I never realized this before, but if you have a GM badge, you can't access the Housing Portal to reserve a room. Is this an oversight or is there a reason behind it?

Most of our group was unable to get downtown housing, so we have recently decided to try to grab up last minute cancellations at whatever downtown hotel we can find rather than stay at the same hotel outside of downtown. One person in our group was successful in doing this. However, everyone else in our group (including myself) has a GM badge and we can't even access the housing portal, let alone make a reservation. That means we now have 6 GMs looking for Downtown rooms who don't have the ability to look for them.

I understand that GM badges aren't available when housing opens in January, but at this point after a person has their GM badge, I see no reason why GMs aren't allowed to reserve rooms through the housing block.

Is there a way around this? Is this something GenCon has never thought about before or is it the normal policy? Is there a reason behind this? If nothing can be done this year, Is this something that can be looked at for future GenCons?

You may want to read the Event Host Policy. There is actually a GM block of rooms.

____________________________________________________
Alec Usticke, Unofficial Gen Con Indy Facebook Discussion Group

Either way, GM block aside, that still doesn't answer the question of why a GM can't book rooms through the housing portal. What are you supposed to do when the GM block is full? Or if you are a solo GM who would be looking for Partial Reimbursement? You would still need to book a room. Which you can't do with a GM badge.

800 hours..  Lets say i gm 8 game slots, each slot 4 hrs (RPGS) and each slot having 7 people on a table.

That's 8*7*4 for my hours..  8 x 7 is 56.  x 4 is 224 hrs..  Just for one DM.. This is why you usually get 4 gm's per GM Block room..

Ok, after a whole lot of searching, I finally figured out how to do it. It's a bit convoluted, but at least there is a way to access the housing portal with a GM badge.

For future reference, to access the housing portal as a GM, you click on your name and then click on "Badge information" next to the Gamemaster Badge heading. After clicking on that, further down the page there is a code to access the housing portal which you enter after clicking the link on that page. There is no way to access it from "My Housing". 

It's a bit complicated, but I feel much better knowing there is a way to do it.

I'm glad you figured it out. Good to know.

____________________________________________________
Alec Usticke, Unofficial Gen Con Indy Facebook Discussion Group

GMs have never had access to the general attendee housing block, really. The assumption is that any GM that does need to book a room will purchase an attendee badge and purchase a room early in the year when the attendee block opens up.

Considering how quickly the housing block fills up, it is rarely an issue, though it does cause a problem for some individuals each year.

We certainly look at what we can improve every year, but right now the answer is simply "GM badges do not provide access to the attendee housing block. If you want that, you need to buy an attendee badge." That is complicated now by our being sold out, but it should be something of a moot point early in the year in the future.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,
Derek Guder
Event Manager
Gen Con LLC

Hi there! I run SPA classes and and Workshops in the years prior to COVID, and this year I would like to get a hotel room downtown instead of commuting. At present, my total student hours total over 1000 hours, so I would qualify for a GM room, but I cannot seem to find the form that I will need to fill out to request a room in the GM block. I have a late time slot for regular housing portal, so I am looking at this option for a back-up.

I have been sorting through the forums, and I see reference to a GM badge to find the GM Housing portal. At this time, I do not have a GM badge allocated to me yet, perhaps because events are not confirmed...? I am seeking some assistance or guidance on how to navigate this newest piece of the GM experience. Thanks!

EDIT: I re-read my GM emails and found the form there! I submitted and have fingers crossed.

Great! Glad to hear you found it :)

In case anyone else has been looking for it, you can find links to all the forms you need for Gen Con Indy on that convention's Host page.

Similar information for Gen Con Online will be updated once we get past the event submission window for Indy.

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Derek Guder
Director of Events
Gen Con LLC

I noticed that the dates in the text on that form still show last year's Sept. event dates. 

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Derek Guder
Director of Events
Gen Con LLC

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