I had a fantastic time at Gen Con this past weekend. My eldest son Marty came along for the entire trip, and Ann drove the quads up for the rest of the weekend on Friday. The little ones (who are now 9) had never been to Gen Con before, but they’d heard all about it – and a lot of my friends at the show had heard all about them.
I’m jamming on several deadlines at once at the moment, so I don’t have time for a full recap right now, but the highlights include:
- Hosting the Diana Jones Award party and announcing that the award went to Jason Morningstar’s RPG Fiasco.
- Celebrating my birthday at Gen Con the next day – along with Rob Schwalb, who shares the day with me.
- Playing in the True Dungeon VIP game on Saturday with Marty, along with Mike Selinker, Monte Cook, Colin McComb, Eric Harshbarger, Ray Vallese, and a fistful of other game designers. Even with that kind of dream team, we got barbecued by a red dragon at the end, but we had a ball.
- Having my wife and kids with me at the show for the first time ever.
- Catching up with old friends.
- Making new ones.
- Sitting on the writing and game design panels. I always learn as much as I offer up.
- The Friday night Reactor 88 Studios after party.
- Meeting puppeteer Jim Martin, who also directs on Sesame Street.
- Playing games with Marty, Ron Magin, and Brad McWilliams in the Mayfair Games suite.
- The way the Steve Jackson Games team treated my kids like royalty, especially Andrew Hackard, Paul Chapman, Phil Reed, and even Steve himself, who hadn’t been to Gen Con in 10 years. Blame John Kovalic for turning my brood into Munchkin addicts.
- Hanging out with my ENnies Dream Date a bit on Wednesday and Thursday nights – and then seeing him for five minutes during the actual cocktail party we were supposed to attend together.
- Watching Jeff Tidball and Ken Hite fight crime, ’70s style.
- Giving a complete stranger the shirt off my back at a party while my consigliere Ken Hite negotiated the details of its return.
- Having Dan Tibbles hand me a 24k-gold-plated Iron Die. Shiny!
- Doing some actual business.
- Having so many of my great friends meet my kids, who’ve they’ve heard me blather on about for years, especially John Zinser, who made sure to fill their arms with games.
Thanks so much to everyone who came to my seminars and especially those who came to my book signing. An extra special thanks to the Gen Con management and staff, my incredible friends who treat me and my family so well at the show and do such a fine job running it. This was my 30th Gen Con in a row, and I’m planning on at least another 30 more!
