Recommend your favorite conventions

[Harley Stroh]

I had the chance to attend Tacticon in Denver, CO this past weekend and had a wonderful time running DCC playtests. And while I will never forget the overwhelming awe I experienced going to my first GenCon several years back, more and more I find myself drawn to smaller, regional cons.

So what great cons are out there, running underneath the radar? Specifically I'm on the hunt for Winter/Early Spring conventions set in the USA, but it would be great to have roster of gaming gems, no matter the location or time of year.

//H

 

[beldar1215]

Harley,
Ghengis Con, but you already know about that one.

Beldar

 

[Harley Stroh]

Yup. But for those not in the loop, the Denver Gamers Association throws two terrific cons every year: Genghis and Tacticon.

I can recommend both highly. Also, both are run out of the same site:

Denver Gamers Association

If you are within driving distance of Denver (some folks come from as far as New Mexico), it is definitely well worth your time.

//H

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

North Texas RPG Con (but you already knew about that one, too).

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

AnonyCon is my favorite con, early December in Stamford, CT. It has great GMs, great games, and a great player base--what's not to like? I fly across the country each year to go to it, and I'm not the only one. (Disclosure: I was one of the founders of AnonyCon, and I'm friends with the people who currently run it. But I'm pretty sure my opinion would be the same even if I were just a random person.)

I'm also a fan of ConnCon, in Stamford, CT, in March. I haven't been for the last several years (roughly since I moved out of the NY-CT area), but it's a fun con if you're in the region.

 

[Harley Stroh]

North Texas RPG Con (but you already knew about that one, too).

North Texas rocks! (Though this is turning into Harley's favorite cons thread.) I can't wait for next year --- I'm coming prepared to do it right.

Anonycon --- I'll check this one out. I've never been to an East Coast convention. Indy is as far west as I've been.

Also on my list is GaryCon. Have any ENworlders been to it yet?

//H

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

I second Anonycon - it was a great experience & I'm looking forward to doing it again.

I also heartily recommend GaryCon. A really great convention - if I could only do four days of convention a year, I'd miss some of Gen Con for this.

PrinceCon is unique:
Princecon is a 46-hour role-playing marathon held on the Princeton University campus every Spring (since 1976). The character you create on Friday afternoon stays with you throughout the weekend, growing more powerful and accumulating potent magical items as you adventure in a single world with many different talented GMs.
Princecon Annual Fantasy Role-Playing Marathon, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

 

[The Shaman]

SoCal Mini-Con!

 

[darjr]

I go to OSFES and Nuke-Con every year. OSFES is a science fiction convention with only a little gaming, but it's growing, and is a strange brew of oddball kinds of gaming. It'll be in July 2011. Nuke-Con is a gamers convention with a little bit more. It'll be the first week in October 2010 and it's the 20th anniversary.

OSFES has been in Omaha, Nebraska and Nuke-con in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

 

[grodog]

Also on my list is GaryCon. Have any ENworlders been to it yet?

Yes indeed, Harley: an excellent con, about 2 to 2.5 times as large as NTX. Many more RPGs, and a lot more non-RPG activities too (board games, war games, etc.). Good fun. We're going, if you want to split a room again?