Preregistration Changes
Preregistration opens Monday, September 16 at 11am EDT!
For those of you who’ve been faithfully attending U-Con for years, in 2019 you’ll be noticing some changes to our registration. You’ve asked for a more efficient way to set things up, and we think we’ve got something to help. Previously, you’d see a shopping-cart based model, but now, your event tickets are added straight to your account. They are reserved for you as soon as you take this action. This means less chance of our system trying to assign tickets to multiple people, which will more accurately reflect which events will have open spaces. Please read on so you are prepared for preregistration.
1. You will need a login to register. Some of you have existing login accounts that you set up in order to submit games or to view your event schedule last year. The rest of you will need to create an account. Make sure your account is accessible prior to preregistration to ensure you can start selecting events right away.
2. Each person in your party will get their own envelope. You can still register multiple people, however each person should have their own envelope. Navigate to your envelopes by clicking the link for My Registration. Make sure each person you are registering has their own envelope, using the “Add Envelope” button as needed.*
*Advanced: customer service can assist you with allowing friends or family members to access your existing envelope. Send us a message to get started!
3. Add event tickets directly to each envelope. Clicking the add button will turn it into a check mark, indicating that the ticket was added to your envelope.
When the star appears over the icon, then it means that the event is sold out. The checkmark indicates that a ticket is reserved for this envelope. Note that tickets can be added but not removed here, however they can be removed from your envelope.
4. Add a badge to each envelope. Click the link “Register Now” in order to select badges for your envelopes. Badges may be added one at a time, and as before, the name on the badge can be customized as different from the badge on the envelope.
Gamemasters who run 6 or more hours of games qualify for a gamemaster badge. These will be added for you by our staff. Additionally, badges for gamemasters and judges with groups (e.g Adventurer’s League or Pathfinder Society) will not need to select a badge. You may be contacted by customer service as part of our verification process to ensure that all attendees have a badge.
5. Each envelope shows the selected badge and tickets. The top section shows an itemized list of selections and any previous payments. Please note that you can use that little red “x” button to remove items that you do not need anymore!
The middle section shows the PayPal button whenever there is a balance due. Please lock in your ticket reservations by sending us a payment via the PayPal button for each envelope. Staff will record your payments within 3 business days, and when we do the balance will show as $0. Currently, each envelope must be paid for separately, though we will look to add a unified payment option in future years.
Checking out via PayPal (including as a guest user with any major credit card) is preferred, however we will continue to accept payments by checks mailed to our P.O. Box.
The final section of each envelope shows the combined schedule of tickets and gamemaster events, allowing you an easy means to find conflicts in your schedule. Starting the week before the convention, the combined schedule section will be updated to show the room and table location of each event.
6. Make sure to pay for all your items. Registrations left unpaid are subject to removal by customer service staff with the intent to release available tickets to other customers. When paying by check, please let customer service know that your payment is being mailed so that we do not remove your unpaid reservations by mistake.
7. Exchange your tickets faster. Before, making changes to your preregistration required talking to customer service. Now ticket exchanges can be performed with self service. Simply add the new ticket to your account and then use the red “x” button in your envelope to release unneeded items from your registration. If the change means that you need a refund, be sure to contact customer service prior to the close of online registration!
8. If your name, email, or address has changed since last year please contact customer service in order to update your records. It will be helpful toward ensuring that we give the items you paid for with your preregistration to the correct person.
We hope these changes provide you with more visibility and control over your schedule. Customer service will be standing by to work though any bumps which may occur as a result of this change. It is our hope to make the overall process more smooth for everyone, so that we can all have a wonderful convention experience.
For qualifying gamemasters, do we NOT add any badge to our registrations then? Will the payment / signups still process without a badge initially chosen if staff will be adding the “gamemaster” badge later?
Yes, preregistration signups and payments will be processed without a badge! If your GM events were accepted, then our staff will add a gamemaster badge for you sometime prior to the convention. The event team plans to spend time resolving GM badges when event submission and scheduling finally slow down. 🙂