Gencon Memories, Part I

Gencon Memories, Part I

I remember it pretty well. Summer of 2003, a hot August in Indianapolis. First time I'd been in the city, and I was here for one reason and one reason alone; Gencon had moved to Indianapolis, and I wanted to see it for myself.

They called it the Mecca of RPG conventions... not least because back in Wisconsin, it used to be held in a place called the Mecca convention center. The acronym didn't mean the same thing but the saying stuck; it was something you had to see at least once in your life.

Hitherto, Milwaukee had always been out of my reach. Never had the money before, or the time to trek halfway across the country. Not at the same time. But here? Two hours from Dayton? Yeah, I could do that.

The Indianapolis convention center was huge. It put the one in Columbus to shame, and positively dwarfed the one in Dayton. It's only expanded since then, but at the time it had ample room for the events. And the dealer's hall was a decent size, comparable to the one at my old favorite gaming con, Origins. Again, this is something that expanded over the years, the dealer hall now could probably engulf the entire gaming area of the first Indy Gencon and have room left over for a few anime rooms. But at the time it seemed impressive.

That first year? Lots of good gaming, lots of shopping. I didn't know many locals yet, and most of my gaming friends had declined to join me for the trip, so I was on my own and felt it. Stranger in a Strange Land, with apologies to Heinlein.

I wasn't the only stranger. There was a football game going on at the same time, and we had face-painted fans staring at us, with that wrinkled eye look that said their 'weirdo radar' had been triggered. But whatever, we didn't care about stares from randos. Our cosplayers cosplayed, the rest of us slung dice or shuffled cards, and life was good.

Indy really didn't know what to make of us. They'd learn. Oh yeah, they'd learn.

I went home satisfied, resolving to return next year. Seemed like a good supplement to my summer cons, a season that started with Origins and would now end with Gencon.

I had no idea just how much Gencon would grow, shed of its old Milwaukee shell and transplanted to spacious Indy...