There Will Be a GaryCon V Post!

I was planning on vlogging my way through GaryCon V, but the presence of hundreds of people at the Geneva Ridge Resort put a damper on the wi-fi. My video of the events of "Day Zero" would have taken over eight hours to upload back in Wisconsin. And my constant worrying about the video on Thursday led to me not preparing for a game on Friday until the 11th hour. So I decided to eschew any "journalism" and focus more on enjoying my vacation, which is really what my trip to GaryCon was about.

Anyway, without further ado, here is Day Zero.

37 Days Till GaryCon! Vlog Time!

I decided to do a vlog today instead of a written blog post. Marvel at my awesome beard and soothing voice as I tell you about a fun card game I'll be bringing to GaryCon.

41 Days Till GaryCon! Memories of GaryCon IV: Part I

One of the nice things about vlogging my trip to GaryCon last year is that it makes recapping things a lot easier.

The first video is from Day 'Zero', a/k/a the day before the convention started.

This was the first time I had to fly to get the convention. And it was the second time that I had flown since moving to upstate New York. As I mentioned in the video above, I had a considerable layover in Detroit followed up by having a hell of a time getting out of O'Hare once I got into Chicago. One thing I failed to mention in last year's vlog was that despite it being March in the Midwest, it was 84 degrees outside in Chicago. I know that I shouldn't have really been surprised. But 'unusually warm' for Chicago in the winter is usually around 50-60 degrees. 84 was a bit much to be honest. On top of that, I had a bad headache getting into Lake Geneva. So I was in no mood to do anything but lay down and sleep as soon as I got checked in.

On another note, most of these vlogs were about a day late when I first uploaded them. The file sizes on my Flip were fairly big, the internet at the hotel was fairly slow and my laptop had the annoying habit of powering down if left unattended for too long. I've managed to do something about the latter issue. The first two may be out of my control.

After settling in, we did go down to the bar area and chat with a few friends and get something to eat. I remember having a pretty good burger and failing to get anyone interested in a game of Give Me The Brain. I also hot the sack early and missed my opportunity to get my model-building for the shootout done. I would regret that the next day.

Next Week: The convention begins.

47 Days Till GaryCon! Closing the Con.

One of my goals for this year is to "close" GaryCon (i.e. stay until it officially ends). I regret not doing so last year since I ended up having way too much down time between the time I got to my brother's apartment and my flight the next day. I'm not planning on staying at the hotel Sunday night, so I'll need to check out before my (hopeful) game at 10am. If the game ends at 2pm like it's supposed to, that still leaves four hours before things end at 6pm. Assuming I spend 30-60 minutes getting something to eat, that leaves me with three hours needing something to do until GaryCon V closes.

Part of me says to wander around and see if anything opens. Another part says to grab my books and see if anyone is interested in a pickup game. I know my brother will try to bring one of his board games to GaryCon V, so that's an option. And I already mentioned bringing Give Me The Brain to play the night before the convention. Would anyone be interested in a round or two Sunday afternoon? Who else is planning on "closing the con?"

69 Days Till GaryCon! Memories of GaryCon III: Part I

I got rear-ended on the way to work yesterday, so I'm trying to get this blog written before the side-effects of the muscle relaxers kick in and it's nap-time for me.

GaryCon III was another one of those bittersweet cons. Much like GaryCon I, I got laid off before the convention. This time it was three weeks before the con that I got the bad news. Despite my predicament, I had already made the commitment to go both emotionally and financially. So on a Thursday morning, I got in my car and drove from South Bend to the Chicago suburbs to meet up with my brother and prepare to make the drive to Lake Geneva.

I already agreed to split the hotel room with you. Now you want me to drive you there?

Now this is where things take a turn for the nerve-wracking. Once in Chicago, I convinced my brother to drive the last leg of the trip to Lake Geneva. I figured that since I had already driven for almost 3 hours to get out there, it was the least he could do. The thing about Michael that you need to understand is this, he hates driving. Driving is something he does when there is absolutely no way that he can conceivable walk somewhere. And his tension gets worse if it's someplace he has never driven before. So, with the aid of my GPS, we took a very quiet, hour-long drive to Wisconsin.

