Instead, the posters (presumably posters, anyway) with all the winners will go out in the morning on the very first day of the show, and then a gala event of hobnobbing on Friday. The party costs $30, but I’ll take a paid party with food over a free, boring show any day. The way winners are announced will be total anticlimax, but hey: kind of was already. Full text of the policy announcement after the jump.
Below is press release copy from GAMA
Friends and Colleagues in the Games Industry,
We have taken a careful look at the Origins Awards Ceremony. Despite
recent attempts to make the awards more interesting and entertaining
(last year’s 30th Anniversary show, in particular), Origins Awards
ceremonies have been very lightly attended. We have concluded from
this, and from the success of previous social events, that both gaming
fans and industry professionals would rather celebrate the awards in a
party-like atmosphere than sit down to a 2-hour ceremony.
As such, we’ve chosen to announce the Award Winners to the public on
Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. from the entrance of the Exhibit Hall,
where the nominated products will be on display. We’ve replaced the
Awards Ceremony with a celebratory Gala, scheduled from 9:00 PM to
12:00 AM Friday night in the Fusion Room on the Ballroom level of the
Crowne Plaza Hotel, across the skywalk from the Convention Center.
Origins Award statuettes (“Callies”) will be distributed at the party
to those winners in attendance.
The party is free for the primary creators of nominated products and
Supporting members of the Academy, and $30 for others. Tickets for the
party may be purchased at the Special Services desk at Main
Registration.
We are confident that this approach is much more in keeping with the
spirit of our industry, and we hope you will all take the opportunity
to enjoy the celebration.
On the behalf of the GAMA/Origins Staff
Sean Patrick Fannon
Events Coordinator, Origins/GAMA
Events@gama.org
www.originsgames.com
www.gama.org