The hard work of everyone who runs events at Gen Con is really what makes this such a special convention. As a way to recognize that, we select a number of gaming groups each year that had the highest rate of ticket reconciliation and attendance, as a percentage of their submitted schedule.

Benefits
There are a number of benefits to being a premier event group:

• Priority Event Placement
  Qualifying events will be placed before other events submitted within the same cycle. They would still be subject to the overall cycle format, but would get top priority within each cycle

• Event Chart Highlight
  Event listings for qualified gaming groups would receive the Indy flag icon and release of a separate file consisting of premier (and Gen Con presents) events that still have tickets remaining.

• Two Email Blasts
  About a week before event pre-registration begins and again about a week before it closes, premier events in general will be promoted in an email blast to attendees, specifically linking to the list of premier events with tickets remaining. Premier events are also often selected for inclusion in email blasts promoting specific events for attendees to check out.

• Event Highlights
  Premier groups can be included in the event highlights online and in the program guide. This is an opportunity for groups to attract new players, as well as a way to provide some recognition and show our appreciation.
  

Event Highlights Due Monday 1
Event highlights must be emailed to events@gencon.com. All text must be attached in an .rtf file and images must be attached as separate .jpg or .png files.

• Due June 1
  
• Summarize your groups or events: Use up to 10 words or so to describe what kind of events you run at a glance, such as “7th Sea games of all kinds!” or “Story-focused RPGs” or “Highly competitive WWII miniatures games.”
  
• 150 words maximum for the general description, submitted as an .rtf attachment. Do not include in the body of the email. Use complete sentences. Do not use bullet points.
  
  
  
  • Event highlights are a chance to explain to new players what is special about your group – make use of it.
    
  • Italicize all instances of game or film titles.
    
  
  
• Key Events: List 2-3 events (include game ID, title, time, location, cost) for interested attendees to check out. These events should probably be friendly to newcomers, both in content & format, but also still have some tickets available.
  
• Images: Include at least 1 high resolution (300 dpi) color .jpg or .png image, preferably a vector image of the group or company logo. Additional images can be provided of the event or game itself, to be used at Gen Con’s discretion as layout requires.
  

List of Premier Groups
This is the full list of premier groups for 2016:

• 19 & One
  
• 37 Zombies
  
• 42 Games
  
• Able Kompanie - Indianapolis
  
• Academy Games
  
• AerodromeAce
  
• Alderac Entertainment Group
  
• AluminumChainmail.com
  
• And Sewing Is Half the Battle!
  
• Asmodee Editions
  
• Baldman Games LLC
  
• BYOV
  
• Catalyst Demo Team
  
• Chainmail Legion
  
• Chaos Haunted & Historical Tours
  
• Chicago Dungeon Crawl
  
• Council of Lorien
  
• Cubicle 7 Entertainment
  
• Double Exposure, Inc.
  
• Evil Fleet Productions
  
• Exile Game Studio
  
• Fantasy Flight Games
  
• Fearlight Games
  
• FELTIT
  
• Force of Will Co.
  
• Foxtrot Games
  
• Full Borer Miniatures
  
• Full Moon Gaming
  
• Game Base 7
  
• GameFace Publishing, LLC
  
• Goodman Games
  
• Goon Games
  
• Greenbrier Games
  
• Greyhawk Reborn
  
• Heroes of Rokugan
  
• Hex Games
  
• IELLO
  
• Indiana Landmarks
  
• Indy Brew Bus
  
• Indy Upcycle
  
• Infinite Imaginations, Inc.
  
• Infinity/Corvus Belli
  
• Iocane Productions
  
• Iron GM, LLC
  
• Kat & Oz Gaming
  
• KnA Games
  
• Knapsack Games
  
• Lay Waste Games
  
• Legends of the Shining Jewel
  
• MAMS Gaming
  
• Mavens
  
• Mesa Mundi Inc.
  
• Metalhead Minis
  
• Mind's Eye Society
  
• MU Skulls
  
• Myrmidon Design Bureau
  
• National ASsociation of CRAzed Gamers
  
• Northern Virginia Gamers (NOVAG)
  
• Oathbreaker Games
  
• Ohio War Kings
  
• One World By Night
  
• Ottawa Red Shirts
  
• Ozarks RISING
  
• Paladin Miniatures Studio
  
• Palladium Books
  
• Pamean Games
  
• Party of One
  
• Pure Steam
  
• Reliquary Game Studios
  
• Shut up & Sit Down
  
• SlugFest Games
  
• Stronghold Games
  
• Tabletop Gaymers
  
• Team Hassenplug
  
• The Guild of San Marcos
  
• The WitchBorn Corporation
  
• Tombs Stone Games
  
• Train Gamers Association
  
• Tuesday Knight Games
  
• Under the Mushroom
  
• US Infinity Warcors
  
• WildFire
  
• Windmill Game Co.
  
