Eleven (Quick) Observations from PLAAY-Dot-CON '23
What a week! PLAAY-Dot-CON 2023 is in the books, an incredible time of games, fun and fellowship. There's been lots posted already about the convention, so we're a little late to the party here! This "hot list" will serve as sort of an appetizer for the full recap we're putting together with photos, tournament results and so on--watch for that in the next few days. In the meantime, here are some quick observations from the con...
• First-Timers fit right in: We had 20 first-time attendees this year, more than any other year (except the first year, obviously!) and it was super cool how quickly and effortlessly they blended in with the convention veterans. Jeff Tomlinson won the golf tournament, John Wise runner-up; Bruce Berkowicz runner-up in baseball tournament. It was SO much fun having Broc and Leah Riblet with us, first-timers who added an incredible energy to the room. It was infectious, I think. It's been mentioned often by convention-goers, but it bears repeating here: if you've ever hesitated to attend our convention because you don't know anyone, or you're afraid you might not fit it--just set those thoughts aside and JOIN us! I am so proud of the welcoming nature of our community, I guarantee you'll feel right at home--QUICKLY!
• Many Super Early Bird Arrivals: we had 27 people at our Super Early Bird Open House Wednesday afternoon--two full days before the convention's official start! The takeaway here is that maybe the convention needs to go back to a three-day event? We're thinking about it. As an aside, for comparison, we had 30 people total for the first convention (2018).
• The "Find A Seat" method works: for past conventions, we've organized some/all of the events with specific seat/table assignments for everyone, thinking this might speed up the proceedings and, with strategic placement, allow people to get to know each other quicker. Invariably, our well-laid plans would get jostled when someone had to cancel out, or decided to choose a different game option. This year, we just let people choose their seats, pairing up with friends, newcomers, or whomever. Success! It maybe took a few extra minutes to fill in the gaps (i.e., make sure there were four people at each table, or that everyone had an opponent), but we more than made up for that with the time savings in the planning stages. Success! We will use this method going forward.
• Back to hot dogs and brats: For the Thursday night picnic, we decided to switch things up and grill burgers this year, not taking into account the extra time it takes (not to mention the extra charcoal and grill real-estate required). We'll go back to dogs and brats next year, I think.
• Demo Derby Smash-Down was, well, a "smash!": We got out the demo derby game during the Super Early Bird Open House, along with the community-created "V-8 Vengeance" cards we used for our "Summer of Now" online event a few weeks ago. A good number of the contestants were there at the party, including the defending champion Lenny "The Commander" LaFrance. It was an amazingly GREAT time, very exciting and lots of fun! Like the golf game, Demo Derby Smash-Down really shines in a multi-player context. We will definitely do something with it at our next convention, either as a pre-con event or as one of the scheduled activities. BTW, James "Fast" Cast was our Super Early Bird DDSD champion.
• The Party Cam was crazy fun: Hope you got a chance to check out the action on the Super Early Bird Party Cam, it was a hoot! We started the stream at 2:00 sharp, with about a half-dozen folks there. All of a sudden, BAM! Probably a dozen (or more) folks arrived simultaneously and the party went into high gear. I think next year, if we do this, we'll start the cam AFTER everyone's arrived, let people introduce themselves, etc., and then shut it down after about an hour.
• Multi-player RWBR variant worked great: one of the new wrinkles we incorporated into the convention this year was a multi-player variant of Red White & Blue Racin', created by Pete Adams. Players managed a group of drivers rather than calling the shots for a single driver--I didn't get a chance to watch much of it, but everyone said it worked really well. We'll do a separate blog post on it later.
• Youth Movement: Nine of our 60 guests were 20 years old or younger. We have always said that we are about BOTH "preserving" AND "advancing" the grand pastime of tabletop sports games, and I feel like the attendance at this convention really validated that. If you take a close look at the group photo posted on the community Facebook page, I think you'll agree.
• Best-ever golf tournament: You know, the golf tournament never disappoints! This year's finish was amazingly memorable, though. Andy McEvoy had a late two-stroke lead, only to see it evaporate when both John Wise and Jeff Tomlinson sank DB DIFFICULT putts. You may have seen the video posted on the community Facebook page (thanks, Kevin Burghardt!). That forced a three-way sudden-death playoff, first time we've ever had that happen! Jeff sank a birdie putt on the first sudden-death hole, and neither Andy nor John was able to match it. Incredibly exciting.
• Guest speakers were awesome: I thought Glenn Guzzo's presentation on the history of sports board games was absolutely riveting, and Geoff Giordano's "look-ahead" segment was equally fascinating. I learned SO much from both, it was a joy having them part of the festivities, and I felt like their presentations provided a nice balance of game play and information/entertainment.
• Ike's Love and Sandwiches: This place may have bumped Torchy's Tacos as the "official" convention eating place. The guy behind the counter was heard to say, "what's going on, who are all these sports people?"
A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make PLAAY-Dot-CON 2023 such a wonderful, memorable event. Watch for a full convention recap coming later this week (I hope, if I can get it put together!)...