How late do events run on Sunday?
Posted by werebat
#1

I attended GC for the first time about six years ago.  I had a great time.

I am looking into buying flight tickets to Indianapolis and cannot remember how late the Con runs on Sunday.

Is it worth staying Sunday night?  Or should I just book a flight home on Sunday?  At what time?

Basically, how late does the Con run on Sunday?

Posted by austicke
#2

The exhibit hall closes at 4:00 and most everything is done around then or certainly by 5:00.

I always stay Sunday night so I don't have to rush out and can play pickup games with friends; but, this year, with a total solar eclipse the following morning, I'll be heading out Sunday night for the first time in many years.

Posted by marimaccadmin
#3

All events end by 4pm Sunday.  The benefit of staying over Sunday night is that you don't waste convention time packing, you can actually get some sleep, and you get to decompress with friends before you head back.  I recommend people stay if possible, though I get some have to get back for work.

Marian McBrine
Event Coordinator
Gen Con LLC

Posted by aldctjoc austicke
#4

austicke wrote:... this year, with a total solar eclipse the following morning, I'll be heading out Sunday night for the first time in many years.

Now now, people in the area have some education. Only a handful will panic, riot, and start burning ritual sacrifices to get the sun back. ;)

And most of us... er, I mean them (*whistles*)... will be doing all this on purpose, despite knowing the astrophysical basis for eclipses. By the way, does anyone know of any stuffed animals made from natural materials? The synthetic ones absolutely reek when burnt... 

:D

Posted by jlawry86 austicke
#5

austicke wrote:
The exhibit hall closes at 4:00 and most everything is done around then or certainly by 5:00.
I always stay Sunday night so I don't have to rush out and can play pickup games with friends; but, this year, with a total solar eclipse the following morning, I'll be heading out Sunday night for the first time in many years.

Any tips for a guy interested in amateur astronomy? I haven't seen an eclipse in years and I'm kind of excited now that I know that it's happening RIGHT after Gen Con.

Posted by austicke jlawry86
#6

alien_freak wrote:Any tips for a guy interested in amateur astronomy? I haven't seen an eclipse in years and I'm kind of excited now that I know that it's happening RIGHT after Gen Con.

I'm less than an amateur, but our group is driving down to Land Between the Lakes on the Kentucky/Tennessee border to view it. Depending on weather / cloud cover, we may need to be mobile Monday morning for the best viewing location. If you plan on getting a room, you may want to start planning now since I imagine many hotels along the centerline will sell out.

There is a lot of good info online, such as at Great American Eclipse.

Posted by stiehle
#7

Yep, I'd have stayed Sunday night myself but I'm flying back in the middle of the afternoon in the general direction of home to meet my family near the Smoky Mountain Wilderness area in Kentucky to see the total solar eclipse.  I remember seeing the partial when I was in grade school (back when I lived in AZ), so this is the first time ever for me to see the total.  I hope the weather holds out for us there!

Posted by stiehle
#8

Oops, I meant Tennessee, actually.  Rented a place some distance north of Chattanooga along the path of the total eclipse.  That's one thing to make sure of, that you are in the path of the total eclipse, which is a relatively narrow band that stretches from the west coast (starting in Oregon, I think) all the way to the east coast (South Carolina, I believe).  That link above is a great reference, but make those travel plans soon!  It's not nearly as bad as trying to rent downtown IN, but I bet a lot of places along the path are going to get booked up solid!

One piece of advice I've read about is to try and find a location with a good view of the surrounding area for miles around (a promontory or the like), as apparently you can see a 'wall of darkness' rushing toward you as the total eclipse begins.  Sounds pretty awesome!!

Posted by njseahawksfan
#9

My group is probably going to stay over Sunday this year for the first time.  Actually looking forward to it ...

Posted by jeff321
#10

I tend to leave Sunday around 2 or 3.  You're not missing much by leaving Sunday afternoon, in my opinion.

Posted by jlawry86 austicke
#11

austicke wrote:
alien_freak wrote:Any tips for a guy interested in amateur astronomy? I haven't seen an eclipse in years and I'm kind of excited now that I know that it's happening RIGHT after Gen Con.

I'm less than an amateur, but our group is driving down to Land Between the Lakes on the Kentucky/Tennessee border to view it. Depending on weather / cloud cover, we may need to be mobile Monday morning for the best viewing location. If you plan on getting a room, you may want to start planning now since I imagine many hotels along the centerline will sell out.There is a lot of good info online, such as at Great American Eclipse.

Thanks man! I'll start there.

Posted by werebat jlawry86
#12

alien_freak wrote:
austicke wrote:
The exhibit hall closes at 4:00 and most everything is done around then or certainly by 5:00.
I always stay Sunday night so I don't have to rush out and can play pickup games with friends; but, this year, with a total solar eclipse the following morning, I'll be heading out Sunday night for the first time in many years.

Any tips for a guy interested in amateur astronomy? I haven't seen an eclipse in years and I'm kind of excited now that I know that it's happening RIGHT after Gen Con.
Woah - woah!  Is that a SOLAR eclipse?  On Sunday?

Posted by stiehle
#13

Yep, first total solar eclipse in the U.S. since the early '70s I think.  It's on Monday, sometime around 2pm EST, I think.  Again though, you have to be in the right spot.  Fortunately for those at Gen Con, I think you need only drive south from Indianapolis a couple hundred miles or so to be in the path of totality.

Posted by del_grande stiehle
#14

stiehle wrote:Yep, first total solar eclipse in the U.S. since the early '70s I think.  It's on Monday, sometime around 2pm EST, I think.  Again though, you have to be in the right spot.  Fortunately for those at Gen Con, I think you need only drive south from Indianapolis a couple hundred miles or so to be in the path of totality.

Here is a link to a NASA map showing where the total eclipse can be seen on the Monday.  The total eclipse is visible between the two blue lines; the red line indicates where it lasts the longest.  The time when it is total depends on where you are; it runs from about 1:15 PM Eastern on the west coast to 2:45 PM on the east coast.  At any particular point, the total eclipse lasts between 2 and 3 minutes.

And unless you include the 1991 total eclipse that could be seen from Hawaii, this is the first total eclipse visible from the USA since 1979 (and the first visible from the eastern USA since 1970).

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