Blood Angel Chapter Master with Wings
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I had the pleasure to participate in a Geek Nation Tour hosted by Teras Cassidy at Adepticon 2012.
I heard about Geek Nation on 40k Radio Podcasts, and the idea sounded intriguing. But before I get ahead of myself, a little background -
I am a modeller and painter, I have never picked up dice for a Wargame. It has always been a relaxing, solo event for me to work on a model. The hobby was a quiet pursuit for me, none of my friends or acquaintances were involved with anything like it and I didn't feel any need to try and interest them, it was always my alone time thing. After getting back into the hobby after a nearly decade long break in Oct 2009 (Thank you Space Hulk, you and your nostalgia ended up costing me thousands in the last 3 years lol), I quickly became a frequent user of one of Wargaming's most famous forums, Dakka Dakka. Over time I was surprised to find myself in the position of Mod there.
As a result of my participation in the site, for the first time I had a real reason to attend an event as I had made many friends with other Dakka users and of course the staff there. The breaking point was when the Adepticon big-cheese himself, Hank Edley, contacted me for some help designing various things for the convention. As I began to work on the projects, I also saw that almost the entire Dakka staff would be going as well, and this cinched my decision to attend. Curiosity to actually see in person this world I had enmeshed myself in was intense as you might imagine. This would likely be the only time that many of us would be in the same place as well.
The thing was, I was a bit nervous to attend, as I did not want to pester anyone to babysit me (a stranger in many ways despite our daily interactions) or to find myself without much to do since I didn't wargame. Listening to a 40k Radio Podcast, the solution presented itself. Geek Nation Tours.
Teras' pitch is simple, and to the point. Geek Nations offers you a simple, no hassle vacation with everything taken care of and tons of extras. All you have to do is show up at the airport on your end. Part of the bonus in taking a Geek Nation Tour is that there is a built in group to travel and hang out with, as much or as little as you want to, no pressure either way.
Now, what was the precise experience like for me?
- I signed up, selecting my classes and events to attend as any normal Adpeticon user would, informing Teras of my choices. It was guaranteed that I would get into the events I wanted to, and I was also automatically upgraded to VIG status (Very Important Gamer), which would mean a big swag bag and also early access to some events and the vendor area every day.
- Teras was immediately in regular contact, at least once a week, with either updates on general events, or to simply check if everything was ok on my end.
- I booked my tickets, informed Teras of my flight times. (Note, if necessary, Teras can book your tickets for you. Helpful for younger customers I would expect.)
- Many updates followed, making sure we heard about whatever new Adepticon news was coming out in the interim. One update was particularly important as a class was cancelled and we were given the option to replace or remove it and get a refund. This was quickly sorted out, Teras made sure of it.
- In the last week Teras sent over a very thorough 8 page schedule and itinerary, covering our schedules, what to do and where to go in all situations, and giving his contact numbers. I knew exactly where to be and what my options were at any given time for the entire trip.
- Finally, the time for the Con came (with a few months between sign-up and event) and I hopped my plane.
- I arrived to a scheduled pick up by a chauffeured town car, Teras checked in via Text around pick-up time to ensure I was in the right spot and everything was good.
- Arrived at the venue. Teras was front and center to greet me, ensure I got registered and booked in etc. After I dropped off my bags, he gave me a tour of the venue, introducing me to a few notable people along the way. After about 20-30 minutes, he asked if I wanted to join other tour members for a bite and led me into the attached restaurant and introduced me to several other GNT customers, all really nice guys.
- Later that night was the only pseudo-obligatory event to attend, a special GNT tour dinner, with several notable guest speakers from Bell of Lost Souls, Battlefoam, Black Library, Mantic and Privateer press as well as Adepticon brass.
- There were scheduled dinners and get-togethers every night, completely optional to attend, but available.
- Teras held a final night get-together in his suite before the official Adepticon final events (poker tournament etc). At this get-together, which I sadly missed, there was a taping of a 40k radio Podcast with Romeo himself. As a fan and recent acquaintance, I kicked myself on that one!
- Finally, it was time to go, and Teras was up til 4.30 AM making sure I made it to my very early ride to the airport.
