Not sure whether I can legitimately blame Indy construction for the elevators in a parking structure not working, but I’m going to do so anyway. Didn’t affect me directly, but did affect the wheelchair using friend who parked there & discovered the problem; They did manage to find a space on the floor with skywalk access, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but … Not a great start to the day for them.
Though something I noticed after the con is that there’s a second set of elevators which looks like they might also access the garage levels, so hopefully I remember that & can check next year, mostly out of curiosity.
Unusually, there was a line for Will Call/badge pickup at the VIG lounge this year; I don’t remember much of one in previous years, and I certainly don’t remember it going out the door & down the hall & around the corner. It moved pretty quickly, and I’m not sure whether it was the result of a new system where they print badges and tickets on site as you check in, or whether it was a change in people’s behaviour. Or whether I’m just remembering wrong.
Anyway, I didn’t stand in the line, but sort of wandered around, periodically checking back in, so I got to see the slow growth but rapid progression of the non-VIG will call line, and the rapid growth and lack of movement of the Official Merch Booth line. There’s cool stuff there, but … Not that cool. I don’t want another nerd shirt that much.
Eventually, I got my badge (plus tickets & a water bottle & a badge wallet & a t-shirt & a badge pin); Rather than joining the end of the line & slowly shuffling forward, I found a seat opposite the doors to the VIG Lounge and waited until the end of the line got to that point, then joined it. I don’t think that’s breaking any social rules? ( feels a bit odd though )
I’d planned to give the bag & the badge wallet away, but brain faded when the opportunity arrived.
In the evening, The Stink.
Took a while to find the way in, mostly because I’d forgotten how to get there without going outside & went to the wrong floor of the hotel. We weren’t the only ones; Wheelchair using friend had issues finding the accessible access to the space, and had issues with some extremely broken sidewalk on the way in.
In all honesty, this social event is grabbing me less & less as time goes by. It seems like a shadow of its former self to me, but it’s entirely likely that it’s just not my sort of fun anymore, and I should go and do something else. I maybe tried that last year? Think I went to the Official Beer Unkegging, and stayed for approximately two minutes because it was loud, hot, crowded, and very much the Opposite Of Fun from my point of view.
I wonder whether people are going to other events, or doing their own things instead, or if my memory is just wrong. Not sure how one would figure it out.
We hung out at The Stink for a while, helped a few folks with the Passport Game ( find a person who’s been to more than 10 Gen Cons, travelled more than 5000 miles, that sort of thing ), then headed off for a drink in the nearby Omni hotel bar.
After that, and the splitting of the party to get someone’s stuff back to their car, and also figure out where their car was because downtown Indy can be convoluted, we ended the night wandering through the ICC, looking in the display cabinets & at the banners.
