Important news, especially if you’re still sitting on the fence about Go Play NW. The deadline for request an overnight stay in the dorms is Thursday, June 5th! So if you’re thinking of getting a room on campus, book now.
Go Play is less than two months away. This is a good time to visit the forums and start talking about the games you want to run and play and the friends you want to see. Right now the Anticipation forum and the Brainstorming forum are open. About a month from Go Play we’ll open up the Scheduling forum. That’s where facilitators can offer games in particular slots, and people can sign up to play. See you at Go Play!
Every year we have some new people join our community, and even old hands sometimes have questions.
Our focus at Go Play NW is getting together to make friends and play games. Our con is designed to mix opportunities for pre-scheduled games and pick-up games. Scheduled gaming is organized through our forums. Once the gaming schedule is posted, we’ll open up scheduling forums where GMs and facilitators can offer games for people to discuss and sign up.
Pick-up play is organized in two ways. First, there will be a table where facilitators can post games at any time during the con. Participants can then sign up to joint he games. There will also be a short pre-slot pickup session before each gaming block for people who haven’t signed up for anything in that slot.
We have a high percentage of indie developers and DIY-ers, but also many traditional gamers, which means there’s always a wide variety of interesting stuff to try out.
That’s right, as promised, registration for Go Play NW 2014 is open today! Visit the Go Play NW 2014 Eventbee page to buy your tickets.
As already mentioned, we’re back at Seattle University, with gaming space in the Casey Building, and overnight accommodations in Campion Hall Tower. All registrations include lunch in the student center’s Cherry Street Market; overnight stays on campus also include breakfast in the Market. We’ll also be doing our traditional Friday Night Feast.
This year we’ve added an official option for staying overnight on Sunday, for those of you who find it easier to travel on Monday. Note that checkout time on Monday is 10 AM.
We’ve also added an option for women’s cut t-shirts; just specify your cut along with the size when ordering.
Registration for on-campus stays will close at the end of Thursday, June 5, while online registration for commuters will close at the end of Monday, June 23. We do urge people to register early, not only because it helps us make our advance deposits to Seattle University, but also because it helps us gauge whether we’re reaching capacity for the event—and it helps you be sure you can get in!
Feel free to contact us with questions or comments at info at goplaynw dot org, or on Twitter at @GoPlayNW.
We’re excited to see you all on June 27!
Okay, we’re way overdue for an update, so first the important points:
- Go Play NW 2014, as previously announced, is happening Friday June 27 to Sunday June 29 at Seattle University.
- Registration opens real soon now—probably this coming Monday, March 17.
- We’ll have new spaces for gaming this year, but will not have the ballroom of Campion Tower.
- We will still have overnight rooms available for the weekend in Campion Tower.
- Prices should be staying about the same as last year; we’re finalizing the details now.
- We may have to cap attendance this year due to the change in event space, so registering early is to your advantage.
Here’s what’s been happening.
At the end of January, Seattle University surprised us with the news that due to a scheduling conflict, the ballroom of Campion Tower would not be available to us on the weekend they had already confirmed as our dates for this year—nor was it available on the previous June weekend or the next few weekends in July. However, the university’s Casey Building, with its assortment of conference rooms, was available for our use, and after checking out the spaces, we agreed the best plan was to proceed with our announced weekend and use the Casey rooms.
The Casey rooms include a large commons room as our main gaming space for multiple groups, a couple mid-size conference rooms that can hold a few groups apiece, three boardroom-style meeting rooms that will seat up to 10 people around a single large table, and an atrium for casual seating in comfy chairs (like the lobby of Campion Tower). We’re confident that the spacing of the rooms and variety of options will provide as great an experience as we’ve had in the past couple years at Seattle University.
As mentioned, we’re still working on finalizing some details, but we’ll be opening registration as soon as possible. We’re all really excited for this year’s event and looking forward to seeing everyone this June!
