GenCon 50 Wrap-Up
If anyone actually reads this blog (!) you may have noticed that I had to take a brief hiatus from The Great Magic:The Gathering Comics Reread project. And for good reason — I had the chance to attend GenCon 50!
For those who may not be familiar with this particular convention, GenCon was originally founded in 1968 as the Lake Geneva Wargaming Convention. The first GenCon was organized by Gary Gygax, the legendary co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, and was focused mostly on tabletop war games.
Over the past five decades, GenCon has evolved to become “the best four days in gaming.” Magic: The Gathering famously debuted at GenCon in 1993, and the event has helped popularize other bestselling games like Settlers of Catan and Pokemon. Today, GenCon welcomes gamers and game developers of every stripe — not to mention artists, authors, and more — to enjoy hours of time-tested favorites and yet-to-be-released gems.
I had the unique opportunity to attend GenCon 50 as both a vendor and visitor. Earlier this year, Original Magic Art was surprised to receive a booth at the event after originally being waitlisted, and owner Josh Krause needed assistance in running the venture over four days. So on Wednesday, Aug. 16, I jumped on my flight to Indianapolis to assist with setup, sales, and takedown for the long weekend.
The first thing you need to know about GenCon is that it’s enormous. The event has since outgrown even the Indianapolis Convention Center and now overflows into both the Westin hotel next door and Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Indianapolis Colts play. I could have spent another four days at the event and still not felt like I had seen everything.
But what I did see was spectacular.
From cosplay to charity auctions, from creative workshops to Cardhalla, the amount of things to see, do, and play was staggering.
And the games! Board games, tabletop RPGs, miniatures, deckbuilders, CCGs, mobile apps — even the most hardened buzzkill could find something to not only play, but also enjoy at GenCon.
For such a massive undertaking — more than 60,000 people attended in 2016, and 2017 sold out completely — I found GenCon to be extraordinarily well run. As a vendor, we had access to a section lead who was responsible for all the vendors in our little corner of the convention hall. Kim stopped by every morning and every evening to make sure we had everything we needed. The bathrooms were kept spotless and stocked. The food wasn’t outrageously overpriced. And for how many people were in attendance, I never felt squished in an aisle like rush hour riders on the Tokyo subway.
Helping Josh at the OMA booth gave me a unique perspective on the show. I got to meet, interact with, and talk to countless people. I also got to see people taking in the show from a perspective other than that of a fellow attendee.
As a first-time GenCon attendee, going with a vendor was a very favorable way to see the show. With the OMA booth, I always knew I had a home base to return to after seeing one part of the convention hall. Josh, meanwhile, was more than happy to share his expertise on the best things to see and do.
Through Josh, I met a great number of wonderful new friends, many of whom were also GenCon veterans. It’s no exaggeration to say that they took me under their wing in terms of nighttime activities and in simply sharing stories about years past. I got to play a Powered Old School cube (meaning, a cube that sourced Magic cards from 1993-95, including the incredibly potent Power 9) as well as several games of Vintage Artist Constructed. And I got my butt handed to me in two games by a bonafide member of Wizards of the Coast’s R&D staff. (I mean, if you’re gonna lose, it might as well be to someone who, you know, designs the game!)
Possibly the best thing I did, however, was visit a recreation of the Lake Geneva Horticultural Hall, where the first GenCon was held in 1968. Situated in one corner of Lucas Oil Stadium, the exhibit was meant to mimic the size of the venue where the first GenCon occurred.
In addition to serving as a striking comparison of how much the show has grown, the exhibit also had displays of midcentury games that influenced Gygax and his contemporaries, as well as rare first editions of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. I even got to speak briefly to Gary Adkinson, the father of former Wizards of the Coast CEO Peter Adkinson.
Coming home on Monday was a bittersweet experience. It had been an exhausting weekend, and I was desperate to see my loved ones and sleep in my own bed. But I was also sad to be leaving the adrenalized world that allowed me to play games until 2 a.m., work cheerfully on four hours of sleep, and just be among the kindness and welcoming spirit that is the hallmark of so many gamers.
On the other hand, the fact that I can return to these games, especially my new GenCon acquisitions, with friends and family any time I choose is perhaps the winningest prize of all.
