In 2006, three men (Evan Hatch, Carson Upton and Michael Lum) had a vision. In February 2009, that vision became a reality when GottaCon opened its doors for the first time. This past Sunday (February 7, 2010) GottaCon closed the doors at Pearkes Arena in Victoria B.C., finishing off a very successful year of 50 hours of non-stop gaming. I was very fortunate enough to be able to attend this event as a Special Guest and I have to say my experience was beyond amazing. With roughly 50% the growth from last year’s attendance (I believe around 900 attendees was the final count and they were only expecting 700 or so), GottaCon was a hit. Gaming tables were full. Costumes were seen. People were having fun. And the number of families in attendance really made me smile.
I have been trying for days now, very unsuccessfully, to find the words to summarize my experience. I did not have the normal experience of an attendee so I have been finding this task quite difficult. I am going to try my best to articulate even a small fraction of what it like to attend this convention that has a little bit of extra magic in the air as a result of three fine gentlemen who really care about the gaming community, games, attendees, special guests, event coordinators, vendors and volunteers. And it shows. To illustrate just how awesome this group of men are (who each wore many hats during the event), I want to tell you one thing about each of them that they did in order to make the experience that much better.
Each of these men are vastly different and it shows. These differences give special flavour and spice to GottaCon. Evan was wonderful making sure people were appreciated for the volunteer work they were doing on top of running around and checking on way too many events. Even after 12+ hour days and having to deal with crises that occur when running an event this size, he made sure to genuinely thank the volunteers with a smile. Michael also spent 12+ hours days not only in an organizational position but he ran events from 9 AM – 11 PM. The dedication to this event is astounding. And it gets even more astounding when you think of all the hours Carson put in. The organizers wanted to make sure there was always a partner on site, so Carson had the unenviable task of being at site at 2 PM and not leaving until anywhere between 4 – 6 AM. He ensured that events continued to run smoothly, people got the help they needed and that volunteers were taken care of. From the time he arrived on site at 11 AM on Friday to help with the remaining setup to the time he left at 10 PM on Sunday after tear-down, I believe he got 3 hours sleep. Those, ladies and gentlemen, are just 3 SMALL examples of what these awesome human beings did in order to give gamers on Vancouver Island (and some people from the Lower Mainland and Seattle) a multifaceted convention, giving the opportunity to participate in trading card games, role-playing games, board games, video games, minis, panels and more.
As for what I participated in, it didn’t go exactly how I had planned. But what happened I think was so much better and I wouldn’t change a minute of it. The only thing that went according to plan was I participated in two panels and I loved every second of it despite being really nervous prior. This was the first time I had to make a public appearance as myself and the task was daunting. And the people were paying to hear me talk which made it even more nerve-racking. Yes I have appeared many times on stage, but that was never me and always a character. Yes I have talked for hours on the radio, entertaining the masses but I never had to see the faces of those I was entertaining and I never knew exactly how many people were listening. I could have been talking to myself for all I knew.
The first panel I was apart of was Video Games – The Good, The Bad and the Dead. My fellow panel mates were Garth Von Kallenback of Skewed and Reviewed and Karl Johanson of Neo-Opsis. We discussed many things during that 2 hour panel including: what makes a good video game, what makes a bad video game, video game to movie transitions and vice versa, and gaming in the media. We had a lot of really good questions from those in attendance as well. The second panel was Geeky Media – Reaching The Geek. My fellow panel mates were once again Gareth, Karl and the added bonus of Steve Saunders from Comics On Comics. We discussed a variety of topics including: making industry contacts and keeping them, dealing with negative feedback and trolls and how to keep a geeky audience. Again, we were greeted with very wonderful questions from those who attended. I want to thank Kathryn Slater for her awesome job as Moderator and making sure we stayed on track plus doing a fantastic job intertwining our very various ideas and contributions on each of the topics. (behold awful picture of me below)
Geeky Media Panel: Left – Right: Julia "Jules" Sherred, Karl Johanson, Steve Saunders, Gareth Von Kallenbach
A bit of an aside on something that happened that I did not expect and took me aback each time it happened. This was my first Special Guest appearance. I did not expect many people to know who I was before appearing at GottaCon and still to this moment, every time I think about it, I was wonderfully shocked and surprised every time someone said “You’re Jules? I have heard a lot about you. Glad to meet you.” It made appearing on the panels that much easier because I didn’t feel like a stranger in a strange land. I was also very surprised and happy to see that the article I was asked to write for the program was the first article to appear after Michael’s articles. That was completely unexpected and so appreciated. If you did not attend the con and would like to read my article and check out all the awesome that was GottaCon 2010, the program is available here as a downloadable PDF.
Funny story time. Before my panels, Evan called me over and asked if I was willing to do something. Before I even knew what I was agreeing to, I said yes. Then I asked, “What exactly am I saying yes to?” He then explained to me how he was hoping I would do a TV interview the following day after my panels. My brain kinda yelled and I smiled and said, “Sounds awesome!” He then proceeded to introduce me to the guy who would be interviewing me. As I was walking forward to shake his hand, I spilled coffee all over myself (spilling coffee on me happened at least 8 times over the weekend). I reached out my hand to shake it when I noticed coffee all over my hand and I noticed Evan and the guy from TV trying really hard not to laugh. That is when I rolled my saving throw and said, “I’d shake your hand but I am a bit of a dolt and spilled coffee all over myself.” I have to say it is a different experience being on the receiving end of questions instead of being the one asking them. I quite enjoyed it.
