My company, Posthuman Studios, will have a Gen Con 2011 report soon. We went, we made money, we drank, we had meetings, we played games.

I kissed a troll.

Gen Con started badly for me. I flew out from DC on Wednesday morning; my girlfriend Kristen on a direct flight and me with a connection through Chicago. Some bad weather meant my flight from DC left late, and my flight—and the flight before it—to Indianapolis were cancelled. There was no chance of going standby on a later flight, so after I figured out that my bags would continue to Indianapolis without me, my cries to the twitterverse were answered and my rock-star designer friend Tiara zoomed by the airport to pick me up on her way to the convention. This turned out to be a fun little car trip, although I was sad that I missed spending a half-day in Indianapolis with Kristen.

ENNies

Gobsmacked. In a year where Paizo’s stack of ENnies needed a hand-cart to take them back to the booth, winning the Silver ENnie for Best Product may as well been Gold for us. A gold for Best Writing and a silver for Best Cover Art rounded out Eclipse Phase ENnies. In the Best Production category, Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition caught Silver. I can’t deny that I voted for Eclipse Phase in that category, but I joined Randall from Catalyst onstage and, since he was already wearing the ENnie’s medal, I yoinked the certificate. I had no idea I was going to be up there until I had started walking. Shadowrun 20th Anniversary is an awesome book and I am proud as all hell of it.

Eclipse Phase

Sunward was released, the GM Screen was available, and we had ample stock of them and the core book to satisfy our fans. We also had some miniposters, t-shirts, and some plush monsters from OhNo!Doom, a Chicago art collective, to round out our swag. Our booth was busy, sales were good, and our games were very well attended. Our gamemasters kicked ass in accommodating tons of players per game. We gave all the players feedback forms, and from the sampling I’ve read so far our GMs are very well loved!

This Just In … From Gen Con 2010

I appeared on This Just In .. From Gen Con on Saturday at 5PM. Fifteen minutes earlier, I was walking to our hotel room with Kristen saying “I’m feeling the need for some introvert time. Are you cool with just hanging out by yourself for awhile?” Of course, she was … and she got to. I didn’t, because I remembered at the last minute that I needed to be podcasting—not an introverted activity—in another hotel. So I dashed over, and thankfully I was paired with the awesome E Foley of Geek’s Dream Girl, who carried the show. I mostly talked about the ENnies, Creative Commons-licensing stuff, and how twitter functions as the “water cooler” for those of us that work from home but need feedback/stimulation from colleagues.

Friends

I hugged my friends extra tightly this year.

Magic: the Gathering and other Acquisitions

I didn’t manage to play any MTG at the show, but with my trusty iPad and some good timing, I was able to score a copy of the From the Vault: Relics set. Beyond picking up my comp copies of Sunward and the GM Screen, Sixth World Almanac, and the Dresden Files, I didn’t buy anything at the show. I bought a lot of games over the last year that haven’t been played much, so I didn’t want to add to the unread/unplayed piles.

Playtesting

We pitched game concepts and playtested things that will become Posthuman Studios’ next games. We have some cool stuff brewing! Refinement starts … tomorrow.

I haven’t updated my Gen Con tips this year; I intended to, but it simply hasn’t happened. Last year’s tips should still be useful, though:

• Part 1: Before the Show!
• Part 2: At the Show
• Part 3: Looking for Work

See you at the show!

Voting for the 2010 ENnie Awards is now open.

I can’t deny that this year’s ENNie Award nominations aren’t a little bittersweet after the events of earlier this year. Projects that I worked on are well-represented, and the great number of worthy entrants in every categories indicate something that has been true for a long time: gamers are spoiled for choice!

Shadowrun: Seattle 2072 received an honorable mention nod in the Best Setting category. Steve Kenson did a bang-up job with this title, melding Shadowrun’s past to the present and setting groundwork for the future.

Eclipse Phase in the following categories:

• Best Cover Art: Stephan Martiniere’s gorgeous cover art will launch thousands of campaigns.
• Best Writing: Developer Rob Boyle has had his hand in many great gaming books, and for Eclipse Phase he may have assembled the best writing staff he’s had to date: Lars Blumenstein, Brian Cross, Jack Graham, John Snead; with additional writing from Bruce Baugh, Randall N. Bills, Davidson Cole, Tobias Wolter, with Jason Hardy and Michelle Lyons on editing.
• Best Production: This is the best-looking book I have ever made, with cool visuals that don’t overwhelm the art, and a huge thrust towards making the 400-pages very navigable, most notably the two-page spreads that open each chapter and point you to important information.
• Product of the Year: With nominations in three of the “pillar” categories, plus the intangibles of Creative Commons-licensing, our trend-setting low price point for the electronic version, and of course a great game to play in a setting that has unlimited potential … I think a nomination in this category is well-earned.

Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition got nods in these categories:

• Best Interior Art: Art Director Mike Vaillancourt and myself butted heads a lot on this project, but in the end, the artwork in this project is really strong and takes Shadowrun in a new direction.
• Best Production Values: Apparently I build good-looking well-organized books consistently! The giant index that covers not only itself but all the other SR4 rulebooks is so freaking cool.
• Best Game: Personally, I’d love to see “Best Game” and “Best New Edition” categories. But games don’t get produced for 20 years if they don’t see actual play, and Shadowrun has always erred on the side of being a game that should be played, not just read.
• Product of the Year: A punched-up and improved version of one of the most successful RPGs ever certainly qualifies.

In every category we are up against other amazing titles: Paizo’s Pathfinder juggernaut, Green Ronin’s Dragon Age Boxed Set, FFG’s Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Boxed Set (which looks gorgeous … I have to make the time to read through my copy!), and others too numerous to mention.

To spread briefly about category’s I’m not in: Jess Hartley’s One Geek To Another deserves props in the blog category for doing something different by offering advice about gamer etiquette, something sorely needed. For Best Setting, you can’t accuse the guys at HERO of not taking a chance with something different in Lucha Libre Hero …

… and Best Publisher could just be Posthuman Studios.

“You would think the women would demo the good games.”

We’ve been demoing our upcoming card game, Paparazzi! at GenCon this week. Someone actually said the above quote to one of our demo team people, when he asked her about the game and she described it as “the game of trash-celebrity culture” [the game's standard tagline] to him.

Would a simple “Hey, that doesn’t sound like my thing.” not have worked just as well, and not pre-judged something that he had yet to play?

Gen Con has been awesome this year, but some interactions really leave me wondering what people hope to gain from them.

I’ll be appearing once on the twice-daily This Just In…From GenCon! podcast this week. My episode records Thursday afternoon just before the exhibitor’s hall closes for the first day. If you want to keep up with what a bunch of podcasters and industry people think this year’s GenCon, TJIFG is one of the best way to get a quick fix that isn’t less than 140 characters.

Gen Con and VaViaz have whipped up a cool and free Gen Con app (link takes you to iTunes store) for the iPhone and iPod touch. It has maps of the local area and hotels, plus all sorts of searchable events information. It downloads the info and stores it locally, so you can use it even if you have data turned off on your iPhone. There are a bunch of interactive features as well, as it hooks into Twitter and Facebook. I’ve only spent about 10 minutes goofing around with it, but it looks pretty cool. Just having the maps at hand all the time will be nice!

My Gen Con Tip Archive: Part 1: Before the Show! | Part 2: At the Show | Part 3: Looking for Work

(Jan 2011 edit: I edited this to remove names of a company and people I don’t work with anymore, so as not to create confusion when people read this article in the future. with jetpacks.)

Jess Hartley wrote a great series of four blog posts talking about how to prepare and approach game companies at conventions if you are looking for work: Part 1: The Basics, Part 2: Preparation, Part 3: At the Con, and Part 4: Follow Ups and Follow Through.

If you’re looking for work at the show [especially if it's one of your first times], go read those … and then come back and read the few additional tips I’ve included below.