By the way, if you'd like to learn more about Gary Gygax, GenCon, and the birth of Dungeons & Dragons, I can't recommend Empire of Imagination by Michael Witwer enough. Enjoy!
For those who may not be familiar with this particular convention, GenCon was originally founded in 1968 as the Lake Geneva Wargaming Convention. The first GenCon was organized by Gary Gygax, the legendary co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, and was focused mostly on tabletop war games.
Over the past five decades, GenCon has evolved to become “the best four days in gaming.” Magic: The Gathering famously debuted at GenCon in 1993, and the event has helped popularize other bestselling games like Settlers of Catan and Pokemon. Today, GenCon welcomes gamers and game developers of every stripe — not to mention artists, authors, and more — to enjoy hours of time-tested favorites and yet-to-be-released gems.
I had the unique opportunity to attend GenCon 50 as both a vendor and visitor. Earlier this year, Original Magic Art was surprised to receive a booth at the event after originally being waitlisted, and owner Josh Krause needed assistance in running the venture over four days. So on Wednesday, Aug. 16, I jumped on my flight to Indianapolis to assist with setup, sales, and takedown for the long weekend.
The first thing you need to know about GenCon is that it’s enormous. The event has since outgrown even the Indianapolis Convention Center and now overflows into both the Westin hotel next door and Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Indianapolis Colts play. I could have spent another four days at the event and still not felt like I had seen everything.
But what I did see was spectacular.
From cosplay to charity auctions, from creative workshops to Cardhalla, the amount of things to see, do, and play was staggering.
And the games! Board games, tabletop RPGs, miniatures, deckbuilders, CCGs, mobile apps — even the most hardened buzzkill could find something to not only play, but also enjoy at GenCon.
For such a massive undertaking — more than 60,000 people attended in 2016, and 2017 sold out completely — I found GenCon to be extraordinarily well run. As a vendor, we had access to a section lead who was responsible for all the vendors in our little corner of the convention hall. Kim stopped by every morning and every evening to make sure we had everything we needed. The bathrooms were kept spotless and stocked. The food wasn’t outrageously overpriced. And for how many people were in attendance, I never felt squished in an aisle like rush hour riders on the Tokyo subway.
Helping Josh at the OMA booth gave me a unique perspective on the show. I got to meet, interact with, and talk to countless people. I also got to see people taking in the show from a perspective other than that of a fellow attendee.
As a first-time GenCon attendee, going with a vendor was a very favorable way to see the show. With the OMA booth, I always knew I had a home base to return to after seeing one part of the convention hall. Josh, meanwhile, was more than happy to share his expertise on the best things to see and do.
Through Josh, I met a great number of wonderful new friends, many of whom were also GenCon veterans. It’s no exaggeration to say that they took me under their wing in terms of nighttime activities and in simply sharing stories about years past. I got to play a Powered Old School cube (meaning, a cube that sourced Magic cards from 1993-95, including the incredibly potent Power 9) as well as several games of Vintage Artist Constructed. And I got my butt handed to me in two games by a bonafide member of Wizards of the Coast’s R&D staff. (I mean, if you’re gonna lose, it might as well be to someone who, you know, designs the game!)
Possibly the best thing I did, however, was visit a recreation of the Lake Geneva Horticultural Hall, where the first GenCon was held in 1968. Situated in one corner of Lucas Oil Stadium, the exhibit was meant to mimic the size of the venue where the first GenCon occurred.
In addition to serving as a striking comparison of how much the show has grown, the exhibit also had displays of midcentury games that influenced Gygax and his contemporaries, as well as rare first editions of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. I even got to speak briefly to Gary Adkinson, the father of former Wizards of the Coast CEO Peter Adkinson.
Coming home on Monday was a bittersweet experience. It had been an exhausting weekend, and I was desperate to see my loved ones and sleep in my own bed. But I was also sad to be leaving the adrenalized world that allowed me to play games until 2 a.m., work cheerfully on four hours of sleep, and just be among the kindness and welcoming spirit that is the hallmark of so many gamers.
On the other hand, the fact that I can return to these games, especially my new GenCon acquisitions, with friends and family any time I choose is perhaps the winningest prize of all.
By the way, if you'd like to learn more about Gary Gygax, GenCon, and the birth of Dungeons & Dragons, I can't recommend Empire of Imagination by Michael Witwer enough. Enjoy!
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