It should go without saying – be respectful of everyone. We’ve grown in size over the last decade (from 75 registered attendees in 2002 to almost 200 attendees today) and we may not all know each other. We want all attendees to feel welcomed and included at OmegaCon. Moreover OmegaCon is a safe space for people of all identities in which bullying, harassment, and harassing behaviors will not be tolerated. We implore all attendees to be kind and respectful to everyone, including hotel staff. If you are feeling harassed or need support in feeling safe during OmegaCon please find an OmegaCon staff member to assist you.

There are many ways to relax and unwind at our convention (we aren’t just a gaming convention) and all types of geeks are welcome – that includes crafters, readers, movie watchers, lap-top’ers, gamers, Lego builders – everyone. Be inclusive, friendly, introduce yourself, invite others to play board games, but also respect that, for some, “joining in” means just reading, relaxing, or being around other people.

It is impossible to know someone’s comfort levels around personal space, touch, hugging, etc., without directly asking them. Please be thoughtful about boundaries – we hope you are doing this regardless of a global pandemic. Check in about things like hugging and be prepared to voice your own needs – for example if masking and/or maintaining distance will help you be more comfortable.

Children are not allowed at the Lodge as OmegaCon is a convention for people who are 21 years of age and older. This applies not only to registered attendees but to anyone visiting or staying at the Lodge. We will make an exception for “Babes in Arms”. That means you may bring your infant (under 1 year old and not yet walking) to the Lodge if you are unable to make arrangements for them to stay elsewhere with another caretaker. We welcome your kiddos to OmegaCon and the Lodge once they have turned 21.

Roadkill’s Bar is funded and operated by OmegaCon, and is therefore considered part of the official convention program. The convention reserves the standard right to refuse alcohol service to anyone, at any time, for any reason or for no reason. If you are refused service by the convention, fun can still be had. We encourage you to drink some water, eat some fried things, and play a few rounds of your favorite game. The convention also reserves the right to immediately eject from the convention anyone who becomes abusive to volunteers and/or convention staff after being refused service.

Smoking is prohibited indoors at the Lodge. Furthermore, please be respectful of non-smokers and smoke at least 10 feet away from the doors. E-Cigs and Vapers will not be allowed in OmegaCon public spaces due to scent issues for participants. The Lodge’s policy for use of these devices in rooms is undetermined; please check at the front desk if you plan to use them in your room.

Our host hotel allows certain kinds of pets (including dogs). However, due to allergy and noise concerns, pets are not allowed during the convention, defined as Thursday through Sunday. If you have an extenuating circumstance (pet sitter fell through, etc.) that prevents you from attending you will not lose your Golden Ticket. Please contact us ASAP if this comes up to discuss your options.

Service animals are not pets, thus this policy does not apply to them.

Each individual must be registered to attend OmegaCon. This applies to anyone visiting or staying at the Lodge, with an exception for “Babes in Arms”. Make sure to register and check in upon arrival at the Lodge. Please wear your badge at all times. Sharing a badge with one or more people is not allowed. If you see someone without their badge, please remind them to wear it or register if they don’t yet have one.

We understand that sometimes life gets in the way of fun. If you are unable to attend due to extenuating circumstances it is your responsibility to inform OmegaCon. We ask that you contact us via email as soon as possible. You do not need to inform us of specific details, but you do need to communicate to us that there is an extenuating circumstance precluding your attendance. You have two membership transfer options:

• You may transfer your membership to someone else. Once you find someone who would like to take your membership please email OmegaCon and cc that person to inform us of the transfer.
  • Your registration payment will not be refunded from the convention. You are responsible for working out the financial details directly with the person who is taking over your membership.
• We allow you to push your membership to the following year’s convention. Please remember that OmegaCon Spring and OmegaCon Fall are separate conventions. For example you can push your OmegaSpring 2024 membership to OmegaSpring 2025 but not to OmegaFall 2025.
  • You may push your membership once. If you cannot attend the second year then you may transfer your membership to someone else.
  • If you have pushed your membership once already and you are unable to find someone to take your membership then the payment is considered a donation to the convention.

