Valerie Putman:  Prose on Cons—Year End Review

As I’ve mentioned before, I define a gaming event as 8 or more friends from 3 or more states coming together for at least 36 hours with gaming as the primary activity.  Using that arbitrary definition, I’ve been to 17 events this year.  The biggest event was Essen, but there were three other large conventions with over 10,000 attendees:  Origins, Gen Con, and Dragon*Con.  I also went to four open/public regional events that had between 50 – 500 attendees:  UberCon, Atlanta Game Fest, Buckeye Game Fest, and BGG.con.  I attended four larger invitational events with 50 – 400 gamers:  The Gathering of Friends, two Gulf Games, and two other smaller events patterned after these invitational events.  And finally, there were four times this year that a bunch of us (8 – 20 friends) rented out a cabin, or a bed and breakfast, or got together for a weekend at a friend’s house.  That’s 17 gaming events this year!  I did miss some events this year that I’ve attended in the past, like the World Boardgaming Championships (WBC) and Euroquest, but I will include them in my consideration of an overall pros on cons list.  I won’t be including the private events in my pro/con list.  There are also some events that I haven’t made it to yet that I’d really like to attend some time, like KublaCon in California.  If you can add comments on public events that I haven’t attended, that would be great!

So…17 gaming events in a year.  The first reactions I usually get are:  “don’t you ever workâ€? or “are you loaded?â€?  Yes, I do work, but I get summers off and that’s when I do most of my traveling.  And no, I’m not loaded.  I always get a roommate at these events to keep costs down, I usually drive, and I often bring food for breakfast and lunch so that I’m not eating out.  I can guarantee that I spend less on my gaming travels than many of you do on things that you consider necessities like stuff for your kids, HDTVs, SUV car payments, eating out, or large game collections.  It’s a matter of making choices.  I have made traveling to spend time with friends a priority in my life.  Hmmm….I’m starting to sound defensive.  So, if instead your reaction is “going to a game convention sounds like fun, but I don’t know which convention is the right one for me,â€? then read on.

So…the nominees are:
Essen
Origins
Gen Con
Dragon*Con
BGG.con
WBC
UberCon
Atlanta Game Fest
Buckeye Game Fest
Euroquest

Best Open Gaming
And the winner is….  BGG.con BGG.con has an amazing game library with over 1200 games that you can check out and play at any of the dozens of tables in the convention space.  There are just a few tables in the dealer room that are reserved for running demos, but otherwise you can open game anywhere you like.  Heck, you can even check a game out overnight and play it back in your hotel room.  There are experienced gamers wandering around offering to teach games, but for the most part, BGG.con is unstructured open-gaming nirvana.

An honorable mention goes to Origins, with the new BoardRoom run by the Columbus Area Boardgaming Society (CABS).  The game library has over 300 games that you can check out and there is plenty of space for open gaming.  There are also many CABS members on hand to teach games and make you feel welcome.  When you’re at a large convention, it can be really nice to have a place to establish as home base in order to meet back up with friends, kick your feet up to relax and just chat, and to play some of the games you just bought or try a game from the library that you’re considering buying.  It can be frustrating, however, to have to pay an additional fee for the BoardRoom ribbon on top of the general convention fee.  But if you’re looking for open gaming, the ribbon is well worth it.

The worst open gaming would have to be at Gen Con and Essen.  Since the primary focus of these events is selling games, open tables are generally reserved for dealers and scheduled demos.  I’ve heard stories of gamers chased away from empty tables where they tried to play their recent purchases at both of these events.  It is possible to find open gaming in the evenings back at the hotels at both Gen Con and Essen, but the open gaming opportunities at the convention itself are limited.

Best Scheduled Gaming
And the winner is….  WBC.  The World Boardgaming Championships is the place to go for scheduled tournaments and introductory demonstrations.  Their GMs are organized, the schedule is published far in advance and hardly deviates, and you will find that you can plan out nearly 16 hours of non-stop gaming every day that you are there.  There are a lot of advantages for scheduled gaming, especially if you are attending a convention alone.  You don’t need to find people to play with or a copy of the game.  You show up and someone will find you a table and a game and opponents ready to play.  For an introvert, this could be perfect gaming.  For an extravert, think of all the new people you could meet in 4+ days of gaming.

There really isn’t a clear 2nd place in this category.  Origins and Gen Con have lots of scheduled events, both tournaments and demonstrations, but too often you show up for an event and it has been moved or cancelled.  Euroquest and Buckeye Game Fest are both patterned after WBC, and they do a great job, just with far fewer choices of events at any given time.  UberCon also had a nice schedule of tournaments at their convention.

Best Shopping
And the winner is….  Essen.  Of course.  Thousands of games for sale and not enough time, money, or suitcase space to do it justice.  Origins, Gen Con, and Dragon*Con all have large exhibit halls with varying types of non-boardgaming wares.  Dragon*Con has just a few boardgame dealers but plenty of science fiction and fantasy themed shopping.  Origins and Gen Con both have a lot of boardgames, but also collectible card games, miniatures, and gaming accessories.

Most Family Friendly
And the winner is….  WBC.  They have a father-daughter Crokinole tournament, an entire schedule of junior gaming events for kids, and a very family-vacation-friendly hotel with a large pool, a small amusement park across the street, and outlet malls a block away.  Families have been attending WBC for over a decade and many kids have grown up together attending the event every year.

