GenCon Wrap-up: announcing our Bingo Winner and a few additional odds and ends

A warm and genuine thank you to all of those who took part in GenCon Bingo. This year’s quest to take many pictures that showcased the wide variety of the full-spectrum nerddom that is GenCon hopefully ended in some modest success. Congratulations are in order for our winner Watcher969 who just 2 squares shy of a full card was the points leader for Role-Playing Discussions 1st Annual GenCon Bingo Contest. Our victor will receive an embroidered GenCon 2011 dice bag, 1 random mug-full of Chessex dice, issue 138 of Game Trade Magazine, and a full access guest pass to GenCon sponsor Crunchyroll.

Thanks go out to all of those who allowed us to take their picture (even though many of those picture turned out too blurry to use on the sight). Thanks in particular to Don from Pulp Gamer Media, Alice Berryman, Nero International, Who North America, Twilight Creations,Crispy Zombie Productions, Water Street Bridge, and Gamers for Humanity.

What are some take away lessons from this year?

1. Carrying snacks with you is a good idea, but as they don’t really replace meals it didn’t reduce food expenditures that much.
2. Not pre-registering for events doesn’t mean you can’t play by showing up with generic tickets, but I think we’ll be pre-registering for the events we definitely want to do, as much to provide a schedule as to ensure a spot in the game.
3. Walking shoes are worth twice their weight in gold. We replaced a long abused pair and added orthotic insoles; I could tell the difference right away.
4. The most serious photographers at GenCon were using dedicated cameras. Why is that? Because they take better pictures. We brought you the best that we could using the cameras on our phones, but I think they mostly highlight our deficiencies as photographers.
5. Playing demo games on the floor is easy and fun and free (that is until you find a game that you want to buy)

So, hopefully those of you who weren’t able to come this year will make the next one. Until then we’ll be here reviewing games, looking at new materials and resources, and discussing role-playing; we hope you’ll join us.