I've never been a dedicated convention-goer. When I was a high-school and college student (back in the ancient days of AD&D 1st and 2nd edition), I dreamed of someday going to GenCon, but never had the money for such a trip. SF conventions intrigued me, too, but never quite to the same extent.
I didn't attend my first convention, for any fandom, until my early 20s. Shortly after moving to Boston for graduate school, I made a new friend at a temp job who was active on committees for Arisia, a speculative fiction con in Boston. He was thrilled to have another F&SF nerd to chatter with, however briefly, during our daily drudge. The con was coming up very soon, so he offered me one of his spare complimentary tickets. It was great fun--particularly meeting a couple of artists whose work I admired--and I attended the next couple of years on his comp tickets, too. (I'm embarrassed to admit that I can't recall that generous gentleman's name anymore. Tony, I think?)
By that time, I had found the Boston-area LARP community, and my interest in Arisia waned (though I played my first LARP at an Arisia). That's also around the time that I met and started dating my future wife, Erika. LARPing was one of our many shared interests. We attended an all-LARP convention, InterCon, for a few years running, as well as the very first couple of Vericons (a gaming convention at Harvard). But then impending parenthood diverted too much of our time and money to continue LARPing regularly. We attended once (for a single day, I believe?) when the kids were very little, and one last time (for the full con) when they were in early grade school.
In 2003, GenCon moved from Milwaukee to Indianapolis, which was only an hour from my childhood home (where my mother still lives). I had been living in Boston for a decade at that point, which still made the con an expensive trip. In 2011, we combined a family visit with my long-awaited first time attending GenCon. (Erika and the kids--now 6 and 7--came on a family day pass that Sunday.) I played many, many games (including the Iron GM competition, as a player), met some of my favorite game designers (including Steve Jackson and the core staff of Green Ronin, both of whom I had done some freelance work for by that time), and generally reveled in the spectacle of games, cosplay, and art.
Despite moving to Kentucky a couple years later--only half a day's drive from Indy--I still haven't managed to get back to GenCon again. Much of the reason is financial, but there is also the awkwardness of my kids' school year starting earlier here than in Boston--many years, it's been the very same week as the con.
However, I have found some consolation recently by learning more about local game conventions here in Lexington. This past spring, all four of us attended Lexicon, a weekend gaming convention with a robust Paizo gaming track. (We were talked into going--and Erika into GMing a few scenarios--by friends we'd made through Pathfinder Society.) Unlike some bigger cons we're been urged to try (like CincyCon in Cincinnati), Lexicon was close enough to drive home each night, which made it surprisingly affordable.
This coming weekend (November 1-3) is Fallicon, a PFS charity event for Extra Life. This year it's being hosted by our Friendly Local Gaming Store, D20 Hobbies--a mere 15-20 minute drive from our home. Erika is helping to organize it, and is GMing a few games. I will also be running my very first tabletop RPG at a con this weekend--which will also be my first time GMing Starfinder. The kids game just about as regularly as we do these days, so they are both very excited, too. We've been scrambling the last few days to make sure all the characters they intend to play are fully updated, and Erika and I have been doing GM prep (her far more than me, though I'm also supplying maps for her and some other GMs). My daughter even designed an adorable goblin sticker for donors to the raffle.
But someday--someday--I will make it back to GenCon...
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