Quote from: Darran;386864So what are your experiences with convention gaming?

I generally like conventions more for hanging out in, getting new stuff in, etc, than for actually gaming.

QuoteHave you been stung by a few poor games?

A few times yes.

QuoteWhat can be done to 'police' GMs/players and get good games?

Pretty hard to do.  Even people who organizers might have played with and thought of as good GMs may end up choking in the Con environment, where you have to do things totally differently than you do at home.
I suppose the barest fundamentals would be to make sure that any GM to a con arrives with... scratch that, first make sure they ARRIVE, period. Then that they arrive with a general adventure concept that will fit in a 4 hour time slot and that is detailed enough that the GM won't be trying to wing it too much, and simple enough that the whole thing won't get bogged down in quagmire.
Maybe provide some tips on how to run a con game.
Force GMs to come with premade characters unless they can give really really good reasons why characters should be generated in the demo itself.

Oh, and structural things too that have nothing to do with GMs. Don't put the RPGs section right next to the DJ with the rave music blaring at full intensity. I seriously had to sit through that once.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;387653I suppose the barest fundamentals would be to make sure that any GM to a con arrives with... scratch that, first make sure they ARRIVE, period.

It always surprises me how many cancellations there are, at each convention.

Considering I have to time these Conventions with The Boss (i.e. my wife), it would take an act of God to keep me from meeting my obligation; I volunteered, so I need to make good on my word (especially since I'm getting a free pass to the Con!).

Of course, folks also think I'm strange, since I spend more time running/I] games at local Con's, than playing.