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ICv2.com has posted an open letter from Peter Adkison, CEO of Gen Con and Hidden City Games (and all-round great guy), about Gen Con’s entry into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. If you’re interested in the show (and what self-respecting gamer wouldn’t be?), it’s worth the read.

Word is that Gen Con has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This comes on the heels of the news that Lucasfilm recently filed suit against the company over bills related to the latest Star Wars Celebration, which Gen Con put on last year.

This is not good news. I love Gen Con, and I love the people who run it. Peter Adkison, who owns the company with his wife Melissa, is a longtime friend, and this cannot be any fun for him.

However, it seems that the two recent announcements are closely related. The Star Wars Celebration was the first (I believe) without a new Star Wars film to help rouse the fanbase, and Gen Con likely lost money on it. Combine this with three years of trying to get Gen Con So Cal up and running, and you have some holes that have formed in this sturdy ship’s hull.

However, the core business of Gen Con Indy (the original and only in my heart) is reportedly solid, a good money maker on its own. Without the other shows draining Gen Con’s coffers, the company stands a good chance of turning itself around.

It’s possible that the Lucasfilm suit forced Gen Con into involuntary bankruptcy. The last time I checked, it only took three dedicated creditors to force this to happen, but there are ways to engineer such things if you’re determined. I’d guess that Gen Con would have preferred to settle the issue with Lucasfilm quietly, but that didn’t happen. Now they’ll get to negotiate a settlement in the open and with the help of a bankruptcy court instead.

Clearly, Peter (who founded Wizards of the Coast and sold the company to Hasbro) could pay this debt out of his own pocket if he wanted, but that’s why Gen Con is a corporation (an LLC, to be exact). One of the biggest reasons to incorporate a business is to insulate your personal assets from that of the business. Beyond your initial or continued investment in the company, it should be able to stand on its own. If it succeeds, the owners get to share in that success, but if if should fail or fall on hard times, creditors can only go after the assets of the corporation, not those of the owners too.

I’m hopeful that Gen Con will weather this storm and come out into sunny days soon. I’m not changing my plans to attend the show this summer—and every other summer to come.

I’ve just confirmed that once again I’ll be an Industry Insider Guest of Honor at this year’s Gen Con. At the moment, this is the only convention on my schedule for the year. Unfortunately, Wizard World Chicago is the exact same weekend as Origins this year, forcing a choice between the two. Also, I’m still up in the air about GTS, Comic-Con, and the Austin GDC—but I’m always open for invitations to other exotic locales.

I had a great time at the 5th annual Chicago Toy and Game Fair
this past weekend. I got up early and drove down to Schaumburg so I could sit in on the two morning panels for the Inventors Forum. Mary Couzin, who runs the whole shebang, met me at the front desk and got me set up. Although we’d never met before, she was as friendly and wonderful as could be. I felt at home right away.

Tim Walsh (creator of Tri-Bond, among other games) moderated both of the inventor panels and did a wonderful job. One of the best parts, though, happened in a back corner of the room. Nicholas, a designer who I met during a past seminar, and his son got inspired by the talk and started designing a new game right in the hall. During the break, they set it up in the back corner and had at it, there on the floor!

Courtesy of Mary, I had lunch with Tim and the rest of the panelists and the other experts from the “Ask an Expert” event, including Mike Hirtle (VP of R&D for Hasbro), Howard Fleischer, Jeffry Breslow of Big Monster Toys, Peggy Brown, and Kim Vandenbroucke.

Afterward, I ran off to the “Ask an Expert” event and did my part. They put us up in a series of tiny offices just off the main convention floor and sent people back to chat with us for 15 minutes at a time. I spoke to a number of incredible people, including a mother with an excellent behavior modification system/game that can take up to six months to “play,” plus folks from Really Neat Stuff and the Party Hard Corps.

As it wrapped up, I ran into Dan Rowen from Playroom Entertainment and caught up for a bit. Then I met with Darren Orange and Darrik Cupps from Reactor 88 Studios. We wandered about the hall for a while and then headed out for a quick bite. After that, I got back in the car and headed home in time to catch the end of Ratatouille with Ann and the kids.

I had a great time at the show, and Mary treated me like a king. The energy among the inventors matched anything I’ve seen. If I can, I’ll be back next year for sure.

This Saturday, I’ll be at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair. Oddly enough, it’s to be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Schaumburg rather than Chicago, where it originated a few years ago, but you’re all smart people who can figure your way around that.

