GooCon 2016

Scott Hardie | July 13, 2016
It's my pleasure to announce that GooCon will be back this October! However, unlike past years, this event will be held online, so there's no need to travel. You can use a camera and microphone (or a phone or tablet) to participate, and there will be a text-chat option for our camera-shy members.

My thanks to everyone who filled out a survey in May, giving me a good impression of who would be able to attend and what activities you would most like to do. I know we'd love to gather in person, but not enough people can do so, and after some big expenses this summer I'm not in a position to fund such a gathering anyway. We'll meet online instead, and if something is lost in the lack of face-to-face contact, a lot more is gained in convenience.

(Incidentally, my original hope was to gather members in Orlando for a weekend, and to "go big" for the site's 20th anniversary by treating everyone to a day at Disney World. After all, they have attractions that map neatly to Pirate Paradise and Rock Block and Gothic Earth and Thorough Movie Reviews and, if you use your imagination, even Tragic Comedy and Celebrity Goo Game. But very few people said they could travel that far. Saint Louis would have been a better-attended second choice, but still not enough people were able to say with confidence that they could attend even there. Perhaps we'll try again on another year in the future.)

I'm aware of the World Series happening around late October. MLB has yet to announce the dates that I can find, but one of the games will probably be on the night of October 22. I expect to have our day wrapped up by then. October 29 would be closer to Funeratic's anniversary, but I expect many of us (including me) to be focused on Halloween parties that day.

The schedule should get finalized in late September, around which time I'll add an RSVP form so that we can lock in who exactly intends to partipate in which activities. But I wanted to announce this preliminary schedule now in case anyone was anticipating travel this fall.

I can't wait to spend a day hanging out online with you all! This should be a lot of fun!

Are you looking forward to participating? What activities do you want to do, and what changes would you suggest/request?

LaVonne Lemler | July 14, 2016
Scott, sounds like a fun agenda! This will also be a great opportunity to see some players again and especially to meet others! Look forward to joining the group for at least a portion of your 20th Anniversary celebration and seeing you again as well!

Matthew Preston | July 14, 2016
Count me in. Looking forward to it!

Steve West | July 14, 2016
Awesome. I'll do my best to reserve that day.

Samir Mehta | July 15, 2016
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | July 15, 2016
I'm glad to hear from you all! I look forward to a day of fun together. :-)

To be clear, when I say that the schedule may change, I mean the times and activity list, not the date. We are locked in for October 22 barring some kind of emergency.

Chris Lemler | July 15, 2016
Scott I will try to be there on if possible I usually have Saturday's off so we will see if I will be. If I do I will be on for a little bit and then go to work

Scott Hardie | September 11, 2016
I have removed the Three Clues game from the schedule. I'm not going to get enough time over this next month to make it happen, I'm afraid. I still look forward to the other three events.

How do you think we should handle searching in Celebrity Goo Game Live? In past in-person GooCons, searching for answers online was forbidden. But playing via videoconference, we would have no good way to enforce a no-searching rule, having to rely on an honor system. I fear that if we disallow searches, paranoia about other players cheating will run rampant, but if we allow searching, everyone will solve every goo unless the goos are exceptionally difficult. Advice? Ideas? Preferences? Thanks!

Scott Hardie | September 11, 2016
We could impose a time limit per goo, but I can't think of any number of seconds that would be low enough to prevent cheating and high enough to be playable and fair. :-/

Samir Mehta | September 11, 2016
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | September 11, 2016
That's possible but probably not ideal. Several players will be playing on laptops or tablets (hopefully not on a tiny phone) where the camera is built in and cannot be moved further away to show their hands. If players are willing to invest in webcams to make this option more feasible, please speak up.

The Rock Block tournament has been changed to "The Bird's the Word," based on the classic R&B song by the Rivingtons, which was famously covered as a surf song by the Trashmen (which happens to be Peter Griffin's favorite song). It's another double-round-robin tournament, similar to what we played this past spring. The winner gets a $50 prize and trophy; every participant gets new artist ranks and Overtime and a copy of the Rivingtons. Full details are available. (We will play the planned "Come Together" tournament at a later date.)

Scott Hardie | October 1, 2016
With a heavy heart, I have to announce the cancelation of GooCon 2016. The reason happens to be some good news for me personally, that Kelly and I are buying our first house, but way too much of my free time is dedicated to that project right now and it cannot wait until later. (We have to be out of our rented house in January, so the pressure is on.) I've already done a lot of the preparation for GooCon, but too much work still remains for me to finish it in the next three weeks, and I should spend that day itself on the move anyway. I'm very sorry about the cancelation; I was looking forward to having a fun day online with you all. I'm also sorry for any disruption that this may cause for you. :-(

Because a lot of the work has been done already, I'm confident that we will still play these online games at a later date, after January. But next time, I don't think there will be an online announcement or a commitment to a specific day until the preparation is 100% complete, so that something like this doesn't happen again.

Justin Woods | October 1, 2016
Congrats and we completely understand that!

Chris Lemler | October 1, 2016
Just like Justin said congrats on the new house. It's a big thing when you buy your first house

Steve West | October 1, 2016
That is awesome news. When we bought our house, Brenda and I spent the first few months following dealing with issues we hadn't been prepared for like the sink I broke and other stuff I blogged about so be prepared to deal with just stuff. Happy news!

Scott Hardie | October 1, 2016
Thanks all. The urgent part is buying and moving, and I expect that to be done by mid-January, but I have no doubt that the work of getting settled and solving problems with the new house will continue for months afterwards at a less frantic pace. I'll share news about the house when we have some.

LaVonne Lemler | October 4, 2016
So happy to learn you and Kelly are buying your first home! What an exciting time for you both, with lots of fun times ahead --- congrats! :-)