OwlCon XXIII

Good...Bad...I'm the Guy with the Dice

The Splendiferous
Photo Gallery

Well, another OwlCon is behind us. They just keep getting better every year. We saw a small increase in attendance this year (up to about 490 from about 450 last year) and all of the planners agree that the overall demeanor and enthusiasm of the attendees was even better than last year.

Gamers of all sorts joined us for some fun this year. We saw the debut of pub games (Warmachine) and welcomed some new events, such as the Advanced Squad Leader Tournament and the Battlefleet Gothic Tournament. A couple of movies showed in the pub (The Gamers and Uber Goober) and we welcomed a new Vampire LARP GM (Jeff Duncan). We decided against Guests this year and were happy to have more money to spend on prizes and other niceties.

Our dealers enjoyed a couple of improvements in the Dealer room - ropes and stanchions to block of their tables when they closed for the night, and Viking helmets for our staff to make them more visible.

We already know of one change for next year - trimming back anime. We tallied the numbers and there were no folks present during the wee hours, so the anime room's hours will approximate those for the bulk of OwlCon next year.

And now, here are pics of the people that spent a year in sporadic meetings, hours on e-mail, and pretty much all of their free time for the seven days before OwlCon slaving away in my apartment to deliver you a quality gaming experience. Combined, they easily worked over a thousand volunteer hours putting this together. It's not easy to find people that altruistic. These people are the heart of OwlCon:
Michael J. Casavant
Co-Director*
Angelo F. Benedetto
Co-Director*
Reema H. Casavant
Registration Coordinator*
Timothy J. Gilheart
Publicity Coordinator*
J. Scott Stout
Registration*

* - and a whole lot more, see below.

The OwlCon Planners

  • Angelo "OwlCon's New Daddy" Benedetto - Co-Director, Gaming Coordinator, Webmaster
  • Michael "Troubleshooter" Casavant - Co-Director, Webmaster, Publications, Dealer Coordinator, Facilities, Food Coordinator
  • Reema "Badgeslinger" Casavant - Registration and Volunteer Coordinator
  • Tim "Da Mule" Gilheart - Publicity Coordinator, Movie Coordinator, Food Coordinator
  • Scott "Datafiend" Stout - Registration, Food Coordinator

Game Chiefs

  • Board & Card - Tim J. Gilheart
  • Historical Minis - Rob Wubbenhorst
  • Live Action Role Playing - Tim J. Gilheart
  • Minis - Angelo F. Benedetto
  • Rogue Trader Tournaments - Michael J. Casavant
  • RPGA - Brian Chalmers
  • Tabletop Role Playing Games - Angelo Benedetto

Testimonials

Some of these were just too nice, so we have to share.

  • "You have really made Owlcon stand out-and I would put it against any non-Vegas convention around for excellence and fun."
  • "I had a great time. Even more fun than last year."
  • "One of the concepts of a successful event is "leave them wanting more." You and your team really achieved that with the OwlCon this
    year."
  • "In my estimation, the mark of any good convention is a wide variety of games that I don't normally get to play or at least don't play on a regular basis and Owlcon fit the bill this year once again. it is always a great thing to try out new things and meet some new faces as well as see some old familiar ones."
  • "I wanted to thank you and your staff for running yet another superlative convention! It's a joy to run events and play in others at OwlCon."