TsunamiCon: Building a Convention

[Orryn Emrys]

As Morrus was kind enough to link our TsunamiCon website on the front page yesterday, I thought I'd take a moment to elaborate.

My team is currently building a gaming convention for this fall in our home city of Wichita, Kansas. If you're anywhere near us, I encourage you to check out our Kickstarter campaign and plan to attend... I think it'll be a fun con. We're covering all types of tabletop gaming - RPGs, board games, card games, miniature games - and we have some additional attractions to beef up the con experience (LARPing, cosplay contests, live entertainment, prize drawings... even a pub crawl).

But it's a grass roots convention, which means that just as the money has to come from the community, so should the community have the opportunity to help determine the direction of the event. We know how to run a great gaming event. We also know that the fact that we're making the decisions doesn't mean we have all the best ideas. So I'd love some input from my favorite online community at large...

What would you like to see in your ideal gaming convention? What have you seen other conventions do poorly?

 

[RangerWickett]

Hey Erik.

Folks, Erik (Orryn Emrys) is good people. I've been listening to his podcast (Metagamers Anonymous, here's a nice sample episode) since shortly after it started. He's working hard to bring together gamers in his area, and I'm honestly tempted to road trip the 900 miles from Atlanta to Wichita just to hang out with the guy.

I threw him a few bucks because I think its great to start new cons, especially since all the ones I currently attend are all getting way too crowded. If you're anywhere near him, please consider chipping in. If you know anyone within a couple hours of Wichita, please share the news.

And Erik, a slick convention brochure should include suggestions for places to eat nearby. It wouldn't hurt to let those businesses know there'll be an event going on. Good luck, man.

 

[Orryn Emrys]

Thanks for the advice, Ryan. And the good word! If there's anything I can do to actually help perpetuate the crazy idea of making your way to Wichita this November, Let. Me. Know. I'd love to buy you a beer, and you know my group would be kinda giddy getting the chance to meet you in person. *grins*

One of the nice things about our convention location is that we are liberally surrounded by excellent restaurants and night clubs. It's a very cool part of town with an awesome vibe.