Now the rest of the con didn’t go as I had planned but holy moly did I ever enjoy it! I had planned to play a few games while I was there but instead I found myself behind the games registration desk answering people’s questions. Doing this, I got to hang with some of my friends who were also in attendance and volunteering, meet some of the awesome event coordinators who had questions about where they were suppose to be, meet some pretty amazing attendees and hang out with some of the volunteers I probably would not have had the chance to meet if I had said no when asked if I had a few minutes to spare so someone could take a break. I had told Carson, Evan and Michael prior that if they needed my help in anyway please ask. I am so glad they were not afraid to ask. And even so I was only to sit there for a few minutes, it turned into about 24 hours over the weekend. I didn’t have to sit there. I was more than happy to help. I got to see all the families enjoy playing games together. I got to see the awesome costumes as the cosplayers walked by. People were able to find me easily in case they had questions for me. I got the watch the people laugh, joke and have an awesome time as the gaming community got together to celebrate for a few days. I could have made the decision to get up at anytime but looking back, I think that is the best way I could have spent my time there.
One of the really cool things that happened at GottaCon were all the prizes. Each day was broken into slots. During each slot, there was a door prize draw. These door prizes were on top of the prizes for winning the huge amount of tournaments being run over the weekend. Each attendee, volunteer, Special Guest, vendor and event coordinator received a ticket for the draw up entry to the convention. If you filled out a GottaCon satisfaction survey, you received a second ticket. If you pre-purchased a membership package, you received a ticket for a special membership only draw. And if you participated in any of the demos, you received a ticket for other special draws just for trying out a new game. I lost track of how many draws were done at 20. It is those extra touches that made GottaCon very special to me.
Another thing that made this event so wonderful was the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. I was very honoured to be invited to it even so I was not signed up as a volunteer. GottaCon provided the non-alcoholic drinks, appetizers and got them 15% off of their dinners. Considering the infancy of GottaCon, taking that extra step to let the volunteers know they were very much appreciated warmed my heart. There was a lot of great talk and laughter and I am so happy that I was a part of it. And to add to the drink and foods, there was yet another draw where each volunteer got a prize at the dinner. On top of my prize of Left For Dead swag for my youngest and dice, I got a wonderful gift from Evan. I hear Evan call out, “Jules! You like Star Trek don’t you?!?” I got a little giddy and said, “Yes!” And that is when he handed me Star Fleet Missions: A Star Fleet Universe Card Game and said, “Here you go.” To say happy Jules was happy is a huge understatement. I think I may have even squee’d aloud when he handed it to me. I certainly did the Jules happy clap. There was another very awesome thing they did for some up island volunteers who had the unenviable task of doing the 11 PM – 8:30 AM shift that I am not sure if I can divulge but let me just say, they really know how to treat their volunteers. I think that is the most important thing as it is the volunteers that keep the con moving and running.
Honestly I could continue to write about GottaCon forever. This was my best convention experience ever. It was not too big and not too small. But aside from that, having it run by three people who put so much heart into it (and it showed) just made the experience that much better for me. And with the growth that has occurred in the first year alone, I think it is a testament to that. Next year, if this years growth is any indicator, they are expecting 1200-1400 people to attend. This means the need for more event coordinators, vendors and volunteers, all of which are required to run a very successful con. I hope they continue to grow and expand. It would be nice if they could move into an even bigger facility. They are already booked at Pearkes Arena for GottaCon 2011 (Feb 4 – 6) but I am afraid they may have already outgrown the 20,000 sq ft of space they filled. I would love to see more off-island people in attendance next year as well. Please keep it in mind for next year. If you think you will not have enough money to pay for a ticket, I highly recommend you volunteer your time. They make sure that you can attend the things you want to and are so respectful of the time you put in. It is such a warm and friendly environment. I wish there were more events that have the kind of atmosphere GottaCon does.
Thank you Evan, Carson and Michael for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful experience. I wish you all much success in the future!
For event pictures check out the GottaCon Gaming Conventions Event page on Facebook and GottaCon Gaming Conventions Group on Facebook.
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About the Author
Jules,
Thank you for the glowing review. It really was our, Evan, Michael and I, hope to make a event that had something for every gamer. As big geeks ourselves, who have attended numerous conventions, we work hard to make an event we would want to attend.
Thank you very much for all your time at event registration. Freeing up our other hardworking volunteers for other tasks.
We should be able to stay at Pearkes for a couple more years as we have only been using 3/4 of the available space to date. We have plans to expand and do something very cool for our electronic gaming area.
I hope that you will be able to come next year and see the growth from year two.
Cheers
Carson
It really was my pleasure
Most probably, I will be back next year! I really want to come back next year but don’t want to commit to a for sure, just in case. I’d hate to have to back out last minute.
Thank you 3 again for putting on such an awesome event!