Origins 2011: Day One Report

The 2011 Origins Game Fair began today in Columbus, Ohio at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Wednesday is, I'd guess, the least busy day of the entire con as it's a bit of a partial opening. The dealers room was not open today. In fact, many of the vendors were still hard at work setting up their booths, getting everything "just so" for the hordes of gamers that will pour through the doors of Exhibit Hall C over the next few days.



I went down this morning for just a few hours to pick up my badge and check things out a bit before jumping in tomorrow for a full day of covering the event, demoing some new games and checking out the various things going on around the con.

Things started out on a bit of a frustrating note. I had pre-registered as press back in April. So, I arrive this morning to pick up my badge and program books. I went to one of the pre-reg booths and asked where press were supposed to check in. The person behind the counter pointed across the way and said I needed to go to the Special Services booth, which I did. There was a bit of a line at said booth, and it didn't seem to be moving. There was a group of 5 or so people at the head of the line, clearly with some issue and a very frazzled looking volunteer behind the booth trying her best to resolve it.

Meanwhile, the line wasn't moving. At all.

Finally, after about a half hour another Origins worker comes by and immediately begins tending to those waiting in line, which was fantastic. When he got to me I said I just needed to pick up my press badge. "Press? Oh..." he said as he began glancing around. He turned to a gentleman manning a nearby booth and said, "Press?". The other gentlemen said something quietly to him. He then looked at me and said, "You need to go to the Show Office". So, all that waiting in line was for nothing.

I've been attending Origins for several years now as press, and every year it seems to be a different process when on-site, and there is never a clearly marked place for press to sign in and get their badge. And, honestly, there's been years when I've neglected to pre-register and have registered on-site in less time than it took me to simply pick up a badge today.

So, yeah, a little frustrating. But, that's why I went down there today: to get the badge out of the way so I can be ready to go tomorrow.

Following my minor badge debacle I immediately noticed that Origins has gotten themselves a spiffy new entryway. It's a slick addition that nicely displays the logos of all the various companies that are sponsoring the con.


While the dealers room was closed today, there was still plenty to do gamewise, and plenty of people doing them. There was a full slate of events scheduled throughout the day. Unfortunately for me, I had to head home around 1pm to be with my daughter while my wife worked at the Delaware Farmers Market. But, tomorrow is another day and a full one. I am excited to get into that dealers room and check out the wares, demo some games, interview some folks and generally get my game on!

I'm aiming to have coverage of Day 2 up sometime late tomorrow night. So, be sure to come back and visit!