Body
GenCon 2024 is fast approaching but this year I'm not going. I had hoped to go, but I couldn't get a hotel within walking distance of the convention centre. I want walking distance as that keeps you in Downtown, which means you can game until late, plus you can find food and beer and more gamers.
I went in 2022 and the highlight was meeting a bunch of Mexicans in a bar on the Saturday, who were just insane, good insane - though they couldn't handle their beer, even though it was us drinking the 11% beers.
Anyway, so no GenCon, so what else?
Origins has happened, and UKGames Expo has happened, but still to happen across the UK and the US are the likes of Tabletop Scotland (in September in Edinburgh). That con isn't huge, but last year it was in Perth which was 20 minutes from where my eldest lives. But I'll see about going this year, which means I may need to drive.
I'm a huge fan of the Traveller RPG, and so TravellerCon USA has always been something I've wanted to attend, as you get some of the writers and artists and even Marc himself attend, so worth it just for the chats. It's tiny, around 200 players, but that makes it cheap, $50 for a ticket for all 3 days, and you get a rate at the hotel it's in. The killer, it is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania - which is a long way from Sheffield! It takes place in October, 11-13th with 36 hours of potential gaming!).
Just 838 miles away on the following weekend is another con, that's Gamehole Con and it takes place in Madison, Wisconsin on October 17-20th. Last year they had 6,000 folks attending. This year the number is expected to be 10,000 but they still state they're the best con where RPG gaming takes precedent. That really appeals to me, most Cons are a mix of RPG, Board games, Card Games and various associated trades, so there's a smaller trade hall but hopefully lots and lots of tabletop RPG gaming.
Again, the cost - but I'm calculating the costs and will make a decision as to if I go stateside this year. I want to attend GenCon 2025 but it's all down to the luck of the hotels.
However, let's focus on the UK, there's plenty happening here over the rest of the year and here's a wonderful resource. A spreadsheet (and we all know the government is run by spreadsheets) but this is a good one!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1p5iZrLlU7EthiItODGO5ZweyhCIOVFu7ULj2c25iPQU/edit?pli=1&gid=852955442#gid=852955442
Plenty to attend, on my list, are OWABS (Owl Bear and the Wizards Staff), Concrete Cow 21.5 and anything running at the Garrison Hotel about 1.5 miles down the road.
The final con of the year is Dragonmeet - it's small, has most of the UK publishers attending and there's some gaming, but it's a single-day event, and I use it as an excuse to stay over at a friends and meet up with more friends.
So, is anyone going to a con over the rest of this year? or next year? Heading into the EU land? Do tell!
