I just realized that I haven’t posted a review since September! Where does the time go? Conventions and holidays got me all in a kerfluffle. But I’m back now. For sanity’s sake, I’m going to go to a every-other-week reveiw schedule. Hopefully this will be a bit more managable for me, and more anticipated for you.
I’m not going to talk about a specific game this week though. This time, I’d like to talk a little bit about Gamicon.
Gamicon is a game convention that has been running in the Iowa City, Iowa area for 25 years. Crazy people that we are, we hold our convention in the depths of Iowa Winter, usually in Mid to Late February. In 2016, the convention will be held on February 26-28 at the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Iowa City. As I type this we have almost 300 unique events scheduled. With our auction, computer game room, video game room and room parties in the evenings, I’m positive that we will offer over 300 “things to do” at Gamicon this year. About 90 percent of these games are offered at novice level, which means you don’t need to know a single thing about any of the games to sit down at the table and play. Rules will be taught.
Wow. This just blows me away. Just a couple of years ago we had about 300 attendees and ran about 150 events. Now we are planning on over 500 attendees and have 300+ events.
We also have super awesome guests this year. I’m so excited to get to meet Mr. Curt Covert of Smirk and Dagger Games. I’ve enjoyed his games for many years. I hope you’ll get a chance to sit down and play some with him this year. We also have a great artist guest, Ms. Tina Bongorno. You can check out her work at https://tinabongorno.carbonmade.com.
Just in case you still think you might not be able to find something to do, we have a library of over 300 games that you can check out and play with your friends. We have games for all ages and all types of board games. Eurogames, party games, kids games. There really is something for everyone here. If you are looking to build a collection, you won’t want to miss our auction and vendor area. Hundreds of games and accessories will be available. The auction usually runs for about 5 hours. You can find some great games, including out of print and hard to find games as well.
But cons like this don’t run themselves. We have a great staff who give hundreds, if not thousands of volunteer hours to stage this event. Yeah, that’s right, if you didn’t think we were already nuts for having a con in February in Iowa, then knowing that we do it all on volunteer time should clinch the crazy. Not one individual gets so much as a penny for working on the convention, and most of us even pay our way in, many at the sponsor level. YES! We PAY to do all this work. YES, we love this con. Please take some time at the convention to stop at the volunteer table and see what you can do to help out. If everyone gave one hour of their time to the convention, we could do so many more things. We could offer more games, we could offer more prizes, we could let the staff take a potty break or eat a meal. (not kidding)
I also have to give a HUGE shout out to the over 50 individuals that volunteer to run scheduled games at Gamicon. Those over 300 events at Gamicon that I mentioned above. These folks bring in games that they love and share them with anyone who is interested. They are the heart and soul of our little con. Thank them. I know we can’t thank them enough for the stuff they do.
So I’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to join us. Come play games with us! Can’t wait to see you at Gamicon.