Greetings to all good Gentles,
To say that we got a lot of feedback on the new Gate Rules would be an understatement, you broke the record for number of emails in 24 hours. But, I’ve read them all and we have heard your concerns. In fact we share many of them, so we have diligently worked on a solution to try and soften the impact.
Let me begin by explaining the “why” of the closure. With the new registration building operational there will be no more attendees entering Main gate, which will also no longer have an attendant. Said attendant used to also keep an eye on the Merchant gate which would now be completely unmonitored. As a result the difficult decision was made to close the gate.
The only option left is for us (Pennsic) to cover the task of monitoring, and we are talking a lot of volunteer hours here, which initially seemed prohibitive. Fortunately, the Event Resources division (these are the people that take care of a fair part of the accessibility at Pennsic) has stepped up to take on this major task and provide limited opening hours, based on volunteer availability. We can’t thank them enough for this. Details are still to be ironed out and further information will be forthcoming. And, if at any point in time this solution proves more trouble than it’s worth we may have to turn back the clock on it. I am hopeful that it will work. All that said, for safety reasons it was strongly suggested that we have ONE pedestrian crossing and not two in that location. Also it would not be fair to the volunteers securing the merchant gate if we left the back door wide open. Therefore, the Sally Port (fighters gate) will be closed 24/7. This means you HAVE to have your medallion on you to enter main site from Battlefield/B-Blocks at any of three the entry points………Please remember this.
I cannot emphasize enough that it will be fellow attendees who will give of their precious vacation time to maintain this valuable convenience for those whose lives it will make easier. Please, thank them when you enter/exit and possibly consider volunteering yourself.
In the end it’s not a perfect solution but I believe it is the best compromise we could achieve at this time. Stay tuned, there will be more information coming from the Event Resources department.
Yours in Service to the Dream,
Oscar, Pennsic Mayor 53