Note: This post was originally up at my personal site, Highmoon’s Ponderings, but it has now been moved here.

Gen Con is next week and as I’ve said here and on Twitter before, I won’t be attending. It’s by choice (even though by now finances also play a deciding role), though that doesn’t mean I’m not sad I won’t be going; trust me when I tell you that I could use those four days of non-stop gaming awesomeness like a desert nomad needs water.

All that said, just because I’m not going to Gen Con doesn’t mean I am not excited as hell that is almost here. Thanks to the wonders of social and new media, I am fairly sure I will be able to get a really good virtual experience of the beautiful madness that overtakes Downtown Indy when Gen Con is in town. For this vicarious 4-day event, I have two main weapons in my arsenal.

Twitter

It would be hard to beat the amount of information flying about Gen Con on Twitter, and that’s just the week before the con! Though there is an official @Gen_Con Twitter account, the main channel is the hashtag #gencon (as you can see in the title of this post, done that way so that when this posts to my Twitter accounts, it registers as part of that search string), where folks have been chatting up a storm, tweeting about everything from their pre-con plans, what they’re most looking forward to, arranging games and generally hyping themselves up for their time in Indy.

I have the #gencon tag set up as a search column on TweetDeck so I get auto updates of every tweet with that tag (most Twitter clients that support search or groups should be able to be set up in a similar fashion). Even if you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along at the Twitter Search page for #gencon, though if you want to join the conversation you’ll need an account.

I set up yesterday a Twibbon (a Twitter ribbon, a small graphic that overlays on top of your avatar) for “Going to #GenCon Indy!” and in the last 24 hours it has gathered 175 followers (and it keeps growing), making it one of the front-page trending groups. Yes, it is kind of sad that I cannot use the Twibbon I created, but it’s all just part of my general excitement about the con. If you’re on Twitter and going to Gen Con, why not add it to your profile as well? Click on the widget below and voilà!

Even more interesting, there’s been some instances of using Twitter and the #gencon tag for promotional purposes: @Gen_Con has given away free generic event tickets to followers using the “Going to #GenCon Indy!” twibbon and Design Matters (@DMbooth1834), an indie/small press boutique is doing daily PDF giveaways combining it with their own #designmatters tag (see below). This is fantastic use of the features of this social medium, and I want to see more like this done by other gaming companies.

Yeah, Twitter is the epicenter of Gen Con info this year, straight from the folks at the con, right from the middle of the action, with peanut-gallery comments from all those of us not there.

This Just In… from Gen Con! Podcast

My second source of information comes thanks to the podcasting stylings of Master Plan’s Ryan Macklin, who is bring back for a second year the one and only right-from-the-con podcast, This Just In… from Gen Con! Twice daily on each of the four days of the con (with pre-con preview shows as well), Ryan brings the con right into your MP3 player of choice, with commentary, news, interviews and general shenanigans.

The podcast debuted last year at Gen Con 2008, hosted by Ryan and Paul Tevis (of the 2007 Best Podcast ENnie Award Winner show Have Games, Will Travel), and it was an instant success. Not only were people not attending the con downloading it every day, people at the con were listening in as well! The hosts heard from quite a few people that they would download the show, drop it into their digital players and listen as they walked from their hotels to the convention center and back. I know I listened to a couple of episodes right from my laptop in the hotel room, even finding out about things I had missed while on the exhibition floor.

Doing a twice-daily show, even if they are 15-to-20-minute episodes, takes a lot of work and a lot of commitment. Ryan and Paul sacrificed a good chunk of their time and energy at Gen Con for the show, and I thank them for that. This year Ryan is doing hosting duties by himself, though he’ll be roping in fellow podcasters for each show in addition to any interviews he may do, so up front I want to say to him, thanks for taking on this madness again and allowing us not-attendees a chance to share in the magic.

You can subscribe to This Just In… from Gen Con! at their website or find it in iTunes. Remember you can also listen to the shows right from the website as well. If you do subscribe, let other people know about the show and help spread the word! You can already listen to two preview shows to whet your appetite:

1. This Just In…From GenCon 2009! Pre-show #1
2. This Just In…From GenCon 2009! Pre-show #2

So there you have it, my two main sources through which I will live vicariously next weekend. I cannot wait! And if you have another way through which you plan to experience the con from afar, let me know in the comments.