Icrontic will be holding its eighth annual Expo this June 23rd-27th, and we have a major change to announce: we have a new venue. An elite few may have even been there before, because it’s where we had the first Short-Media LAN in 2004. It’s Tracey’s Corner Cafe in Warren, MI (formerly Deebe’s). “Corner cafe” sounds quaint and small; it’s anything but.
If you’re not familiar with the Expo, the only way to describe it is a giant social gaming bash. You can play video, board, and card game tournaments; complete a Duct Tape Engineering Challenge; go on a curated Detroit Food Tour; go golfing at daybreak; and generally spend five days being with awesome friends. We think it’s safe to say that it’s the highlight of our year, and we’d love to have you join us if you’ve never experienced it. Everyone who’s been to one raves about the great time they have here.
Now about this venue unchange: we’re going back to our roots. Of course, it wasn’t called Tracey’s back in 2004. It was still Deebe’s then, and we had to relocate in 2005 due to it being sold. Two more owners later, and we’ve been invited back. But if you were there in 2004, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
First of all, this means a 35% increase in floor space over the event tent we’ve used the last six years. Being indoors is also a huge boon because it will be cleaner and we can control our setup time better—but it gets better. We have two additional rooms dedicated for board & card gaming (which we didn’t have in 2004). On top of that, we have access to the entire cafe above us plus its patio and parking lot for times we need to gather all the troops for announcements and things like the Duct Tape Challenge.
Did we mention it’s in a cafe? A really sweet one. While it means we can’t allow outside meals and drinks (as it was in 2004), it does mean we have a barista on the premises with a steady stream of delicious hot and cold beverages and food. Relax in the cafe with new and old friends, chill on the patio, or grab your sandwich and run back downstairs so you don’t miss any of the action. It’s going to be an outstanding experience.
We haven’t been this excited about Expo in years. While it’s always the high point of our year, it’s been frustrating to organize within the constraints of our house, and unimaginably stressful to have it there. Really, it’s a testament to how awesome our community is that we’ve been able to pull it off (with some amazing help) and muster the energy to keep doing it.
When we started looking at venues, we had hardly dared to be optimistic. After going to Tracey’s today and officially surveying the space, we know that we finally have the space we need and, combined with years of experience under our belts, we’re ready to blow everything that’s come before this out of the water.
Logistics & Details
Tickets will be $50 and go on sale March 1. Tenting at ICHQ is an extra $15 to help us cover the additional utility bills and consumables. We’ll again be offering the Icrontic Taxi Service which is 2-way transit to the airport before and after the event for $10.
Remember you get 25% off if you’re an Icrontic subscriber, and if you do the math, it basically makes the subscription free. We’ll send all subscribers a coupon code before tickets go on sale (or when you subscribe).
The event is wholly at the cafe. We’re not doing after-parties at ICHQ or anything like that. The cafe will be staying open until 2am for us, so we’ll be there engaging in the usual shenanigans until it’s time to crash. We’ll be organizing some form of transportation to and from the cafe in the early afternoon and late at night for our backyard tenters, so expect more details as we finalize those plans.
Our last big change to announce for now: we’re cutting the Food Tour to 3 stops, and one of them will be catered at the cafe. We’re doing that to maximize Food Tour participation while opening up the schedule at critical times for even more great events. Less driving, more awesome.
Every year the Expo Icrontic is our favorite thing, and it’s always even better than the last year. This time, we’re aiming to blow your mind. We’ll settle for nothing less, and we want you to be there.
Oh yeah, Sponsors and Prizes!
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