As the 2007 GenCon countdown clock winds down (10 more days!), I wanted to mention two TT-related events that will be taking place at the con.
The first is Mastering Your GM-Fu, a free game mastering seminar led by Zachary Houghton (formerly the author of RPG Blog), Vicki Potter (editor at Tabletop Adventures), experienced game master Phil Vecchione and myself. This seminar will take place on Saturday, August 18th in the Embassy Suites (Chancellor 3, 5th floor) from 2:00-4:00 PM.
When we ran this seminar at last year’s GenCon, we fielded a ton of great GMing questions and everyone seemed to have a good time. We’re sticking to the same format this year, but apparently we’ll be in a nicer location — a larger room that’s actually on the convention map. We’ll also be giving away official “GM-Fu d2s,” which should be pretty nifty.
With 100 seats this year, we had about 40 spots open as of the close of online registration. Between folks we know will be there but who didn’t register and folks who learn about the seminar between now and the con, we expect a full house again this year. You don’t need an event ticket to attend, and you’re welcome to show up without registering — I hope to see you there!
On that note, it looks like there will be a very informal TT gathering right after the seminar. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing, but going out for burgers and beer is pretty likely — and whatever we do, it’ll be low-key. If you’d like to meet some fellow GMs and TT readers, commenters and forum members, stop by and say hello.
(Update: Also, voting for the 2008 ENnie Awards judges opens today. If you’re interested in the ENnies, check out the nominees, read their qualifications and take a few moments to vote. These folks do a ton of work in choosing the ENnie-nominated products (the technical term is “a shitload” — you can get a feel for that by reading In my judgment, 2007 judge Jeramy Ware’s blog about the judging process), and they could use your support.)
If I were going to Gencon I would so be there! I am sure Gencon has specific rules regarding recording it, but if you are allowed to get a video sample I would love to see it up on the site somewhere.
Barring that, someone taking notes on the questions asked and turning it into a free PDF would be excellent.
We tried to get an audio recording of the entire seminar last year, but something went wrong. I don’t know of any plans to record this one, but if someone brings a camera or an audio setup capable of tackling the job, I’ll be happy to host the file(s) here.
And we’ll definitely have to catch up at a con sometime, John — I’d enjoy meeting you.
I am still curious exactly what went wrong when we tried to record last year–there were some very good bits I’d have liked to have had, especially some of the audience’s insights, which were often just fantastic!
Sure, taunt us with your Gencon going ways. Hope you have fun– we’ll look forward to hearing how much you enjoy everything.
My bad, man, my bad. 🙂
Hey, I’m liveblogging things on theRPGsite, and I’ll be happy to take photos of anything you’d like to see. I know it isn’t the same as being there, but if there’s something you’d like me to cover, just let me know!
Have fun at GenCon! We look forward to hearing about it all. 🙂
My group has a great slate of events this year, and I’ll be keeping an eye peeled for great (and terrible) GMing, as well as GMing products in the exhibit hall. Hopefully this year I’ll remember to take pictures of more GMing widgets. 😉
The seminar, ENnies and TT meetup will definitely put a different spin on this year’s con for me, which should be fun. I’ll come back with a full report.
Ditto. Last year I focused on Things Overheard at GenCon*, but this year I’m taking a camera and better notes.
* Examples:
“I do have a strong forearms.”
“Yeah… mind-slaves rock.“
I think my best overheard (or worst, depending on how you view it) last year was a 40-something year-old man taunting a 10 year-old with “YEAHHHH! YEHEHEHAHH! THAT’S how you play POKEMON!!!