Summer Convention Season

While in my humble opinion the summer convention season really kicks off with Memorial Day weekend, the big national conventions actually start in June and July. Local summer conventions happen every weekend, however, and I thought I would share some of my convention thoughts with you.

I started attending local “Strategicon” conventions at a tender 16 years of age. I had just discovered the world of adventure gaming, and a local comic book retailer told my friend and me about the convention on President’s Day weekend. John and I scraped some cash together, mostly by begging our parents, and made our way there. That weekend proved more important to my career than any other weekend, I think. Walking through the convention in my letterman’s jacket, I met an alumnus of the high school I attended, Marcelo. Through Marc I found the game store that later became my first job, All Star Games, and would later still lead me to two of the three jobs I have since held in the game industry. By the next year I was volunteering at the local conventions either running games or helping with registration.

Fast forward to 1993. GAMA used to hold their Origins Convention in different cities across the nation each year. A group of us from the game store went to Origins – which in 1993 set up shop in San Jose California – to play in the first ever MTG national championships. My friend Jim and I got bumped from the event in the third or forth round and spent some time in the dealers’ room. This was probably the first exposure I had to an exhibit hall at a national convention. I remember being in awe that all of these publishers located in one place, and while All Star Games was a well-stocked store, we discovered a lot of stuff that we had not seen before. We spent a lot of time taking demos and talking to companies. Bo, one of my co-workers, actually won the National Championship along with a trip to Gen Con to compete for the first ever MTG World Championship. I decided to go with him.

Bo, as well as storeowners Carol and Dave, went to Milwaukee Wisconsin that year for Gen Con. Some of us did not have hotel reservations. That resulted in shuffling from room to room every night until Saturday, but it was worth it. Gen Con had a lot to take in for a kid only a couple of years new to the game industry. I actually spent the majority of my free time walking the convention hall, checking out each exhibitor’s booth, and talking to all kinds of people. I played in the qualifiers for that MTG World Championship, got bumped rather early, and spent the rest of the time playing in events and going back to the exhibit hall. I came home with so much game stuff I needed another bag. All in all, those four days were pretty awesome.

Fast forward to 2000. I was out of college and the lead developer on a CCG. A well-known Erik fact: Erik does not like to fly in airplanes. (I have seen too many of those airplane movies from the ‘70s, and I am too big to fit in an airplane comfortably.) So my employer at that time rented a van, loaded it with product, and had myself and three other employees make the trip from Southern California to Gen Con (still in Milwaukee Wisconsin at the time). If you have never taken a multi-day road trip on the way to a convention, I recommend you try it at least once. The shared pain of the experience actually creates a bond with those your companions that can last a lifetime (or at least until those fellow travels quit and move on to other jobs). I think I ate country fried steak in every state between CA and WI, some good and some not so good. Since 2000, I have been to every Gen Con and almost every Origins as an employee. I have met a lot of people and remember all of their faces and try my best to remember all of their names. Some of those people that I met at those shows have become long-time friends, and some have become people that I have hired.

That memory of the 1993 is something I try to hold on to when planning convention events, releases, and demos. I think it important to hold awesome and memorable events for people new to the convention as well as the convention veterans. You want an exciting new product releases to bring people to your booth to celebrate the product with you, and you want to give memorable and pleasurable demos so that others can enjoy those aspects of the game that you enjoy.

Conventions, whether local or national, are pretty special. They are a place where you can meet others that share your interest in whatever games you play. Conventions also make a great place to find the new games that will entertain you for years to come. The people that I met at conventions have lead to three full-time jobs in the game industry and introduced me to all sorts of different types of games, which is important because every game you play is something else you can draw on when you design your own products. Had I not attended those first conventions, RPGs probably would have been something that John and I played in high school, and we would never have found the world of gaming that existed beyond that. I certainly would not be where I am today. Besides all of that, the conventions – whether local or national – are places where I have met people that I still call friends to this day. I think that has been the greatest find – at least until Monsterpocalypse debuts at this year’s Gen Con Indy.

On a professional level, cons play an important role for manufacturers. They present great opportunities for us to show our games and products to people that may not have seen them before. It’s also a celebration of our existing products and a place for our play environments to come together and for players to meet one another in person. That’s why we try and make our events not just bigger and better than anything else you may have played in, we also try and provide an experience unlike anything else with special event exclusive to conventions. Just having the chance to talk with our fans and players gives us endless miles of useful information that we can take home to make our next product that much better!

So get out there and play at your local convention. Walk up to people and ask what they are playing. Even better, volunteer to run something, and make the convention one person stronger. The people you meet and the games you play will stick with you a lot longer than any pre-season football games on that weekend. Make your reservations today. Join Privateer in Indiana for Gen Con or in Columbus for Origins or get out to a local con and volunteer to run something (preferably some Privateer Press events). I promise, you will have a good time.

This year at Gen Con Indy we will feature tons of demos for all of our games, the highlight of course being the demos of Monsterpocalypse. You will even get a sneak peak at the Monsterpocalypse figures sculpted, painted, and mounted on their bases. Every person that demos Monsterpocalypse will get a FREE Mega Terra Khan figure (remember those promotional Hyper forms I mentioned?). Starting with the San Diego Comic-Con, we will also hand out free copies of issue 0 of the Monsterpocalypse comic book. You do not want to miss out on all of the excitement, free swag, and special events that Privateer Press will bring to the conventions this summer. Make your plans to join us today!

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