A Realists View of Gen Con's 2008 "Success"

By all accounts, Gen Con 2008 was a rousing success.  I sincerely hoped that Gen Con 2008 would succeed and guarantee the future of this legendary convention.  My reasons are purely selfish as I would like to attend next year.;-)

This post ultimately is about knowing the difference between a “step forward” and “complete success.” A successful Gen Con 2008 is a significant step forward. Gen Con still has two critical legal problems to resolve before I would define the convention as “out of the woods.”

I have previously covered Gen Con’s financial woes, specifically their bankruptcy filing . Gen Con indicated that a successful Gen Con 2008 could get them out of Chapter 11 and back into solvency.  Given the very non-scientific feedback I am receiving by people who attended, this sounds likely.  Hurray!

To verify how the convention faired, I downloaded July’s financial report from Gen Con’s bankruptcy filing, but it is not worth posting. There is a large influx of funds, probably from pre-registration, but the report only covers July. The report with the period before and during the convention will not be out until September 15.   The September report will tell the tale of how much money the convention actually brought in vs. expenses.

The second issue is the still outstanding lawsuit by Lucasfilm .  Considering the legal and financial might of Lucasfilm, this is not a trivial matter. I remain concerned about Gen Con until this lawsuit settles.

I am not trying to be a doom-sayer, but some of the “happy, happy” posts on blogs/forums  of “Gen Con is Saved!” are premature.

When all the legal wrangling is over, then I will cheer for the future of Gen Con as loud as anyone, but not a moment before.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

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trask

Trask is a long-time gamer, world traveler and history buff. He hopes that his scribblings will both inform and advance gaming as a hobby.