We appreciate as much notice as possible and ask that transfer requests be submitted no later than the Thursday two weeks before OmegaCon weekend. Membership transfer requests submitted after 3pm the Friday of OmegaCon weekend will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

In order to keep our pricing simple, Omegacon covers the fees associated with credit card payments and ecommerce platforms.

Omegacon accepts payments online via credit/debit card, and in-person at the convention via credit/debit card or cash. Omegacon no longer accepts checks.

The OmegaCon convention coordinates all convention hotel room reservations for The Lodge at Crooked Lake for both OmegaCon Fall and OmegaCon Spring. Room assignments at The Lodge are currently based on a “Golden Ticket” system for both conventions, as the convention is able to reliably fill the entire hotel.

Please note that the following policies apply to The Lodge at Crooked Lake ONLY. Anyone attending OmegaFall or OmegaSpring who chooses to book at another hotel is responsible for securing their own room and following the policies of their chosen hotel. The convention does not contract, negotiate, or coordinate with any hotels other than The Lodge.

Please also note: OmegaFall and OmegaSpring are considered separate conventions under the umbrella of OmegaCon. The policies below reference “current convention” and “next convention”: this refers to the convention of that seasonality. For example, at OmegaFall 2024, “current convention” refers to OmegaFall 2024, and “next convention” refers to OmegaFall 2025.

OmegaCon will send one email via Mailchimp roughly two months prior to each event to confirm your registration and hotel room information. You are responsible for providing the convention with updated contact information, including a valid email address. It is your responsibility to make sure you receive and read this confirmation email. OmegaCon requests confirmation of your attendance via Google Form. It is your responsibility to inform OmegaCon in writing if you need to make any changes to your hotel room information or if you are unable to attend.

The “Golden Ticket” system applies to both Fall and Spring conventions; however, the conventions are considered separately for purposes of securing your room. You have separate Golden Tickets for Fall and Spring, even though you may have the same room for both.

To lock in a hotel room from one convention to the next, the person who holds the Golden Ticket must pre-register for the next convention prior to the end of the current convention. OmegaCon considers the Golden Ticket holder as the person who has the room listed with their information in the registration book.

Any rooms for the next convention which are not secured by pre-registration for Golden Tickets as of the end of the current convention will be made available to the waitlist. The waitlist and procedures are described below. It is the responsibility of the Golden Ticket holder to ensure that their room is properly secured, should they wish to do so. The convention is not responsible for finding you, calling you, hunting you down, or otherwise reminding you.

Any individual who does not have a hotel room and has previously attended a convention may enter the hotel room waitlist. The waitlist order is determined by lottery numbers that are assigned after each convention; it is NOT a permanent list. I.e. if you are number 10 on the waitlist one year you may be number 3 the following year.

After the close of registration for each convention, the lottery order for the next convention is determined by dice roll for those who have opted into the waitlist. Once this process is complete, all additional requests will be added in the order of receipt. As rooms become available, they will be offered to the waitlist in this established order.

If you are offered a room via the waitlist and have not registered for that convention, you will also receive a deadline to submit your registration by in order to confirm your room. This is a hard deadline, and if your registration is not received in time, the room will be offered to the next person on the list.

Once you receive and confirm a room via the lottery system, you are now the holder of the Golden Ticket for that room for that convention.

Example:

OmegaSpring 2024 registration closes. There are five pre-registrations for OmegaSpring 2025 who have indicated they would like to waitlist for a room. The dice are rolled for these five people and they are waitlisted in this order.

Over the next year, five additional people pre-register for OmegaSpring 2025 and would like rooms. They are waitlisted in the order of receipt of their registrations.

