Author Topic: Origins June 17-21 (now October 7-11)  (Read 1540 times)

Offline DaveG

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Origins June 17-21 (now October 7-11)
« on: March 19, 2020, 04:17:52 AM »
Origins is a gaming convention (think Gen Con, but smaller) held annually in Columbus, Ohio.  Last year they had over 20,000 unique attendees. Anyway, yesterday they published the following statement with respect to the Coronavirus.

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Status of Origins Game Fair 2020

GAMA is very concerned about having a safe and fun environment for our attendees, game organizers, volunteers, and exhibitors and are closely monitoring the recommendations from the CDC and the Ohio Department of Health. This crisis is rapidly evolving and we want to give people as much notice as we are able of any changes. As such, we will make a go/no-go determination on the convention by May 1st. If the situation changes before that date, we will issue an update but as of this moment, we are proceeding with Origins 2020 as scheduled.

Just sharing as I get the feeling a lot conventions planned for summer are taking a 'wait and see' approach at the moment. I also expect we'll start to see more announcements around the end of April or early May.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2020, 08:36:21 AM by Angology »

Offline semigeekgirl

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Re: Origins June 17-21
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2020, 08:43:17 AM »
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I also expect we'll start to see more announcements around the end of April or early May.

Probably. A small convention I attend that was scheduled for the week after SDCC let all the attendees know that they would decide in the last week of April, specifically because 5/1 is when all their major deposits (event space, hospitality, etc) become nonrefundable.

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Re: Origins June 17-21 (now October 7-11)
« Reply #2 on: Today at 02:46:16 PM »

Offline DaveG

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Re: Origins June 17-21
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2020, 01:44:47 PM »
Well, Origins has now been postponed until October.

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Origins Game Fair Postponed to October;
Origins Online Scheduled for June

COLUMBUS, OH – April 9, 2020 – The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the non-profit organization serving the hobby games industry, today announced that it will postpone the 46th Annual Origins Game Fair, originally scheduled for June 17-21, 2020 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, to October 7-11, 2020.  The tabletop convention attracts more than 20,000 attendees from around the world to central Ohio to play thousands of board games, collectible card games, miniatures and role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Catan, and hundreds of other titles. 
The decision to postpone the convention follows extensive discussions with its membership, the city of Columbus, the Greater Columbus Convention Center, hotel partners, and exhibitors. “The decision to postpone the convention was not one we made lightly,” said GAMA Executive Director, John Stacy. “The safety and well-being of the Origins community is our number one priority. Given the current health situation, we believe that it is best to move the convention to October.”

With the postponement, GAMA also announced that they would be hosting an online gaming convention during the original show weekend, June 19-21, 2020.

Origins Online 2020 will be a fully virtual convention for tabletop gaming fans to enjoy from their devices and will feature an Exhibit Hall where attendees can demo and buy games and merchandise. In addition, the virtual convention will offer streaming workshops and educational seminars with guest authors, artists and game designers, plus hundreds of games online that attendees can sign up to participating in. 
“We are all in this together. The postponement of the in-person event and introduction of Origins Online is an opportunity for the hobby games industry and broader gaming community to get excited together and come back stronger on the other side of this pandemic,” Stacy continued.   
Details regarding the postponement of Origins Game Fair and Origins Online will be shared soon on the event website.

Offline DaveG

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Re: Origins June 17-21
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2020, 08:13:36 AM »
Well, here's how Origins is handling badges with respect to their postponement.  I can only hope they actually have a con on October.

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Thank you for supporting the show by registering a badge for Origins Game Fair. The original June 17-21 show dates have been postponed to October 7-11, 2020. This decision follows extensive discussions with the city of Columbus, the Greater Columbus Convention Center, hotel partners, and exhibitors. The safety and well-being of the Origins community is our number one priority; therefore, we believe it is best to move the convention to October.
As a courtesy, we are rolling over all badges registered to the new October dates. Further, we have announced a completely virtual show, Origins Online, which will be held June 19-21, 2020. Everyone with a badge for Origins Game Fair also receives complimentary access to Origins Online, which will feature virtual game play, an interactive exhibit hall with show specials, online workshops, guest of honor seminars, and special streaming content only available to attendees. We are very excited to offer this program to support our community and help us all get through this difficult period.
If you are not able to attend Origins Game Fair 2020 due to the date change or any other reason, you may process your own refund on your Account Summary Page. Please login and click Refund & Remove under each badge for which you would like to receive a full refund. After processing your self-refund, please expect to see your 100% refund back onto the card you used to purchase within 7 business days. Please note: we will not be charging the $10 administrative fee for any refunds processed through June 7, 2020. Refunds requested after June 7, 2020 will be subject to our standard cancellation policy.
We appreciate your continued support during these times. Stay safe, play games!
Origins Game Fair

Offline Angology

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Re: Origins June 17-21 (now October 7-11)
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2020, 08:36:41 AM »
Updated the title with the new dates. Calendar link added!
Ang

Offline DaveG

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Re: Origins June 17-21 (now October 7-11)
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2020, 04:57:13 PM »
Well, this took an interesting turn. Origins On-line scheduled for later this month has now been cancelled. There appears to be a lot at play regarding their slowness to respond to the BLM movement. If interested, you can read the details in this thread.

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I got an email confirming the On-line cancellation. Someone noticed that at the bottom of the email it said "See you in 2021", which raised the question around their October rescheduled event. If you read the thread above, evidently, the email that went out to vendors included an additional paragraph announcing the cancellation of that event as well. That paragraph was removed before the same email was sent to attendees.

I think they really need to get organized around their communication. But, the bottom-line is that another convention I was hoping to attend this year is probably not going to happen.