I'll start by saying that I'm the Chairman of Winter War, a small con (400+ attendees) in Champaign, IL in early February (actually, this coming Friday).

Anyway, we are a small gaming convention that has been around for over 30 years, and we've stayed deliberately small to keep our convention's atmosphere and feel. We don't invite any guests, and what game designers we do get (Frank Chadwick, et al), we don't treat any different from our judges. We're "here to game", not fawn on designers.

However, at the same time, we love having demo games, where you bring your game to show it off, and I don't make attendees pay for it, so there's no attendance sheets, tickets, etc.

Right off the bat, I'm betting that our con would be quite frustrating to some of you in this forum, and yet, I'd love to see you run your games at our con (except not this year, since our program is filled).

But in preparation for 2007, I'm interested in discussions with indie RPG designers about what would work and what would not work... We want you to come to our con, we'd love to have you here, but:

1. We aren't paying for your air fare, per diem gas, or hotel room.
2. We don't hold seminars. Period. Non-negotiable. We're gamers; we game.

Now, bearing that in mind, and some of you probably just left, what could/would attract you to Champaign IL from Feb 9 - 11, 2007?

DonM.

Can you tell me more about the Con itself?

You mention 400+ attendees, but what kind of players are they? Magic (and other card games)? RPGA? Board Gamers? What is the mix of types of games going on during the weekend?

Would there be an interest in indie/small press games if some of us showed up to run demos?

Thanks,

Matt M McElroy
"What Are You Afraid Of?"
http://www.flamesrising.com