Congratulations, and welcome to the Super MAGFest 2023 Indie Arcade!
If this is your first time showing with us, this will serve as a guide for what to expect in the lead-up to the event, as well as what will be going on at the event. If you’re a returning exhibitor, this will be a good reminder, as well as inform you of any changes we expect for this year.
First, you should be receiving a follow up google form that will ask for some more information— this will include copy and media for the official MAGFest guidebook and website, an interest check for any virtual programming for the event, info on hotel room requests, logistics concerns, etc
You and your team will also receive invites to the Indie Arcade Discord server. This will serve as our primary hub for communication until after the event is closed, as well as a space to network with other accepted developers.
As an exhibitor at MAGFest, your team is entitled to 2 compensated badges for the event, as well as the option to purchase a reserved hotel room at the Gaylord at the event rate, if desired. If you would like to share the cost of a room with other developers, you are encouraged to do so via our Discord instance.
At the event, most developers will show up Wednesday evening, although you can also arrive on Thursday morning. There are two loading docks behind the Gaylord— as you drive behind the hotel, you will want the second one, closer to the end of the road. See the map below for a better idea. When you are approaching the national harbor, please send a message to the #logistics channel on our discord, and a staff member will be waiting at the docks to guide you to your assigned space in the expo hall and offer assistance unloading, if needed.
If your load is light, you may be asked to park at the loading dock stairs and walk your equipment in. For heavier loads, you can drive your vehicle into the convention center via the loading dock ramp— this will be coordinated with the larger MAGFest logistics team, and is ONLY available on Wednesday.
Please note— the loading docks/expo hall doors will close around midnight on Wednesday. If you will be arriving later or need access to the halls after close, please contact a department head or staffer to make arrangements.
During the event, you are expected to keep your game running for the entire 72 hour duration, but we know that there’s going to be issues. For this reason, we have a #maintenance channel in Discord. If any game is down, misbehaving, or just acting funny, a message will be sent to this channel, and you should come take a look as soon as reasonably possible.
You are welcome to hang out in the indie arcade ops booth, and you will have an assigned cubby to keep some of your gear in— though we cannot make any guarantees to the security of this space. If you have anything precious or valuable, please take it to your hotel room or secure it elsewhere.
We won't lie, loadout can be a bit chaotic! The event officially closes at 2 **PM on Sunday, though you can start packing up before that if you need to.
Everyone (Arcade, Marketplace, MIVS, Indie Arcade, etc) will be swarming to the loading docks as soon as the expo hall closes. The easiest option is to carry your game out through the front of the convention center and to your vehicle. If carrying your game through the front is not an option and you need to drive into the expo hall to load a vehicle, seek out an Indie Arcade department head. They will be able to relay the current instructions from the MAGFest logistics team. Please keep in mind that you will need to have all of your gear completely packed and ready to load before you are able to drive into the expo hall. As with load-in, there will be staff available to help move your gear.
Shortly after the event, Indie Arcade will send out a form to obtain feedback about the event. To help us improve your experience, we'd sincerely appreciate it if you could fill out the feedback form.
If you have any other questions, please reach out to us at [email protected] or in Discord