Hello there,

You're getting this mass BCC email because you signed up to show a game at GameCity. If you're one of the few who's cancelled but have somehow still ended up in this, my apologies. Some of you also have sessions that are TBC, but I wanted to make sure you all got this.

The festival is less than a week away now. You should have all of your dates sorted, but if you're in any doubt, talk to me. I'll be in touch once more just to reiterate the dates I have in the production schedule, but for now, here's loads of information on the venue.



Travel:
GameCity, 24-32 Carlton St, Nottingham, NG1 1NN

If you're on public transport, there is a tram stop (Lace Market) very close to the end of Warser Gate. Trams go from the Market Square (only a five minute walk away) and Nottingham Station. If you're coming from slightly out of town, most bus routes drop off close to the Market Square.

For car parking, Marco Island is the cheapest close option at £3.50 per day:
http://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/building/marco-island-nottingham/

Fletcher Gate multistory is slightly closer though.


Arrival:
The entrance is the red door on Warser Gate, where a member of staff will be stationed for each get in. They'll direct you to the gallery you'll be exhibiting in (there are three in total for Open). Once there, there'll be a stage manager or head steward who'll show you to a table.

We're open to the public from 10:00 each morning, if you're arriving before then, crew on the door will have exhibitor lanyards plus a set list with your game/thing title and organisation name.

Please get to the Open Arcade no later than 30 minutes before your assigned slot starts (For 10:00 starts, the venue will be open to exhibitors from 09:00). This will allow time for you to discuss any specific needs with our volunteers, who will be helping you to get set up. Things will become increasingly frantic toward our opening time of 10:00; the closer to that you turn up, the harder it will be to get things done. If you're showing on any mornings and get here for 09:00, then you'll have some time to show volunteer crew members your stuff, to have them informed and helping to plug it to the crowd a little during the day.


Loading:
If you need to load things in, unless you have specific disability issues or have already arranged to bring something enormous (like an arcade machine), you should plan on parking some way away and carrying things on foot. If you have any loading related issues, you should contact us about that ASAP. Warser Gate and Carlton Street are both no loading zones regularly patrolled by traffic wardens.

Hardware:
You will need to bring hardware for your game to run on. Your space will have a 22" LCD monitor, a six foot trestle table (of this type: http://i.imgur.com/Vfe3qCs.jpg ), and a couple of power sockets.

Connections on screens are: VGA, HDMI. We may have some VGA leads, but it would be safest if you brought any required leads too. We definitely won't have things like iPad to HDMI connectors, thunderbolt adapters, or spare HDMI leads to hand; you'll need to bring those with you if they're necessary. The screens apparently do have speakers.


Posters, banners, etc:
Because the building is a former office, please don't bring popup roller banners or large pieces of branding (We also can't guarantee wall space). Not only will banners look terribly corporate in this building, if you put that sort of stuff up we'll ask you to take them down. I'd like to remind those of you who've been before, and state to those of you who haven't, GameCity is a festival, not a commercial expo. Anything you can fit on the tabletop is generally fine, and as a rule of thumb for size: Small enough that it won't annoy the exhibitors on the tables either side of you, please.


PAT testing:
PAT testing will be available at the Open Arcade free of charge every morning between 09:00 and 10:00.

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I will try to be present at the Open Arcade myself most of the time, but may be called away to other events at all hours. My number is 0780 350 4859.

Thanks,
David Hayward