Looking for Work

• If you have any material that you are leaving with people you talk to — business card, a tearsheet of art, a writing sample, etc. — be sure that your name and address is on every single piece of it, on every page. Be vain: put your photograph on your card, resume, etc. Anything to help people remember you when they finally dig through those cards weeks later.
• When you give someone your card or other collateral, take the time to write on the back of it exactly who you intend it for. If you’ve been talking to someone at the Posthuman Studios booth and you’re interested in doing Eclipse Phase artwork, you’ll get pointed to our art director, Rob Boyle. If Rob isn’t around, someone else will likely take your card and give you a time when he will be back — but write on the back of it: “For Rob Boyle. Interested in doing Eclipse Phase art.” Why? Because it’s unlikely that your business card is going to be “properly filed” at the booth. It’s going to get tossed into a pile, into someone’s pocket, and it probably won’t make it to the proper person until the last day of the show, or afterwards. And in the case when you’re leaving a card behind and not giving it to the exact target … it probably doesn’t hurt to leave 2 or 3 of them.
• When you are walking the convention and introducing yourself to prospective clients, don’t bring along anyone else that isn’t prepared to be as professional as you are. It’s not the time to be hanging out with your friends or gaming group.
• However, if you know someone who works in the industry and is willing to walk the floor with you and introduce you to people — take them up on this offer. Assuming they have a good reputation. But you don’t hang out with people with bad reputations, do you?
• If you are an artist, it’s likely that someone can take a peek at your portfolio and give you a quick “Yeah, you look like you can work on some of our projects” or “Hey, you kinda only do horror art, and we only do games about happy ponies, but we’ll keep your card in case we ever decide to hurt the horses.” If you’re a writer or editor, though, it’s much harder to evaluate your work quickly — so you’ll need to have samples that you can leave behind.
• If you do have relevant experience on your resume, be sure that you list relevant references on it.
• Don’t disclaim yourself. What do I mean by this? Accentuate the positive, downplay the negative. Here’s an example of something that happened to me at Gen Con 2003, when I was with Guardians of Order: A woman came up with a resume and a writing/art sample to leave behind. Her and her partner had worked on it together, producing a short d20 adventure to show that they can produce art, writing, and game design stuff all in one. This was a good idea. I flipped through it quickly, took a copy, said that we would read it after the convention, and all was good. The next day, her partner came by. I guess they didn’t properly coordinate who had been to what booth … because he gave us another copy. That’s not the problem. The problem was, he said something like “Oh, by the way, about the map in there… $HerName thought that we should have a map in it, but I’m not a great cartographer, so it kinda sucks.”

  To this day, that map is the only part of that submission that I can still picture in my head. And for someone who wasn’t a cartographer, it wasn’t that bad.

• Bring all the digital files that you used to create any collateral with you. If you run out, there is a Kinkos only a few blocks from the convention center: Suite 107, 120 Monument Cir. Map from Convention Center to Kinkos.

My Gen Con Tip Archive: Part 1: Before the Show! | Part 2: At the Show | Part 3: Looking for Work

Here are some rules for what to do at the show, and just before the show:

Around Indy

• Walking through the mall is the fastest way to get to certain hotels. And the most air-conditioned. I recommend figuring out the best path on Wednesday, if you arrive that day.

Not Getting Ill

• Golden rule, courtesy of Paul Tevis: 1-2-3, 1 shower, 2 meals, 3 hours of sleep. Daily minimums.
• Buy a flat of water when you get into Indy, or before [if you're driving in]. Leave it in your hotel room. When you leave your hotel room, make sure that your backpack/laptop bag/whatever is topped up with 3-4 bottles. There are some fountains to refill the bottles at, and of course you can buy more water at the show, but you pay through the nose for it. As the day goes on, you drink the water and have more space in your bag for things you’ve bought!
• Buy and bring some snacks with you, too. Trail mix seems to be popular, but I prefer apples or oranges.
• Bring hand sanitizer. Use it all the time. Offer it to your friends, family, and everyone you’re going to be around a lot.
• You’ve just walked into your hotel room. Wash your hands. You’re just about to leave your hotel room. Wash your hands. Don’t bring con gunk into your room.
• Carry deodorant with you at all times. Use it every hour. I hate that I have to type this, and I know that the people that should follow this advice won’t read it … but seriously.

Shopping

• If you are trying to get something that will be in limited supply, you’ll want to get to the exhibitor hall doors early and line up.
• Bring cash. Some booths don’t take plastic, the ATMs often run out of cash, it’s easier to pay cash if you’re buying food in the convention center, etc. There are banks nearby with ATMs; I suggest using them.
• When you’re talking to someone at a booth, don’t just give them a generic question like “Can you tell me about X?” — you’ll get a spiel. Sometimes that spiel is long, and sometimes it’s boring, and it can be both. Try to avoid really open-ended questions. And if you are talking to a booth person that just won’t shut up … just tell them that you’re not interested, say thanks, and walk away. [As an exhibitor, I have "spiels," of course -- but I try to construct them in ways that I can spiel for 15 seconds, evaluate to see if the person gives a crap, and if they don't, bail out. If they do give a crap, I continue on to 30 seconds, evaluate, 1 minute, etc ... no use wasting my time and theirs if they've decided that they're not interested!]
• On Sunday, near closing, you can probably get some deals, especially if you ask at booths from small companies that don’t want to ship a lot of stuff back. But if you hover around the booth all weekend, taking up the exhibitor’s time, and then want a bargain on the backend … well, that’s kind of jerky.
• I’ve never heard of someone getting pickpocketed at Gen Con, although I’m sure it’s happened. What I have heard of: cards and miniatures getting stolen, and people accidentally leaving a bag of new stuff in the exhibitor’s hall and having it disappear by the time they get back. If you have a bunch of valuables, don’t leave them lying around. Try to bring only what you need for that day down to the convention center. Edit: I have now heard from people who were pickpocketed last year at Gen Con, in the exhibitor’s hall.

