Whatever happened to the discussion about having a second GenCon online but at a different time?
Six months opposite of GenCon would be late January/early February. I could see an online con happening at this time of the year.
GenCon 2020 was online and I ran 32 hours of events to help out the cause. I know there are others that would help run events for an online con. Did I miss the discussion (or death) of an online con?
There will be some events online during Gen Con, same as last year. I don't think there's any plan to have other components of a convention online, such as the vendors area they did in 2020.
What I'd like to see return are those casual events where they organized a few games on Discord.
I don't believe there was a discussion of running Gen Con Online opposite from Gen Con Indy, honestly.
Right now, we are pretty much all focused on the one convention a year, and it takes a year of planning to get there. Adding another date isn't as simple as it might sound and, perhaps most importantly, part of the purpose of Gen Con Online is to extend the existing convention into a space that is more accessible to more people, whether that's due to economic constraints, personal issues, or health concerns that might prevent them from attending in person.
We would love to do more and create more opportunities for more people to play games, but unfortunately we don't have the time and resources to do everything we might think of, so we're still focused on a single convention a year, right now.
- Derek Guder Director of Events Gen Con LLC
Derek, I "hear" you and understand you. In 2020, I ran 32 hours of virtual events, even going so far as to recreate the "D&D Monster Mash" in Tabletop Simulator. In 2021 I was scheduled for 41 hours of non-virtual events including trade day and the Math Trade.
There just aren't enough hours in a single GenCon weekend to do both. I probably won't do live and online unless some tech lets me do both without it being too much of a hassle.
Please note that there are folks who will help run events if and when you choose to expand to another weekend. I know from experience how insane the "behind the curtain" of a convention can be. When you are ready, make that call for aid.