GenCant Coverage - Arrival at the Convention Hall

I had to work Wednesday/Thursday, so didn't make it to GenCant until late Thurs evening, when things were already in full swing. Upon arriving at the con, a short walk down some stairs from my room, I immediately headed for registration to pick up my badge. This con is so fancy, by the way. you get a choice of badge design - I grabbed 2 so even if mine flips around, people can still see my name. Registration was still open despite the late hour which was super convenient, & there wasn’t too much of a line (most of the other con-goers I saw were busy grabbing food & at this point) so I really didn’t have to wait long at all before being able to enter the hall & scope out the amenities.

My first priority was to get some caffeine. The coffee bar within the convention hall is nothing special – no fancy lattes or iced drinks, but it does provide a steady stream of inexpensive caffeine to fuel gaming into the night so I can’t complain too much. While grabbing coffee, I noticed that close-by was a convenient location to fill water bottles – no matter what convention you’re at, figuring out the best way to stay hydrated is always important so I was glad to spot this so early!

Coffee & water (available in 2 temperatures even)

I didn’t really browse through the vendor hall, as I’m trying to be good & not spend a lot of money at this con. From a quick glance, there appeared to be a lot of available titles, though many of the big new releases don’t seem available yet & there was a definite lack of games available to demo. I did notice one pretty cool booth offering board game themed jewelry & custom glitter meeples – be sure to check out Hard Boiled Megg if that sounds interesting to you.

Adorable & affordable accessories

Some views of the vendor hall

More important to me was the available gaming space. After the debacle that was finding a table that wouldn’t try to kill you at Origins, the tables at GenCant are a pleasant surprise. They came in multiple styles depending on where in the hall you are: long, plain, & able to fit plenty of friends close to the coffee bar; a smaller but fancier style reminiscent of Geek Chic’s famous tables within the dedicated gaming space; & a low-slung, casual style surrounded by plenty of comfortable seating. Early tomorrow, I’ll probably find myself staking out space at the first type just because of the proximity to coffee & having plenty of space to spread out, but it was nice to know there are other options available.

The different table types available - you'll find me at the top type!

I rarely attend panels & special events when at conventions, being usually too busy gaming, eating, or browsing the vendor halls so I don’t tend to keep track of what’s available. From a quick glance at the program, it does look like there will be various things going on at GenCant for those needing a break from gaming: of note, there are various giveaway prizes available to attendees who enter here, and various demonstrations will apparently be being streamed from Indianapolis via Periscope so I’ll be trying to catch some of those as they pop up.