Eating

(I’m really down on the state of food in Indy. I’d appreciate some comments from people who LIKE places in Indy. I’ll summarize those in a future post.)

• Anytime you want to eat, it will take a half hour longer than you expect to get seated.
• Anytime you want to eat, Indianapolis is inadequate. Hope you enjoy “american” food!
• Naturally, the Steak and Shake right by the convention center is always packed. Thirty minutes for a milkshake.
• There’s a food court in the mall. It’s not a bad choice — predictable and relatively fast.
• But tip really well, because gamers are often poor tippers, and it’s not the waiter’s fault that Indianapolis is very narrow, food-wise.

Events

• Schedule a day with no schedule — just a day to wander, hang out with people, play demos, walk the exhibitor’s hall, all that stuff.
• Buy a handful of generic tickets for dropping into games or giving to friends who have run out or didn’t plan on getting into a game and that you invited along.
• Your first day there, grab 4 copies of the program book. Take 3 back to your hotel and put one in your bag. You will lose one every day. If you aren’t the type to lose one every day, don’t do this! You may want to just rip the important pages out of the book — the maps, IMO — and put them in your bag/notebook/whatever.
• Don’t schedule stuff back-to-back. If you’re playing a game 10AM to 2PM, don’t schedule one for 2PM to 6PM as well, unless they’re in very close rooms.
• Don’t play games that you play all the time at home, unless it’s some sort of special convention-only event.
• Play more games for shorter periods of time; 2 hour introductory sessions for games you don’t know instead of 4 hour longer sessions.

Going Home

• If you have to check out of your hotel on Sunday, that always sucks. It will eat at least an hour of your time to pack your crap up, check out, and arrange for some sort of alternate car parking/baggage storing for the interim. If you have a bunch of roommates, you should coordinate this early Sunday morning, so you know what you’re doing come checkout time. Remember to sweep your hotel room really thoroughly for things left behind. It’s easy to accidentally tuck a sword or something behind the door and walk out without it.
• If you are planning on buying a lot of stuff, bring a suitcase inside your other suitcase on the way to show, and bring one home full of games on the way back!
• There is a UPS outlet just outside the exhibitor’s hall in case you want to ship odd-sized stuff home. As of two years ago, the people running it were super-cool — there was a payment snafu with my shipment, and they shipped my stuff anyway, googled me up, and gave me a call the next week to extract payment.

Anyone have any further tips or advice? Post ‘em up!

My Gen Con Tip Archive: Part 1: Before the Show! | Part 2: At the Show | Part 3: Looking for Work

It’s just over three weeks to Gen Con Indy 2009, and a few months ago, a first-time attendee asked me for advice attending the show. I rattled off a ton of off-the-cuff advice for her, and now I’ve distilled it down into a short series of posts. Here’s Part 1: Before the Show!

• If you’re looking to buy stuff that is brand-new at the show, figure out how the company is selling it well in advance. Some of them sell X copies each morning, some try and sell them all the first day, some ration them other ways.
• Don’t bring your laptop. If you do, leave it in your room each day. You’re not going to use it, there isn’t a ton of free wifi around, and you’re not going to use it.
• Don’t bring many gaming books. If you’re going to play X game, bring the X core book, but that’s it. I knew someone who brought is ENTIRE Shadowrun collection to Gen Con one year, and he carried it around in a giant rucksack. That was stupid.
• But do bring your phone charger. There’s an AT&T store in the mall. You’ll probably want your digital camera and charger, too.
• The Embassy Suites has a free breakfast if you’re staying there. They have a free happy hour, too.
• There is a CVS about three blocks from the convention center. It is your best bet for inexpensive bottled drinks, snackfood, cigarettes, Red Bull, and condoms. The hours are awkward, though:

  Tues-Fri: 6:30am – 6:30pm
  Sat: 8am – 6:30pm
  Sun: 9am – 5pm

  Edit: Daniel Perez has a great point — the earlier you do your shopping at the CVS, the less likely they are to run out of stuff. Buy everything you know you’ll need on Wednesday if possible.

• Bring comfy shoes. This seems like a no-brainer, right? If you’re wearing a costume or something like that, keep a pair of your regular shoes in your bag for long-distance walking.
• Bring twice as many pairs of socks as you’d normally wear. You’re walking a lot and it will be grossly hot and humid.
• Hand sanitizer. Bring a bottle. Use it. Offer it to your friends whenever you use it. You don’t want to get sick at or after the show. The dreaded “con crud” can be defeated!