Please note: The waitlists are made and considered separately for OmegaCon Fall and Spring. It is possible to enter Fall’s waitlist at Spring; however, your waitlist position will be below the list from the prior fall and also any other entries received since then.

In the event you are unable to join us for an OmegaCon, you are permitted to transfer your hotel room and Golden Ticket to an established roommate. Furthermore, it is your responsibility to directly inform OmegaCon via email of your roommates. If you tell The Lodge about your roommates but do not tell OmegaCon, those roommates are not considered established with the convention as OmegaCon has no way of knowing about these roommates.

An established roommate is someone who fulfills the following criteria:

• Has been listed as your roommate with OmegaCon for two or more years
• Has registered for and attended OmegaCon for the years they were listed as your roommate
• Has stayed in your hotel room for the years they were listed as your roommate

If someone fails to fulfill all three of these criteria they do not qualify as an established roommate for the purposes of transferring your hotel room.

The cost for each room includes two people. Additional roommates are $10 per person per night. We strongly encourage you to list all your roommates so you have options in the future should you need to transfer your Golden Ticket.

In order to maintain a fair waitlist system you are not permitted to transfer your hotel room or Golden Ticket to an individual who is not established as your roommate.

Golden Ticket transfers are considered permanent.

All questions regarding transfers should be brought to the attention of the convention staff as soon as possible. Any requests for hotel room transfers submitted after the convention has started will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The convention reserves the right to make exceptions to the transfer policy in the event of extenuating circumstances.

If you would like a different type of room, or a different room location, the convention recommends the use of the Facebook group  as a way to connect with other attendees who might wish to exchange rooms. In the event that a swap is agreed upon, both Golden Ticket holders should contact the convention to verify the change.

In the absence of any other information, the convention will ultimately consider the person who holds the Golden Ticket as financially and otherwise responsible for the room.

If an OmegaCon hotel room at The Lodge is cancelled beyond a certain date the room must still be paid for, even if it is not being used. This policy reflects the contract between the convention (OmegaCon) and the hotel, where the convention guarantees the number of rooms. As such, the convention’s room cancellation policy is as follows:

A hotel room at The Lodge must be cancelled no later than the Thursday two weeks before the convention weekend in order to remove any financial responsibility on your part. You must provide your cancellation in writing by emailing info @ omegacon.org. Should you cancel your room later than the Thursday two weeks before the convention and OmegaCon cannot fill your room with another attendee, you are still responsible for the cost of the room.

Late cancellations may also affect your future rooms. The convention reserves the right, on a case-by-case basis, to cancel Golden Tickets for both OmegaCon Fall and Spring in the event of a late room cancellation for either convention. This policy will particularly apply to cases where the convention becomes responsible for the cost of a late-cancel room. In the event that you must late-cancel your room due to an emergency situation, please contact a member of the convention committee at your earliest opportunity to discuss options.

The convention is not responsible for reminding you that you have a hotel room for either convention, beyond your initial confirmation email (sent via Mailchimp approximately eight weeks prior to convention). You are responsible for providing the convention with updated contact information, including a valid email address. It is also your responsibility to make sure you receive and read this confirmation email. If you are unsure as to whether you have a room, it is your responsibility to contact the convention for confirmation prior to the late-cancel deadline.

PLEASE NOTE: Email providers are notorious for directing our emails into Spam, Junk, Clutter, or other subfolders. Gmail in particular likes to put us in “Promotions”. We strongly recommend adding info @ omegacon.org to your “Safe Sender” or other non-blocked lists to ensure your reservation and hotel confirmations get to you properly.

Our convention hotel, The Lodge at Crooked Lake, has 60 sleeping rooms. These rooms are booked through OmegaCon and have a waitlist. There are three other options in Siren that may be able to accommodate you – the Best Western Northwoods Lodge , the Pinewood Motel , and the Lilac Village Bed & Breakfast . You can book a room directly with them and pay their standard rates. There are also some local vacation rental homes that people have enjoyed in the past.