Convention Schedule or How to See the Elusive Mike in the Wild

Most years, it’s a good convention season if I can hie myself to my local Sci-fi/Fantasy convention for a day or two of pick-up games and maybe an industry panel or three. This season, I’m really stepping out: hopping on planes, staying at new hotels, and doing battle with the ever-present threat of “the Convention Crud.” I’m gleefully looking forward to meeting many people whose only acquaintance has so far been via email or a pixilated face on Goggle+. Here’s where I’m going to be for certain in the months ahead:

March 22^nd-25^th: GaryCon IV in Lake Geneva, WI – This marks not only my first GaryCon, but my inaugural trip to the RPG motherland. I’ve rambled around the country a few times, but somehow always missed Wisconsin. I’ll be attending mostly as a “civilian,” playing whatever games I can and getting to know my fellow old school games both past and present, but I’ll have a few Stonehell books, a T-shirt or two, and I’m up to run some Stonehell in open gaming sessions. Please feel free to introduce yourself!

March 30^th- April 1^st: I-CON XXXI in Stony Brook, NY – My local con. I’ve been attending on and off since at least I-CON VIII (where Gary signed my Players Handbook). More geared to the sci-fi and fantasy scene than gaming, I nevertheless always manage to sit in on a game or two and meet fellow designers in the industry. It’s going to be hard to beat last year’s con, which saw me playing OD&D with Frank Mentzer (see my mapping efforts at 6:10) and talking a lot about the OSR, but I’m looking forward to gaming with some of the guests of honor this year. Say “Hi!” if you see me loitering or rescue me if I’m under attack by the cosplay hordes for making wise-ass comments.

June 7^th – 10^th: NTRPG Con in Dallas, TX – My attendance to this year’s con was completely unexpected, but I’ll be going courtesy of Goodman Games to demo some Dungeon Crawl Classics and to promote a new book or two. My flight is booked, my room reserved, and my registration paid. Now I just have to nail down what I’m running and when, and let the NTRPG Con folks know.

GenCon is most likely off the table of possibilities for this year, but some rumblings have been made to get me there in 2013 and I remain hopeful this comes to fruition. I’ve also had a request to come down to Dragon*Con, but through entirely informal channels unaffiliated with the convention organizers. Maybe one year, but it’s unlikely I’ll get down to Atlanta in 2012.