Outside of the silence, the drive was uneventful and we got checked in right away. We also got in about an hour after everyone else had left for the Next Door Pub. So once again we got in Michael's car and headed out. This time around, we picked up a passenger who unfortunately would not shut up. Once again, Michael is trying to depend on the GPS to tell him where to turn. So with this guy in the backseat, he nearly missed all his turns because he couldn't hear the GPS. We got in on the tail end of the buffet that was set up and managed to get our fill before heading back to the hotel.

Once we were back, the person we gave a ride to introduced us to Small World. Afterwards we ran a few pick up games of Give Me The Brain before finally turning in for the night.

Next Week. Games played, games ran and games blown-off.

76 Days Till GaryCon! Memories of GaryCon II- Part 2

So Friday morning started with my Learn to Hack game and the table was packed. I had about 8 people signed up and all of them showed. Since this was the first time I was demoing a game for people, I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough time. Back then you registered in four hour blocks, and I was sure I needed at least six hours to get things done. So I signed up for two sessions with the plan to take as long as was needed.

The session went really well as far as the players went. The thief was a combat machine taking out kobolds left and right while the dwarven mage struggled to keep up with the rest of the party. By the end of the session, my voice was almost gone and I retired to my room for a few hours before returning to the floor to chat some more with +Derek White, +David Kenzer and +Jolly Blackburn. At the end of the day, we hit the bar where a bluegrass band was playing. We took in the sounds and enjoyed a few adult beverages before calling it a night.

The next day started very slow. Originally, I had anticipated needing to work that morning as at the time I had a part-time teaching job. But since the class I was supposed to teach was cancelled, I had my morning free. So I set out for the Chicago suburbs to drag my brother kicking and screaming to GaryCon.

This is the face of a man who wanted to sleep in on Saturday.

Michael was quickly introduced to the Geekpreacher. Michael quickly apologized for not talking much as he described himself as "socially awkward". To his credit, Derek pointed out that the fact that showing up for the convention meant that he wasn't really socially awkward. He elaborated further that since gaming is a social activity, no one at GaryCon could truly be socially awkward. This improved Michael's mood considerably as we coined the new phrase "awkwardly social" to describe your typical gamer.

My brother had brought his copy of Mertwig's Maze with him to the convention in case anyone wanted to play. It didn't take long for him to find out that the game's creator, Tom Wham, was at GaryCon. So with that in mind, he spent the afternoon working up the courage to ask for an autograph. Meanwhile, I prepared for the game I was playing later that night. At about 9pm, in the middle of a tension-packed game of Aces & Eights, Michael came to my table to let me know that not only did he get the game signed, he also got to sit down and talk to Jean Wells for about ten minutes. "I had to go back to the room and geek out," was his reply afterwards.

The Aces & Eights game ended early due to an impromptu shootout on the train. So my brother and I grabbed the Geekpreacher and his buddy Redd and headed to the bar to play Give Me The Brain and The Red Dragon Inn. The next morning we took part in The Lodge's breakfast buffet before heading for home. On the ride home my brother, who not more than 24 hours earlier was peeved at the thought of going to Lake Geneva, turned to me and said, "Next year, I'm taking time off so I can attend the entire convention."

And thus a family tradition began.

(EDIT- "Awkwardly social" is the term we came up with. Not 'socially awkward' which already exists.)

84 Days Till GaryCon! I Just Had a Great Idea!

GaryCon starts on Thursday, March 14, 2013. Bur most people are going to be checking in the day before. Now some people do decide to get a jump on gaming and run games in the lobby. But what I'm thinking is bit more social.

Here's the idea, on Wednesday afternoon, just after I get checked in and settled, I'm going to head for the bar with a single d6 and my copy of Give Me The Brain. I'm going to find a table, order a drink and play with anyone that wants to join in. Just introduce yourself and ask to join in and you're in. I can't think of a better way to spend the night before the official opening of the con. Well I can, but this scenario seems a bit easier to set up.

I'm going to keep this informal. But if you know anyone that might be interested please spread the word.