IGE at Southern Exposure

[Kat Miller]

Becca was kind enough to let us know that Southern Exposure is coming up.
It's being held in Cherry Hill NJ. Sept 29th to Oct2.
more information can be found here:
Southern Exposure

Michael S. Miller and I will be attending SE although it is a smaller con.
I feel that it is good to maintain an indie presence there and to continue to expose
the games we love to the area.

If anyone else will be attending, let me know.  I'd like to offer a track of indie games.  We'll be running With Great Power... ofcourse but likely a couple of other indie games as well. 

Also PM me if you would rather not have anyone run your game at SE

thank you,
-kat miller

[TonyLB]

Just to clarify:  I assume Becca's budget is substantially tighter for a convention such as this.  Is she offering hotel rooms, as per Dreamation and DEXCON?  Not that it's an entitlement, just that the cost-issues may factor into peoples decisions, and information is good.

Whatever the situation on hotels, put me down as a definite maybe.  It's so close, like the Double Ex folks are reaching out toward me, beckoning!  I'm going to see whether I can gather up some of the con-lame in my area and make a more substantive showing.  I know the schedule is tight.  I'll get back to you by saturday, latest.

Kat, do you guys want my graphic skills for IGE flyers this go 'round?

[Michael S. Miller]

Tony: You're right about the tighter budget. No hotel room this time, but company reps will get comped badges.

Our sales expectations are slim-to-none, even if Luke "Powerhouse" Crane makes the trip.

As for mad graphics skillz, Kat wants to take a crack at the flyer this time around. Thanks for the offer, though.

[Nathan P.]

Now, I'd really like to get into the doing the Con thing, especially now that I actually have a game out. And I could almost defintintly make it. But, as a complete unknown, would Southern Exposure be worth it? I have below-zero idea about doing Cons except for what I glean from this forum, so this is a question for you more experienced folks. The metric in my head is whether the exposure and personal development/experience is worth dropping a chunk of money that I could use for advertising or printing costs.

[rickr]

Yes, for three reasons:

1) More experience is better.
2) Starting with a small convention is less taxing physically, mentally and emotionally.
3) Meeting your fellow authors and hobnobbing with them in person is always a good thing.

[Kat Miller]

Nathan P:

All of the reasons that rickr mentioned.
Plus, promoting your game in person to a new area and getting a buzz about your game going has to be helpful with sales. 

I don't know how far Southern is for you, but the con is not big enough to justify airfare.  If you are in driving distance, then you might want to come, even for just a day.  Let me know because the Indie games pull from the same pool of gamers  Thus if 4 different Indie games are offered in the same timeslot then no one will likely reach the minimum players needed to run a game. 

-kat

[Andrew Morris]

I'm assuming the deadline for running events is right around the corner? I'd be up for doing a day of GMing, but I can't think of anything I'm really prepared for. I could almost certainly run Universalis or InSpectres. I might be able to run Capes, Dogs in the Vineyard, and possibly one or two others. The thing is, I've never run a convention game before, and I have no idea whether I have the skills needed. I'd rather not run anything at all than do a poor job of it. Of course, as mentioned, a smaller con might be the best place to start out.

I hate to do the "maybe, kinda, sorta" thing, but I also want to be upfront. If the individual authors are cool with an un-con-tested (pun intended) GM running their game, then I'll do it. If not, then I won't.

On another note, I see that PDQ is running a series of LARPs (Werewolf, Vampire, and Star Trek) at Southern Exposure. If you're there, and have any desire at all to be in a LARP, check them out. I play in their regular LARP, and it's one of the better-run games out there.

[Michael S. Miller]

Andrew: I've played with you plenty of times and I think you're selling yourself short. You've certainly got the right stuff to run a convention game or two. SE would be a good place for you to get your feet wet, building up to promoting your own stuff in the future. How about we start out with the kind of game that isn't too strenuous on the GM, like Uni and InSpectres. All you need to do is show up, know the rules, and bring some enthusiasm with you (TonyLB would call it "being the pep-squad"). I've seen you do all these things naturally. C'mon down and join in the fun! I agree to cower like a minion before you if it'll help. 8^)

Nathan: If you're completely okay with the possibility of making only one sale (to me) at the con, it could be a very good experience for you. I'll be glad to show you some of the ropes of promoting your game in person (something I feel is more effective, and rewarding, than spending money on advertising), and you might be able to squeeze some bits of publishing/business wisdom from Luke Crane, too. In either case, you'd know more about the convention side of RPGs than you do now.

[Nathan P.]

Thats a lot of good reasons. It is indeed within driving distance for me. Time to look through the info on the website and try to figure this whole thing out...

Thanks guys.

[Kat Miller]

As the deadline for Event registration is Sept 6th.
So far, I have conformations from Luke, Tony and Nathan P (and MSM)
If there is anyone else who wants to be part of the IGE at Southern I need to know by friday Sept 2.
If you want to run schedualed events for IGE let me know what you you'd like to run and a description of the game.

I also need to know when you want to run the game
Slots start 8pm and 12am on thursday
10am 3pm 8pm 12am Friday and Saturday.
10am 2pm on Sunday

If you have special needs, games that run over or under certain slots let me know what they are.

As far as I know no one has volenteered to arrive for thursday night.  MSM and I will be arriving on Friday morning and staying till Sunday. 

ALSO: if you can't attend but might like someone to run your game at the Con let me know.

As it stands no one has sent me a PM asking that their game NOT be offered at the con.

thank you,
-kat miller