Gencon: the Best Four Days in Business

I started a much longer write up but…I’m lazy. Also, there are dozens of people who write about they saw this and played that, met this person and tried that demo.

There are some interesting things to that story but ultimately it is like a lot of others.  Instead let me tell you of the wheeling and dealing.  Let me preface this by saying I am not anti consumerism or anti capitalism. Consumerism is the fuel that runs our country.  Just don’t go to Gencon expecting it to be about games. It is not. You may be able to do some open gaming  if  you’re one of the few. There are plenty of tables - Probably four times the amount at Origins. Each one has  been paid for by a sponsor and has a nice little reserved sign on it.

We were fortunate enough to take advantage of the generosity of the AEG folks in room 106. They didn’t mind ceding a bit of space and didn’t care if we played AEG stuff or not. In retrospect that single act of kindness made the Con a lot more fun.  I had read that other people just sit down at reserved tables and don’t worry about it (which is what I would’ve done too) but there is not an emphasis on uniting big groups of board gamers. Instead Rio Grande sponsors a Rio Grande room. Mayfair Sponsors a Mayfair room..ect.

 There is the enormous dealer room loaded with more products than you’ll ever be able see in four days. Everything screams BUY ME! And the vendors have pulled out all the stops. There are rows and rows of pristine RPGs in every genre and system. There are board games piled up to your chest with squads of sales associates. Like crack troops , they facilitate the sales.

 
There are big glass cases of expertly painted miniatures begging to be played placed conveniently next to stacks and stacks of boxed units. The promise of sweeping armies or daring skirmishes can be realized with only a short reach to your wallet.

Even if you don’t have product, GenCon is the place to be seen and to make your name. Nexus Games had a huge booth with thirty foot banners and hordes of demoers- most of them flown over from Italy. They had a prime spot at the front of Gencon with lots of floor space.

…and they weren’t selling a single game.  Instead it was all for name recognition and to create a buzz on their next three big games.  (Magestorm was one. I forgot the other two.)  I can’t even imagine what all that cost, but it did succeed in making me realize that I already own a bunch of their games (Wings of War being my favorite.)

I expected all this and looked forward to the glam and glitz of games and demos.  What I found fascinating was the wheeling and dealing though. With so many game companies, designers, and publishers present, the meetings were fast and furious.  Every night there were private parties (which took every ounce of my willpower not to crash.) Smaller companies and designers were constantly angling to meet and greet and the big fish had scheduled meetings throughout the con. Christian Peterson even had a private office right in the middle of the Vendor hall (the grey cube you see in the FFG videos.)  *That* was the real feeding frenzy and I was captivated by it. I know I sound completely naïve but I’ve never worked in a corporate environment. My corporate friends have often described similar situations at conferences and sales meetings.

Colby Daunt’s personal stock must be shooting through the roof because that guy was *never* available.  I checked on him four times and each time he was off judging tourneys, in meetings, going to parties, ect.  Sean and Keith from Eagle games  each had two groups of clients in tow and somehow managed to still do a brisk business.   I tried to put the bite on Stephen Conway from Asmodee to come play some games with me  in the evening and he sadly enumerated the workload he had that night.

Another time I saw Tom Vasel and Derk Solko traipsing off to lunch.  A capricious mischievous spirit filled me. Had I known that Vasel would later throw me in jail I totally would have acted on it. If you’re reading this Tom - You’re on the list. In stark Contrast to this frenetic activity was Zev.  He seemed to ride the wave of enterprise like a world class surfer at a wave pool.  He reveled in the hustling environment.  At any moment I expected him to throw up a shaka hand sign.

So I learned what other people had been telling me for a long time. It is the reason why so many games come out of the Gathering, the reason why small designers sometimes feel left out or why obscure companies stay off the radar. It is a facinating to see though.
In short, Gencon is not about games. Gencon is about Business…and business is good.