Convention Report: Gencon 2006: August 9, 2006 (Travel Day)

By Rick Thornquist
August 9, 2006

I’m here in Indianapolis, Indiana for yet another game convention - this time it’s Gencon 2006, which is taking place from August 10-13, 2006. 

Gencon is the biggest game convention in the United States and it incorporates many types of gaming - roleplaying games, trading card games, miniatures, etc.  My focus is the boardgaming arena and though boardgaming is not as big as RPGs or TCGs here, there is still a fair sized boardgaming contingent.  I hope to be visiting some of the game publishers exhibiting here plus playing as many new games as I can.

The trip out here was slightly eventful.  I hopped on my plane in Vancouver for a quick hop to Seattle before changing planes to go to Indianapolis.  I got into Seattle late, only to find that the gate for my Indianapolis flight was about a mile away.  I ran, took a train, and ran some more before getting to the Indianapolis gate.  The gate guy was waiting for me there (he even said, “You’re Thornquist, right?") and I ran on the plane to grab the last seat.  It turns out that all my running was for naught as the baggage system in the airport was having problems and we sat at the gate for 15 minutes!  D’oh!

I did have one nice surprise on the plane.  While I was in my seat I noticed that the couple sitting in front of me were speaking German.  I didn’t think that much of it at the time, but when the plane landed and people got up to deplane, I realized that the couple were none other than famed gaming artist Franz Vohwinkel and his wife Imelda.  I chatted with them for a few moments - it seems Franz and Imelda have moved to Seattle and Franz was going to Gencon to exhibit his work.  I love Franz’s work - I’ll have to stop by the Artist’s section and check it out.

I grabbed my bags and cabbed it to my hotel, which pretty much beside the convention center.  I spied a few gamers in the hallway and they told me that there was already some gaming happening in the convention center so I grabbed my stuff - my ever-present camera and notepad - and walked over.

There were indeed some people milling around the convention centre, though not many.  I took a quick run through the exhibit hall which was fairly complete - most booths were set up and they were pretty much just finishing up laying down the carpet (I didn’t take any pics as I really wasn’t supposed to be in there anyway - you’ll get lots of pictures tomorrow). 

I left the exhibit hall, went past the mostly quiet registration area, and then checked out the boardgaming area.  There were maybe four or five tables of games being played, including a game of History of the World that was just being set up.

After leaving the boardgaming area I noticed that the security staff of the building was shooing everyone out.  It was about 9:30 in the evening and I guess the convention hasn’t really started yet so they wanted everyone out of the convention center.  I felt bad for those people who had just set up History of the World! 

I headed back to my hotel for a much needed dinner and some sleep in preparation for the big first day tomorrow.

© 2006 Rick Thornquist

---

Comments:

You must register with BGN in order to comment. Registration is free!

No comments yet.

< Back Home