It has become part of my knowledge that the HMGS Board of Directors have foolishly approved Cold Wars 2025 to be at the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center (the Ike), Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
While there is a strong new element to the board whose primary goal was to push for a Cold Wars for 2025, to place it at the Ike isn’t just a mistake. It is negligence.
Most regular attendees of HMGS convention focus on the vulnerable Lancaster Host, now the Wyndham. For years, we complained about the poor plumbing or HVAC, black mold, and a litany of other issues the facility. We worked through the renovation and ultimately, despite some continued failings the Wyndham resort is certainly adequate for our smaller conventions.
Imagine that the renovations never took place, and you would get the current state of the Ike Actually, that would be an insult to the old Host.
Let’s be fair I believe the last Fall-In that I attended was either 2001 or 2004 and it normally was my least favorite convention simply because it was that location. The logistics were poor. The facilities were beyond poor.
Now, let’s fast-forward 20 years at the same location. If there have been any repairs improvements or renovations, they have perfectly aged into the faulty site.
Add to that recent reviews in the last six months that include the words bedbugs and mold, you actually have a site worse than the pre-renovation Host. God knows the owners of the host always fought tooth and nail against HMGS, but the ultimately could provide adequate service to the bulk of the attendees. The Ike Just needs a bulldozer to put it out of its misery.
Years ago, when the kids were young, we drove down to Florida to experience a full week of Disney. Our plan to leave early the last day and get a hotel in North Carolina. The day turned into a three-quarter day at Animal Kingdom and a desperate search around Savannah for a hotel at the late hours just so we could rest and make the rest of the trip next day. Needless to say the Days Inn or Best Western, I can’t remember the name was a hellhole straight out of a horror movie. Roving packs of vagrants, grass that hadn’t been cut all summer, an empty pool with dead animals in it, and a room that was used to film “What not to do a hotel room “as well as “How not to do housekeeping after a crime scene” I think we all got the bare minimum of sleep that night, Surprisingly, the adjacent Denney’s next-door was phenomenal the following morning.
In conversation this week with the kids' mom (now my ex-wife) I brought up fallen and cold wars for this year, I showed her some of the reviews from multiple sites along with pictures. I do believe the proper quote of “What sort of morons thought this was a good idea?” came out of her mouth. We still don’t agree on much nowadays, but when we both agree on the status of the Ike as a convention site, HMGS is in trouble.
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On a similar rant, I did manage to submit events for Fall-In! through Tabletop Events. Once I got nudged in the right direction, registration was cake and the events both Maja and I are running are in, and appear to be approved under Next Gen.
I am waiting with bated breath for the events to be published and registration. Well, there are some of the proponents of Tabletop Events that claim they’ve used it for what honestly are relatively small cons, I do refer to my local con, MEPACON, Who has use the website multiple times a year for at least five years.
Say what you will about the Preliminary Event List (PEL), or the common lack of not knowing how many players are registered for your games as a game master, as a player/normal registrant, the game listings are an organizational nightmare that doesn’t tell me anything about the events being run. Hoping that all the glitches to get this started up, translates into a smooth and unique experience for the future attendees, a very vocal handful that wanted to register since August.
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