An honorable mention goes to Origins.  They have a kids room filled with Origins volunteers and a slew of kids’ games.  The convention also puts together a “spouse trackâ€? with excursions around Columbus for non-gaming family members.

The least family-friendly event is definitely Dragon*Con.  Many attendees wear costumes that are not rated PG and they would be difficult for a parent with a young child to avoid.  Of course, if you’re single and looking for adult entertainment, this might make Dragon*Con the winner in this category for you!

Easiest Food and Caffeine Access
And the winner is….  Origins.  The North Market across the street from the convention center is a farmers market and food court with amazing food at great prices.  I definitely eat better at Origins than at any other convention.  There is also a food court within the convention center and over-priced food stands scattered throughout the venue if you need something quick.

There are several worthy honorable mentions in this category as well.  The food available in the convention spaces at Essen and WBC is quite good and very reasonably priced.  Both of these events make it easy to skip meal breaks and just grab something to eat between games.  If you like to get away from the convention for a while and have a nice meal, the town of Indianapolis does an amazing job of rolling out the welcome wagon for Gen Con attendees.  Maps with the locations of dozens of restaurants within walking distance are readily available and the restaurants themselves have prepared for the event.  From signs in the windows that say “welcome Gen Con attendeesâ€? to specialized menus with sandwiches like the “Dwarf Gutbusterâ€? to the Lord of the Rings on the sports bar TV’s, Indianapolis clearly prides itself on being a convention town.  Finally, UberCon deserves a mentioning because they had sponsors that provided free drinks for most of the weekend.

The loser in this category would have to be BGG.con (though I do know that they are working to fix this!).  The convention hotel does have a very nice food court, but since it is a downtown location, most of the restaurants are closed in the evening and during the weekend.  The hotel is located on the train line, but finding a place to eat outside of the food court generally did require a 2 hour excursion.  It was also really hard to find a diet pepsi at 2am.  And I need my diet pepsi.

Best Non-gaming Options
And the winner is….  ?????  Honestly, this category depends on what you like to do when you’re not gaming.  So here are some of the better options available.  Dragon*Con is an amazing party convention with the best people watching.  BGG.con had an incredible puzzlehunt and a game show if you want something game related but slightly different than just gaming all day.  Origins, Gen Con, and Dragon*Con all have guest speakers, seminars, and discussion panels on all sorts of topics.  Conventions in cities (or Europe) might have nice options for tourists and sight-seeing, depending on what you like to do.  Columbus, Dallas, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Essen are all nice places to visit.  New York City is just 30 minutes away from UberCon.  Euroquest is close to Baltimore and Washington, DC.

Best Bang for the Buck
And the winner is….  Your regional game convention!  For me, Buckeye Game Fest and Origins are the least expensive events.  I don’t have to fly or drive hundreds of miles and I get to sleep and eat at home.  If you are on a tight budget, I suggest that you look for a convention close by.  Many University game clubs have an annual convention, so that might be one place to look.

If you are an educator, I’d also suggest that you look into attending Origins.  Educators get in for free and they get a discount at many of the venders in the dealer hall.  Another possible way to save money at larger conventions is to volunteer for a publisher or for the convention organizers.  They often need people to help with registration and running demos and events.

Also, while I am generally not including private events for these categories, I do want to encourage everyone to look into renting a small cabin within driving distance, loading up on groceries, and then spending a long weekend playing games with your friends.  For less than $100 per person you can get 4 days of non-stop quality gaming time.

Best All Around Show
And the winner is….  BGG.con.  Particularly if they get better food access in the future, BGG.con really does have the best mix of everything I look for in a show.  There is lots of space for open gaming (my number one priority for a game convention) and I would be hard pressed to think of a game that I’d want to play that I couldn’t find there.  There were also dealers selling games if you don’t have regular access to a friendly local gaming store and publishers demoing new releases.  It’s a lot of fun to meet the people behind the many familiar avatars from BoardGameGeek and the volunteers that run the convention do an amazing job putting it together.  The puzzlehunt and the gameshow are a really nice addition to a gaming weekend.  Oh, and I almost forgot to mention all the free games they give away all weekend.  Now if only they could find a sponsor who wanted to provide free diet pepsi all weekend (and a hotel that allowed it), then I’d call it a perfect convention.  But maybe your perfect convention has more tournaments or more non-boardgaming events--good thing there are lots of conventions to choose from.  Or try them all!

Next week….  I’ve started to put together my 2007 itinerary!
I’d rather be gaming,
Valerie Putman

© 2006 Valerie Putman

---

Comments:

You must register with BGN in order to comment. Registration is free, but if you appreciate the news, previews, reviews and other material posted on Boardgame News, please consider becoming a member to keep the info flowing to your screen!

Wow… I only went to nine events this year.  And the number will likely be less in 2007!  Go and have fun for the rest of us!  And make sure you send back reports! Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Nov 19, 2006 at 04:15 AM | #

Valerie, I love your column, and the year-end review is wonderful.  I can’t wait for 2007! Posted by Ava Jarvis on Nov 19, 2006 at 01:23 PM | #

I felt good because I got to, um, TWO conventions this year. Roll on 2007! Posted by Melissa Rogerson on Nov 19, 2006 at 06:17 PM | #

< Back Home