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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Badmike" data-source="post: 7678987" data-attributes="member: 40584">Thanks for listing us (NTRPG con) among the bigger and somewhat more popular cons, and considering attending.  We are finding that there is definitely a market for smaller, more focused cons (our focus is pre-2000 RPGs, and our extensive special guest and event list reflects this) and had to actually cap pre-regs ourselves this year as demand overwhelmed the space we have available (30% increase over last year).  The decision now is whether to find a bigger venue to accomodate more old-school gamers, or cap pre-regs and only take what we can handle.  Garycon ran into a similar problem last year and has expanded for 2016 to the Grand Geneva; Gamehole Con has in Year Three already had to move from the Sheraton to the Alliant Center. So small cons are definitely dealing with the rising popularity of nostalgia-fueled gaming, but are more able to quicly adapt than the behemoths of the hobby, without losing focus on the #1 reason for attending....gaming.  Resembling trade shows rather than gaming shows, the urge to make more profits has obscured the true reason for attending to the larger shows....gaming, meeting celebrities of the hobby, and buying/playing the latest creations of the genre. My last year at Gen Con, attendence was 29,000. Now, not even a decade later, that amount has doubled and I find it hard to believe that with my increased age, lower mobility, and limited budget I'd be able to enjoy it the same way I did only a few years ago.  Smaller cons, while also being easier to circumnavigate for gamers of a "certain age", are quite a bit easier on the pocketbook, leaving more funds for, you know, actual gaming purchases.  When promoting North Texas RPG Con, we push the idea that  flight to DFW airport (five minutes away from the hotel), along with discounted rooms, cheap food, and reasonable registration costs is turning out to be half the cost to travel to the big cons like DragonCon, Gencon, and Pax Prime. The question for us (and perhaps many smaller, regional cons) is at what point does the con change from a small intimate setting to a "big" con, and whether or not that is the type of con we want to run (and our guests want to attend).</blockquote>

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