Seek the Wolf in Thyself!
I have a ton of thoughts swirling through my head about this past weekend. ConCarolinas 2019 was a interesting for me. ConCarolinas has been a whirlwind of emotions for me over the years. My wife and I put 11 years of my life into it, helped it grow to what it is today, and then…
Things went really well at ConCarolinas 2018 Gaming – partially because I really worked hard on my attitude and partially because people are starting to understand the system. There are a few areas I need to improve on still but for the most part, it works well. Communication to the players continues to be my…
Once again, JustUs Productions was asked to do gaming at ConGregate, a small and growing sci-fi convention in North Carolina. At its core, ConGregate is made up of a lot of experienced people from a con called StellarCon, which they ran for many years. StellarCon was eventually handed over to a new group of people, primarily based out of UNC-Greensboro and has since collapsed from poor leadership and management. Although scheduled during a different time of the year, ConGregate is picking up from the ashes of that con and reigniting fandom in the Triad area.
First year con jitters. It has been a while since I first experienced a first year con. I had forgotten the struggles it goes through to get attendance, appear attractive to the base, and the general issues first year cons go through. Con-Gregate is a little different from this perspective, however. The experience behind the staff really helps the con jump over some of the traditional hurtles a con has to deal with.
I have received enough feedback from my RavenCon review that I felt that a follow up was needed. From this feedback, I think there are some beneficial lessons that can help with convention management, gaming coordinating, as well as one’s convention experience. Getting the full perspective of a con is not always easy. I sometimes find more insight after the con. Since RavenCon, I have spoken with a senior convention staff member as well as a game designer/publisher that attended. Their feedback to my first review is what lead me to this follow up. This is not intended to be a retraction or an “apology.” I stand by what I wrote in my initial review. I just truly feel that after the feedback I received that there is more of a tale to tell about RavenCon.
The journey from my home near Charlotte, NC to Richmond, Va is not a short one but I have been wanting to check out a con for years called RavenCon. It is run by a good group of people, some of which I know from my days of running sci-fi cons. My kids like to dress up and play around with other kids that like sci-fi, so I like to go to these on occasion. I know going in that the gaming is not the focus at these cons, but I have at least a minimum expectation that there is some and it might be reasonably organized.
In 2013, JustUs Productions (the guys behind this web site and gaming cons like MACE in Charlotte, NC) was asked to run gaming at a con in Columbia, SC called RoundCon (RC). RC has been around for 20+ years, first started by a gaming club out of the University of South Carolina. Sean Martinez has been the guy behind RoundCon for several years now. Some time ago, Sean took over the con from the ailing gaming club and turned into his own business.
In 2013, my wife and I picked a couple of cons to go to. First on the list was Mysticon in Roanoke, Virginia (February 22-24). This is a con with an interesting history. In the 80s, Mysticon existed for 3 years and I am not sure about the circumstances behind it’s collapse back then. It is now in its third year in its new incarnation. I remember working with some of their concom, helping them with advice when I worked in the fandom con business. They are good people, very smart about their approach to the business and I think they are going to see the fruits of that intelligence for years to come.
ConCarolinas 2012 Gaming Report ConCarolinas 2012 marked a year that put us up against Origins on the same weekend. In some ways, that effected us while in others it did not. I did not try to plan around Origins, I just did what I do and hoped for the best. Overall, I feel that ConCarolinas…
ConCarolinas2011 Con Chair Report This year was going to be an interesting year for us. It was going to be a truetest after all we went through the past summer. Coming from the person thatseemed to be at the center of all of it, I was eagerly waiting to see if allthe talk was just…