Kickstarter

The KICKSTARTER exceeded our expectations.  We are now looking to cover our deposits, marketing and then some.   All other badge types (regular, GM, Vendor, Demo) will go on sale on August 1st via an Eventbrite store.  A link will be posted when it’s live.

Why Community? 

We have been tossing around ideas for what this year’s subtitle would be (or if we even need to keep doing them. we don’t, but so far it’s still fun!) and while there have been lots of good options, I’m going with the first one that hit me – Community.

When I expressed some fatigue from the effort of putting together AcadeCon last year so many wonderful people expressed their willingness to share the workload if that meant we’d have another AcadeCon.  So it only made sense to me to recognize that shared spirit by calling this year’s event – AcadeCon 2018: Community.  Also, I really love the TV show Community.

Get on with the important stuff:

I am happy to announce that we have finalized our negotiations with the DCC for this year’s event and from that side of things, not a whole lot has changed: Our event will be 11/09 – 11/11 with our VIP mixer again being on the Thursday before (11/08) again at the restaurant/lounge at the Crowne Plaza.

We are once again partnered with the Crowne Plaza hotel and have secured a larger block of rooms. When you call, mention AcadeCon to be put in our block. I am asking to set up an on-line code and will share what it is once it’s live.

Friday the 9th we will open registration at 8:00 am and kick off the first games as early as 10:00 AM.

People will have access to the game library as soon as they are registered.

We will be closing at 11:30 PM on both Friday and Saturday nights.  Our contract states 11:00 PM but we have a ½ hour cushion but everyone has to be actually out of the building by 11:30 PM on the dot.

We will re-open officially at 9:00 on Saturday and Sunday and close up again at 6:00 PM on Sunday.

This year’s Kickstarter campaign:

We are going to once again do a hybrid Kickstarter campaign. As with last year we need those initial funds to pay our deposits on the DCC, but splitting our campaign between both Kickstarter and then Eventbrite causes its own set of problems so to try and streamline things as much as possible the KS will have a limited amount of things to pledge for and the only badges will be VIP badges.  All other badges will be sold through Eventbrite.

So, the Kickstarter will go live on Wednesday March 14th at 9:15 PM (in the middle of our regular Wednesday night live show) and will close on April 11th at 9:45 PM (in the middle of a live show as we countdown to the closure).  As you can see the KS only runs a little over 3 weeks, but we think this is enough time to hit our goal of $6k with only these pledge levels for this KS campaign.

The Kickstarter will have the following options:

VIP Badges. 30 available for $90 each. We’ve added 15 more VIP badges and raised the price a bit over last year.  Same benefits as before –

• Early registration
• invite to the VIP mixer
• No promise of exclusive swag, but we’ll see what we can make happen.
• Invite to the 2019 Faculty Retreat.

Table toppers – 100 available at $25 each. Same as last year, each of the gaming tables will have a placard with that table’s number (and we’re going to do a better numbering system this year!) and we can include your art/logo on them. This lets everyone at that table know you helped support our event.

Exclusive KS T-shirt with custom logo – $18 (larger sizes $22) – we can also designate the shirt type (by type of cut you’d like)  this year. This can be picked up on site during the event.  Once the image is finished I’ll share, but if you liked last year’s this is a true successor!

Corporate sponsorships  for $150.

• two regular badges
• your logo/art on our registration banner  and two Table Toppers
• a special mention in the eProgram
• two commercials to run on our Podcast.
• other benefits negotiable in exchange for the ones listed above.

Donation only levels:

$1 or more – friend of the show. This is a donation just to support the cause in whatever way you can.

$1 or more – Game library specific donation. Donate the amount for a specific game and we’ll use those funds to add that game and include a bookplate like sticker with your name or other provided info showing it was you who provided the game.

$200 or more – Room sponsor.

It costs approx. 200 per day per room (the smaller side rooms, not the main gaming hall) and as we grow we need more of these.  For a donation of $200 or more we’ll designate one of these rooms as the room provided by you on the website and eProgram.  If you donate $400 or more to secure us a room for two days we’ll also make a banner for that room with your name/logo stating the room was provided by you and if you wish, we’ll ask people who use that room to sign the banner or write a thank you note and will mail the banner to you after the event.

Goals:

We are aiming for a goal of $6,000 from this Kickstarter.  That’s based on selling all the VIP badges and roughly the same number of corporate sponsors and table topper sponsors as last year.

Stretch Goals:

• At $7,000 we will get a badly needed website upgrade being provided at a reduced rate by a professional web designer who is also a friend of the show.
• At $8,000 we’ll rent extra space at the hotel so people who want to game later than 11:00 PM have a place to do so.

Then what?

After the KS (successfully ??) closes we’ll be scheming our schemes until the Eventbrite store opens on August 1st.  At that time we’ll have up to 600 regular badges,75 DM Badges, 25 Demo tables and 40 vendor tables available.  Unlike last year, as soon as we have someone take a GM badge we’ll start working on scheduling their games.

You will also be able to pre-order an AcadeCon T-shirt via Eventbrite. This is not the same shirt as the KS exclusive one, but will feature this year’s medallion logo. We’ll add a few more of a few sizes to the order to be able to sell on site, but if you want one, it helps us and is cheaper for you if you pre-order it through Eventbrite.

 

So, that’s the plan.

If you want to support our show by getting a VIP badge, get a corporate sponsorship, or get a table topper or two or just donate to the cause – be ready at 9:15 PM on Wednesday March 14th.  Assuming that funds, the Eventbrite store will open on August 1st for everything else.

If there are any questions, please email us at

TheAcadeCon@gmail.com

 

Hope to see you in November!

Michael & The RPG Academy Faculty