• Wyrd Miniatures
  

Criteria
The criteria for inclusion in the Premier Event list are:

Tickets turned in for more than 90% of events.
Groups must maintain turn in tickets for more than 90& of their events (i.e. 10 out of 11 events must have some kind of ticket data, even if it’s “0 players showed up”).

Maintain at least an 80% overall attendance rate.
A group's total actual attendance (based on tickets turned in) must be at least 80% of the total maximum number of players, as submitted with the group's events.

60+ Actual Players
Groups must run events for a total of at least 60 actual players, based on ticket data.

Discretionary Criteria
In addition, groups that are eligible for the program as a result of their tickets must still maintain a good working relationship with Gen Con. Specifically, groups must still submit in their events and badge/hotel requests on time (and accurately). We reserve the right to refuse inclusion of a group for any reason, including too many errors during event submission, late requests, excessive complaints, or other significant problems and obstacles.

-
Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Thanks for the info, Derek. 

I know we sometimes grumble about this or that over the years, but our BYOV GMs appreciate programs like this and the work it takes to coordinate it all. And, by the way, the new Special Interest category for non Premier GMs. That's a great idea. 

You mean Gen Con presents? That's not new :)

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

I know space is limited.  Is there a rough idea on how many groups will get their write-ups accepted for the program book?

Not really - I expect it'll be "about the same as last year" which was something like 20, if I recall correctly off the top of my head. I'd have to go back and count.

-
Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Thanks!  One more question:  Do the writeups still need to have the groups refer to themselves in the third person? Evil Fleet finds it to be an awkward read in that format, but Evil Fleet can do that if it's required.

Derek does not recall a strict requirement for third-person voice in previous highlights, so he suspects it will be fine to adapt as appropriate and preferred.

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Hey Derek, if our listing of Key Events is incorporated in our writeup, can we go a few words over the 150? I'm at around 155...it's rhyming poetry, and I'd hate to wreck the meter by ditching five more words. 

Forgive my naivete, but does this email Look like:

Email body: Company name, 10-word summery, 2-3 event highlight, Love so-in-so
Attached: 150 word general description .rtf
Attached: 300dpi photo .png

I know that I went ahead and sent a brief note in the body and included the 10 word Event Description, the 150 word Event Highlight and the Key Event info in the .RTF itself since the email said "All text must be attached in an .rtf file ". 

Had the same questioning of myself with that one but decided it was better to follow the letter of what was stated than to make assumptions.

-
Brendan W

If you're just over 150 words, we'll see what will fit.

And it's better to put all the content in the RTF attachment, to save us the work of having to copy it in. Basically, we make a big folder & document with all the text and images so that our graphic design folks have what they need to work with and everything is labeled properly.

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Cool, thanks :) I wrote the bulk of it, and our Event Coordinator added the game ID numbers and formatting. So with those, we're sitting at a 10 word summary, plus one writeup that includes the key events and is I think just under 160 words (counting event ID numbers as one word each). So all total, it's smaller than 150 words plus a separate key events list. 

Hope you like it :) 

Hey Derek,
   Slightly embarassing question. Last year D20 Burlesque was told we were a Premier event, but then we ended up not getting any of the premier event perks such as being mentioned in the emails or getting an extra write up, etc.
   This year I see we are not listed as a Premier group. Has Gen Con decided to not have "mature" entertainment (I see Glitter Guild is also not listed) be eligible for Premier Event status or is it that last year our ticket sales just weren't high enough to get the status for 2016?

Anja
D20 Burlesque

Your event from last year was marked as a premier group - what specific benefits did you not receive?

We don't call premier groups out individually in emails, we just reference the category and point attendees to the export that includes all events with tickets remaining.

And by "extra write-up," do you mean the highlight in the program guide? Unfortunately, I don't have the submitted content handy from last year, since I would indisposed while that was going on - when did you submit that?

As for this year, there is no policy change. We don't preclude mature events from the list. Looking at your data, you don't meet the minimum requirements. I'd be happy to go into more detail via email, if you want.

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Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

I emailed back to confirm, but haven't heard back. Just given the deadline, I wanted to make sure you got our submission before it's too late. 

Edit: thanks for the help Derek :) 

You're fine :)

-
Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC