to rest. 

Thank you for your honesty. I look forward to seeing you all in 2017!

One, if I'm doing a hall crawl and see a cool looking game, you're going to ask me to leave the dealer hall and make my way to somewhere else in the ICC to get a five or ten minute taste of a game I may not like? And then return to the dealer hall to hit the next booth? Or make a huge list of games to demo for later on when I leave the hall? Not going to happen for 90% of them. So the dealer has lost my sale there. Seeing people playing the game right in front of me is huge when I'm deciding whether I want to buy a game or not. 

Two, if I find a game in the demo area that I sort of like, the odds of my going to buy it when I have to leave where I am and go to the dealer hall go way down, as opposed to having it for sale right there. So that's lost sales. 

Three, you're asking the vendors to bring along half again the number of people for staff. And pay and house them. Because for most booths, they don't have separate booth and demo people, they are the same people. 

Honestly, the crowds, to a certain extent, are part of the greatness of the dealer hall. Obviously it can get bad. But I don't want massively wide and empty feeling aisles. And I definitely don't want demos secluded somewhere away from sales. 

Now, in fairness, I'm sympathetic to divachelle's complaint about crowding. It can get frustrating at times. But I think I'd hate for the demos removal to be the answer; to me, that'd take away too much. Maybe even wider lanes... although there's not a whole lot of unused space there, I fully admit. Plus, part of the charm is the absolutely dynamic feeling of the crowd seeing things, and I fear a lot of that would be diluted if the crowd were dispersed more.

There just seems to be no space for onlookers, and then you add in the fricking garbage cans in the intersections and strollers and big backpacks and and and...it's an obstacle course. Perhaps a staging area of some sort to allow people to step off the aisles to observe and/or queue up for the next demo?

If the demos could be demos and not full games that would really help. I've waited in lines where the demos never seem to end, and it's a few clicks past ridiculous at this point. 

Deviants look downright tame compared to what I've been exposed to going through the turnstiles at Six Flags Great America.  *shudders*