Now, was I with GNT every second I was there? No, absolutely not. The other Dakka guys were just as awesome in real life as they were online, and we all seemed to hit it off very nicely. I ended up spending a great deal of time with them and running around to my classes. Talking with Hank, Romeo, Chris Borer, Matt Fontaine and Justin from Secret Weapon took up a good chunk of time too. What a generous, skilled and interesting bunch of guys... honestly for me, being my first live event to be able to just walk up and have a pretty long chat with each of them was both a pleasure and educational in each case. Only in our little corner of hobbies or interests are all-stars so easily accessible and down to earth... awesome! I really only ended up spending the first day with GNT before going off on my own things.
Now, maybe that last bit made you say 'Doesn't sound worth it then'? Let me tell you, it was most certainly worth it. Why? Because even if I didn't 'use' GNT every second of the day, Teras was always, always available and ready to help, and he did on several occasions (helping me locate people and items at various times). At all times, I knew where he was, what he was doing and was reminded of notable upcoming events via his text updates. Had I needed anything, and I mean anything, he would be right there to help make it happen. Staying up til 4.30 AM just to make sure my early morning ride to the airport showed up being just one example.
I don't know about you, but being on a trip knowing that everything is taken care of and you have help at hand at all times has a lot of value to me. The fact everything was delivered exactly as promised, with no let downs is also a pretty rare thing these days.
Now, to the question all other questions lead to... 'Ya, but what was the cost for that???'
The cost of doing it yourself -
Hotel Costs for Thursday to Sunday nights...$510.00 tax in
Welcome Dinner with industry guests including the AdeptiCon crew and Black Library plus others $75.00
VIG upgrade but with special Geek Nation Tours addition - all the good stuff the VIG gives you but with the ability to purchase it months in advance guaranteed (unlike via their cart where the upgrade was sold out in 3 hours). The special GNT upgrades also include pre-public registration. This means you get to register for events prior to anyone else. You get to secure your space in the 40K Championship for instance which sells out almost immediately. Thus GNT upgrade VIG $80.00 (double the cost of an weekend pass for argument)
Cab to Westin Lombard return $120.00
AdeptiCon Sunday Mixer and/or D6 Generation Boardgame night $30.00
Transfers to the Friday and Saturday night dinners plus two transfers to liquor store $30.00 by cab
TOTAL $845.00
Plus other things that are harder to price...
Battlefoam and Weekend pass draws (3 bags + 10 weekend passes) ....but not really a cost you can add...
Private guide to make sure you get to the hotel and to all AdeptiCon events and nightly GNT events... again I can't really give a cost
Carefree travel with all the details taken care of which leaves a participant with only the AdeptiCon goodness to enjoy
Pre or post holiday planning. If you want to stay longer or come early GNT takes care of that too....Want to go to Vegas post AdeptiCon? Washington by train prior?
The Geek Nation Tour cost -
The costs for the Geek Nation Tours package is $650.00 for double occupancy and $925.00 for single. So if you come by yourself and are willing to share a room you would save about $240.00. If you come as a single occupant you would pay about $80.00 more for all the bonuses as per the above...
Final Tally -
So, as you can see, a GNT tour costs pretty damn close to doing it yourself as far as I can gather, except you get all those bonuses, help and peace of mind... if all that ends up costing 80 bucks extra, I'll call that the bargain of the century and leave it at that.
Would I recommend it, and to whom?
I would recommend, if you couldn't tell, the tour to anyone based solely on value added in terms of convenience. It's pretty simple. But, I would say that to truly take advantage of everything Teras offers, however, I feel maximum advantage is gained by travelling with a group of friends together, or if you are going and don’t know anyone. That way, you are free to benefit from the GNT group and not be drawn off by too many other things. Like I said though, either way, you come out a winner.
Hope the above is helpful to anyone on the fence about it or looking to enhance their convention experience! A small reminder though, GNT has plenty of events throughout the year, some comic related, some military-historical related, some wargaming related. There is plenty more going on than just Adepticon, awesome convention though it may be!
Thanks for a great weekend Teras!
Sincerely, MajorTom11, DakkaDakka.
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