Sales have been open a few days now, and I'm worried about my 25-35 person LARP has only sold one ticket so far. Should I be concerned that I have such little interest at this point, or am I just being paranoid? It's a one day only event on Thursday evening.
In previous years our events have had a big wave the first day, a gradual trickle for the next few weeks, and then a smaller wave right before online reg closes. The trickle comes in as people didn't get their first choice events or avoided registration rush altogether and look to see what else is available, and of course the smaller wave is everyone trying to get choices in while online is still available. So don't panic, things may yet pick up.
That said, if you've only had minor notice that is something to be concerned about. Do what you can to promote your game. Post on the forum. Post on the myriad Gen Con Facebook groups. If you can contact your player ask them if they know anyone else who might want to play.
What's the game?
Maybe - it can depend. LARPs in particular can have wildly varying attendance.
Looking at your event, it seems fine. It's for Vampire, which should help, but that also means it's up against some longer-established games, which might be a challenge if there are only so many Vampire LARP players to go around. The description is also somewhat suggestive that this is the climax to a continuing story. Dunno if you want to tweak that.
Ultimately, though, unless your events consistently sell out, you cannot rely on simply being in the schedule to sell tickets. You need to promote and push your event. Post about it in the Events forum to let people know why it's cool - and reach out to other communities to let them know about the event and why they should attend, if they're going to Gen Con.
In short: low initial sales is not always a problem, but you should never passively rely on the event list to be enough to fill your game. Spread the word.
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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC
The problem is likely the 8 hour playtime.
That certainly would be a factor, yes. Long events tend to be harder for players to justify reserving time for.
Not much to do about that now, though, without basically canceling and resubmitting it.
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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC
There's no way to shorten an event and refund a portion of a ticket.
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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC
When my first RPG filled up around 2 weeks after event reg opened, I decided to do another.
My new game runs from 10a-4p on Sunday. Perhaps that's too lomg on the last day. As of now, there are no players. I would rather run the game, but I'm thinking about pulling the plug (assuming I can even do that) and making other plans.
Thoughts?
While there is a segment of attendees in the die-hard, game-til-the-con-closes category, it's not a very large segment. There's a good chance they already chose from the events listed at registration.
And yes, six hours is longer than usual for a Sunday event, especially for the last minute purchasing and bargain hunting that goes on at the exhibit hall.
If if you have zero players five weeks from the start of Gen Con, I'd recommend cancelling the event.
Thanks. I'll probably wait a couple more days, then do just that.