I’ll be taking part in the inventor’s forum on Saturday morning, just watching from the floor and soaking up the fun. In the afternoon, from 1-3 PM, I’ll be one of the experts in the “Ask an Expert” event. If you’re around, sign up for a 15-minute session with me, and I’ll answer your questions as best I can. Assuming you have a ticket to get into the show, talking with me is free, although they suggest you register for a time slot in advance.

If you’re in the area, I hope to see you there!

Last night, after the kids’ dance lessons and soccer practice, I drove up to Madison, Wisconsin, for the ACD Games Day. I arrived late at an exhibitor’s dinner that the ever-amazing John Kovalic put together for the poor souls not invited to the retailer’s banquet. I had an excellent meal at the Hong Kong Cafe with folks from Fantasy Flight, PSI, Margaret Weis Productions, White Wolf, Impressions, Steve Jackson Games, and more.

Afterward, I rolled out to the Marriott Madison West, where ACD hosted the official event. Although it’s been remodeled in the last year, it always brings back memories of the Capital City Comics Distribution shows that used to be held in the exact same place, about 10 years ago.

I wandered around the demo hall and got washed out fast in a game of Walk the Plank, played versus John Kovalic, Bill Bodden, Lory from Pegasus Games, and a couple of ladies from ACD. It’s a nifty little card game like plays like Hearts but with pirates, which makes it that much more fun. I chatted with a few more people (like Oscar Garza of White Wolf, Ross Jepson, one of the Brians from Fantasy Flight, and Ed Evans of All Things Fun) and made a quick appearance in the hospitality suite. Then I meandered back down the highway toward Beloit and my bed.

SlateV has a five-minute feature story about gamers from this summer’s Gen Con. It’s a little heavy on the costumed folks, but since video is a visual medium, I can’t blame them for going with the stuff that looks so interesting.

Look for my pal Ken Hite speaking in one part of it. That bit was filmed during the “40 Years of Gen Con: The Attendees” panel that I sat on along with Ken, Robin Laws, Randy Porter, and Dave Arneson. Ken seemingly speaks in sound bites, although always eloquent and incisive ones.

I also spotted two other people I know well in the video: game designer Christopher Lawrence as a zombie, and the Gen Con-shirted guy with muttonchops (anyone know his name, please?) who worked the door at the screaming-new, infamous Spy Bar (more about which I’ll blather soon).

I only stuck around until Friday night of the show, so this is the final part in my three-day trip.
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The second part of my three-day journey.

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I’m trying to catch up with everything, so I’m going back to July for my Comic-Con 2007 report. I had a great time at the show, although I only attended for two and a half days and only made the decision to go a few weeks before the show began. This meant I had no scheduled events, but I still packed as much into those few days as I could.

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I’ll be at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair, November 17 & 18. On November 17, as part of the Inventors Forum, I’ll be one of the experts in the “Ask an Expert” event. Sign up to have a private chat with me for 15 minutes between 1 and 3 PM, and I’ll do the best I can to answer your questions in person.

At this year’s Gen Con, I had the privilege of sitting on a couple panels with three giants in game design: Mike Gray (VP of new games acquisition for Hasbro), Reiner Knizia (most prolific board game designer in the world), and Richard Garfield (designer of Magic: The Gathering, among other great games). My friend Rob Stone helpfully took notes during the “10 No-No’s of Game Design.”

A couple hours before the seminar, Mike asked each of us to come up with our own list of 10. During the seminar, we ran through them as fast as we could, with lots of impromptu commentary. From Rob’s notes, we have the list below.

You might notice there are only 33 points coming from four people. Working in parallel, we came up with many of the same points, which reduced the overall number. Then, during the seminar, we came up with some new ones on the fly, which raised the number again. That’s what you get when you toss together four sharp people who each come at games from a different angle.

Note that not all of us agreed with every point either. In fact, we sometimes went exactly against each other, but that ended up being why the seminar worked so well.

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I rolled in from Gen Con late last night, but I can barely talk about — mostly because I’ve all but lost my voice to the show. In short, I had a wonderful time, saw lots of old friends, and made lots of new ones.

More soon.

I’m leaving for Gen Con in about 12 hours. I hope to see many of you there. If you’re around, please show up to the Brave New World film short and documentary on Thursday evening at 8 PM. To whet your appetite, see the BNW movie MySpace photos page, which features posters for the film. Here’s my favorite of the bunch: