The Stand

[tracker7]

Talked a while last night with Aaron M about some ideas to further his expand his D&D Meetup group.  Miniatures tournaments are on his list, as is a donation jar for meetings to help him defray the cost of running the group.  We also bemoaned the status of conventions here in Our Fair State - at least three annual anime conventions, but only one general-interest con, and the best ongoing gaming con we've got is frikkin' UKON.

I know, I know - bitch, bitch, gloom, doom.

Got a long night ahead at work.  Tomorrow being Independence Day, we have to combine our two busiest nights into one.  I'm not expecting to be out until after 9.  For some values of "fortunately," tonight's Freeport game is scrubbed due to a handful of scheduling conflicts, so at least I won't miss that.

One of the two comic shops convenient to my apartment has moved to the north side of town.  Not that big a deal, since I tend to buy my comics at the store closer to the office.  I figured something was up when I stopped in last week and noticed the posters coming down and some display cases emptied out.

42 days until GenCon.

Comments

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

I can't speak for the Paducah convention, but Richmond's is held at EKU's student center, and the one in the north part of the state, SugoiCon, usually draws about 1500 attendees, so, not really basement-sized.

Aaron does more to promote gaming around here than UKON manages to. I think that's pretty admirable. And you've got a pretty good analysis of UKON's problems. I guess this is hypocritical of me, but I'm not willing to set aside time for the con unless reports on it change radically.

Origins was something of a disappointment for the Spycraft team. After GenCon, they're going to make a decision on continuing to support Origins, and I expect them to move their resources elsewhere.

[kinesys.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Did not know that about the Anime con attendance.

I think i need to get in touch with Aaron. His name has come about 3 times in the last week. He's got a particular genius for organization, and i think i may need to pick his brain.
UKON has its moments. The venue is still not particularly conducive. Parking being a particular hobgoblin.

I think that would be a MASSIVE mistake on the part of the Spycraft team. Origins is one of the few well organized cons with a healthy gaming track. Dragoncon is always moving towards being more of a media/culture con, and i'm told that gencon's organization still leaves a lot to be desired.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

Origins is also averaging about half of GenCon's attendance, and there haven't been any significant product launches or releases there in quite a while.

There was no turnout for Crafty's games on Friday, and the Thursday and Sunday events combined didn't get enough attendance to fill a single table. Compare that to GenCon, where there are less than a half-dozen slots, total, still available out of the 114 scheduled. When the expenses for supporting the conventions are nearly identical, but the return on investment is so different, it's time to find better way to make use of resources.

Local Cons...

[nezeray-james.livejournal.com]

I agree that I really want a GOOD con near or in Lexington. I've tried supporting UKon, but it's hard since the people running it HAVE to be students so the consistancy isn't there.

Other conventions that I like are:

Ghoulcon, in Louisville. Last year was their first one and quite small, but had a good turnout. The people running it are cool too.

Conglomeration, in Louisville. This is a decent sized con with 24 hour gaming and a vendor room. I haven't made it the last few years but do plan to go back.

National College's Game night. Tena did really well for her first year running a minicon. I have offered to help organize gaming for it this year since I'm in so many of the local game clubs.

Yottaquest in Cincy is planning a small convnetion at their store that I might go to. The store's pretty nice with a good selection. I talked to the owner and he seemed nice too.

If you want specific info on any of these, I can gather it up. :)

I know the guys at Bluegrassgamers.com want to have a local convention, but the startup fee has been a deterent.

James / Nezeray

Re: Local Cons...

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

I've been to two Conglomerations, and had a pretty good time with them. The gaming track was poorly organized, though.

I don't know if I've suggested this venue to you for a Game Day (as something leading into an actual weekend convention), but I think one or two of the empty storefronts at Turfland Mall would work. The mall donates space to the NMRA for the permanent display and for a train show once or twice a year. I just don't know if the mall's management would be willing to rent for a single day, or what the costs would be.