Usually they open early in the year (like now early).  Per the 2007 Exhibitor Pack, the early priority rates required a 50% booth deposit by mid-February:

Early Priority Rate (must have 50% down to reserve booth Received on or before February 16, 2007
Early Priority Rate Paid in Full (must be paid in full or increased to Priority Rate) Received on or before May 4, 2007

See http://www.gencon.com/files/2007/indy/E ... Packet.pdf and http://www.gencon.com/files/2007/indy/E ... cation.pdf for more info (again, this is the 2007 details).

Megan said that the 2008 exhibitor packs would be posted by Friday.

lawrenson wrote:Thanks!

Out of interest, what is your opinion on where the best/worst places in the trade hall are please?

I realise the chances of getting a good spot are slim, but I dont know which doors open first, are near the rpg halls etc.

Cheers,
Malc

Malcolm;

My uneducated opinion, is closest to the front you can get. Often you don't even make it farther back due to the plethora of eye candy grabbing you as soon as you go in the door....

Mike B.

lawrenson wrote:Umm, so, looking at the hall plan, what classes as the front please?

Cheers,
Malc

malc - nearest the entrance doors. but imo i would go close to T&T - cos once everyone sees their prices and then sees yours, youre a winner everytime.

Al

Hi,

thanks all.

Unfortunately, I think the first-time exhibitor only applies to publishers, not retail, but I will double check.

Cheers,
Malc

lawrenson wrote:Hi,

sorry to be a pain, bit I was thinking of asking to be by either troll and toad OR goodman games (as they are both likely to see the same sort of customer as me, but people are likely to seek them out).

Looking at the hall plans from last year tho, they were in very different positions.

Anyone any comment on either botth placement please? Any idea which got the most collector rush  ?

Cheers,
Malc

I would expect that answer to be Goodman Games.  Goodman has a nice setup, friendly sales people, and good product.  Troll and Toad's booth was a bitch to get around people and boxes, crappy product for the most part and extremely overpriced.

Goodman Games was also very close to Crazy Egor's monstrous booth which was probably the largest one there.  I spent quite a bit of time at Crazy Egor's and only about fifteen minutes at T&T....and most of it was spent laughing at their prices.  

What's the desire/strategy in getting a booth in the first place?  To sell stuff (if that's the case, being an aisle or two over from Egor's or Titan's or other competitors is worthwhile:  you're in the same area, but not overlooked due to proximity), or to display cool collector items (if so, what key items?  that'll help determine who you may want to be near), or to promote the Acaeum and Tome of Treasure and Afterglow2 and the TSR Archive as collector resources (that's still yet a different charter, and having take-aways like freebie business cards, perhaps 2 PCs without live internet but with cached site to surf the sites' content, and help people recognize good prices from bad, whether a particular A1 is 1st printing or not, etc.).  Famous guests and book signings help any booth anytime (so getting Rob to sign books, or Erol, or Zeb, or Mike Carr, or others would be cool/worthwhile).

If you're talking about a single 10x10 booth I'd try to get a corner if you're really looking for foot traffic:  it's a little more expensive, but usually worth it if you're selling stuff.  If you can afford a double-booth, they're much more worthwhile, especially if you use 1 of the booths for selling/info/literature, and one for demos and other in-booth activities.

ST1 huh?  Man that would be nice to see one of those in the rarities auction on Friday night.  

You can also ship some boxes of stuff to your hotel or to other attendees ahead of time, of course.