Is it that time already? Yes indeed, it may be only the start of November, but we know that people are already looking at their calendars for next year, scheduling vacations with work and whatnot. So we’re excited to be able to tell you now that yes, we will be returning to Campion Hall at Seattle University for Go Play NW 2014 on the weekend of Friday June 27 to Sunday June 29.
If you’ve been to Go Play NW in the past couple years, you know what a great space Campion Hall provides for us. If you haven’t been before or just haven’t made it in the last couple years, you might take a look at last year’s photos in our Flickr group or see what people posted to our Google+ community. In short: a spacious ballroom that never feels too noisy, cozy spaces in the lobby, the 12th floor dorm lounge and private study rooms with fantastic views of Seattle, and even an outdoor garden deck. Overnight accommodations will be available right in Campion Hall, and this year we plan to include a three-night stayover—Friday through Sunday, checking out on Monday morning—as an official registration option.
Not much else to say right now, other than that we’ll be announcing registration details early in 2014. So mark your calendars, we look forward to seeing all of you on Friday June 27, 2014!
Thanks to all of you who came out for Go Play NW 2013! We had a fantastic time, and you make that happen every year.
Did you take photos during the weekend? We’d love to see them in the Go Play Northwest group on Flickr. Or if you’re posting your photos on Google+, let us know in the Go Play NW community. And we’re on Facebook too, so if you’re posting your photos on Facebook, like our page and tag us in.
Also, we’ve opened two new forums for your comments and feedback. Tell us the tales of your games in the Afterglow: What We Played forum. And tell us how the weekend went for you—what went well, what you’d like to see, what could be better—in the Afterglow: The Good, The Bad & The Awesome forum.
TIME
Check-in for rooms at Campion Tower/Hall opens at 1 PM on Friday.
The event officially begins at 5 pm on Friday!
See the full Game Slot Schedule for 2013.
LOCATION
The convention is being held at Seattle University’s Campion Tower Residence Hall*, 914 East Jefferson Street, Seattle, WA 98122. For full travel directions, see the following link: Seattle U: Travel Information for Campion Hall Guests
*They’re not very consistent about what they call it. The full name is “Campion Tower Residence Hall”, but it’s referred to variously as Campion Tower OR Campion Hall. Same place.
And here’s a campus map to help you get around.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If the weather is nice, the FRIDAY NIGHT FEAST will be held in the main quad of the unviersity, two blocks north of the residence hall. Maps and directions will be available at the front desk of Campion Hall.
PARKING
Parking is included for all registered attendees at the Cherry Street Garage, located at 11th and E. Cherry Street on the south side of the street. (Note: this is called the Murphy Garage on the campus map, parking area P4.) You can park first, but will need to pick up a permit at the front desk of Campion Tower when you check in.
CHECK-IN
(for all attendees, both commuters and on-campus guests)
Check-in is at the front desk of Campion Tower. You will receive your Go Play NW badge, meal card, parking permit if needed, and your room key if you’re staying on campus.
MEAL PLANS
Registered attendees will receive a meal plan card, pre-paid with enough points for lunch each day you are registered. If you are staying on campus as a guest, you also get breakfast each day. Meals are in the main campus cafeteria in the Student Center.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Just a reminder:
Linens: There will be bed linens, blankets, and towels provided.
Internet Access: Wifi and Ethernet are available free for guests.
Smoking: Smoking is not allowed in any Seattle U buildings.
See also our earlier post More Info about On-Campus Housing.
GAMING
The reason we’re all here! If you missed it, check out our post on Pickup Gaming at Go Play. Can’t wait to see all of you on Friday!
Hi everybody, just a quick reminder that game scheduling will close on Friday! We could use a few more games on the schedule, so if you’re dithering, now is the time to add it!
GM’s, once your game is full or scheduling is closed, you should go into your post and give us a definitive list of attendees so we can make signs for the con.
Also, registration closes on Monday, June 24th at 6pm PST. See you at Go Play!