Official Press Release

Gen Con’s Family Fun Pavilion Grows All-Ages Gaming

SEATTLE (September 8, 2011) Game playing parents are now bringing their children along for the ride when they make their annual pilgrimage to Indianapolis for Gen Con. In the last four years, the family fun pavilion has grown extensively. Beginning with six companies with a few hundred people present specifically for Family Fun Day the dedicated area had sixteen out of the three hundred ten exhibitors and over three thousand of the 36,733 gaming fans focusing on family fun in 2011. Gen Con, now preparing for its 45th annual convention in 2012, will yet again increase space dedicated to family games manufacturers next year.

“I am truly amazed at the growth of our family fun pavilion over the past four years!” says Megan Culver, director of marketing at Gen Con LLC. “We have seen tremendous support and passion from our exhibitors, volunteers and attendees and we can’t wait to see how this area continues to expand over the years. We at Gen Con believe that playing games is a lifelong route to fun.”

Several new-to-Gen Con companies made significant contributions to the show with child-focused gaming and product demonstrations. This year, the pavilion also featured Radio Disney on Sunday’s Family Fun Day, as well as live action and giant-sized games from Out of the Box Publishing and Spin Master. LEGO and Spin Master were each Event Partner sponsors for Gen Con and helped to fill out a significant portion of this important area of the show. Mayfair Games once again sponsored the training grounds area of the family fun pavilion, which stayed packed with participants of crafting, dancing, foam sword combat and plenty of game play.

The family fun pavilion launched with a small handful of exhibitors dedicated specifically to games for tween to early teen children and their
families. In 2011, this specialty area grew to sixteen exhibitors with a focus on products that provide educational, multigenerational fun. The full list of participant companies can be found on the Gen Con Website http://www.gencon.com/2012/indy/sm/familyfun/default.aspx

Official Press Release

Gen Con Indy 2011 Shatters All Previous Attendance Records

INDIANAPOLIS  (August 11, 2011) – Gen Con Indy, the nation’s largest annual consumer fantasy, sci-fi and adventure gaming convention experienced stunning growth this year. Turnstile attendance was over 119,707 with 36,733 unique attendees present for 96 hours of gaming, cosplay, music, shopping and more. This positive spike in turnout represents a greater than 20% increase in a single year. Game event participation grew even more steeply, with over 250,000 event tickets yielding an over 26% expansion throughout the Best Four Days In Gaming!

“Gen Con Indy 2011 was simply the best Gen Con ever for us,” said Adrian Swartout, CEO of Gen Con LLC. “We had such incredible support from our exhibitors, sponsors, event organizers and volunteers, and of course, the amazing businesses and people of Indianapolis. We are so thankful to have their partnership in crafting the world’s finest experience in gaming. Next year, Gen Con has its 45th anniversary. We are too excited for words at the amount of fun we are already planning for next August.”

Family Fun & Sunday Attendance
The Family Fun Pavilion continues to be popular with the next generation of game players and their parents. Companies with all-ages entertainment products were swarmed with children, grandparents, educators and librarians looking for games for upcoming birthdays, holidays and back-to-school. Between family fun and regular Sunday badges, nearly 3,000 additional people joined Gen Con Sunday – adding considerable traffic to the show and helping exhibitors reach new fans.

Charity
Over the years, Gen Con has maintained its efforts in helping children and benefiting educational programs through its charity events. This year to keep up the tradition, Gen Con chose School on Wheels, which enhances and enriches educational opportunities for school-aged homeless children as the recipient of the charity fundraising. 100% of the proceeds from the following charity events were donated to the cause: Ace of Aces VIII– Charity Speed Paint and Auction, Cardhalla, and Charity Auction, Fandom United Jail-n-Bail.  In total over $18,000 was raised from all the different charity events at Gen Con.

Future Gen Con Indy Show Dates
Gen Con has been in Indianapolis since 2003 and has signed a five-year extension with the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association (ICVA) for 2011-2015. Below are the upcoming show dates.
August 16-19, 2012
August 15-18, 2013
August 14-17, 2014
July 30 – August 2, 2015

About Gen Con
Gen Con, LLC produces the largest consumer hobby, fantasy, sci-fi and adventure game convention in North America. It was acquired in 2002 by former CEO and Founder of Wizards of the Coast Peter Adkison, who owns the company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Gen Con is a consumer and trade experience dedicated to gaming culture and community. For more information visit the website at www.gencon.com  . For up-to-the minute details, find us at www.facebook.com/genconindy and at www.twitter.com/gen_con .

It’s the last day of this year’s Gen Con.  Here’s the photos from Saturday.  Make sure to head to our YouTube page to check out videos too.

There’s a lot to come over the next few days, but for now, here’s some pictures to hold you over.

It was the first full day of Gen Con and below are photos from the convention.  You can also head to our Youtube page to check out some videos and other videos we’ll be posting throughout the weekend.

Not many photos, but a few snapped on my phone while I walked around.