To our community,
We regret to inform you that we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel GaymerX East ‘19. Due to complications with our venue, we won’t be able to hold the event on the scheduled dates nor will we be able to easily reschedule.
All contributions to our indiegogo will be refunded. If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
Here’s what happened…
When we confirmed our event with the Microsoft Times Square Conference center, we did so following the same process we had gone through for previous years. We were given the assurance that our agreement remained the same. However, a few days ago we were informed that their procedure had changed and that they would require us to sign a new contract. Partly, it would restrict which companies were allowed to sponsor the event. Additionally, the contract wouldn’t be ready for another month.
Sponsorships pay for a big chunk of our events. Large companies –a number of whom would likely not be allowed under the new contract– have been some of the biggest sponsors of past GaymerX conventions. We are a small, all-volunteer organization, and not in a position where we can hold a convention without significant financial support. In this case, using the free venue provided to us by Microsoft would be too expensive with the new restrictions being placed on us.
This left us in the difficult position. We either wait for the contract –which if its terms were unfavorable would leave us little to no time to renegotiate before our event– or we cancel the event before it’s too late to refund our crowdfunding backers. We’re choosing to do what we believe is best for our community because we value your support so much.
While this is an unfortunate outcome, we want to be clear that we harbor no ill will toward the Microsoft Times Square Conference center. Their space is no longer suitable for GaymerX East ‘19 and while we wish we could push forward with the event, we just don’t see a way to do so.
There is no way around it, this sucks. We know how disappointing this must be to our community. We hope you can forgive us. If there’s anything you need from the organization, please feel free to email us: [email protected]. Our deepest apologies to all of you.
Katie Kaitchuck
Executive Director, GaymerX