Blog

Gwon

Ok, brace yourself, Gen Con is next week!  I hope you are all ready, I know I’m not! There are so many things to do, so little time. I know everyone is excited about playing Worldbreaker block Sealed for the Darkmoon Faire, but does everyone know what else is going on at GenCon? If you are interested in playing in Food Fight events and demoing either Penny Arcade The Game – Gamers Vs. Evil or The Walking Dead Board Game (or both!), than you need to check out the Cryptozoic Gen Con 2011 info page. It is chocked full of information about all three games as well as information about the Cryptozoic convention booth coupon.  Use it to get 50% off MSRP!

Small Con Support

Not every convention can be as big as Gen Con.  There are more local conventions than I can even count.  These shows are smaller and may only bring in a couple thousand attendees.  These shows offer a wide range of gaming available and it is typically a more laid back atmosphere than the bigger shows. Chances are these shows have the same type of card and board gaming and because you don’t have to travel to them, you will be able to enjoy gaming with all of your local friends. Unfortunately Cryptozoic can’t be at each and every one of these. The good news is that we can still have a presence and show off all of what Cryptozoic has to offer.

For these shows, Cryptozoic typically utilizes Champions of the Black Flame to run events and provide demos to any player interested in learning more about our products.  The events will be Beginner events and if the show is big enough, a Spectral Safari. Not every one of these shows will get the same level of support.  We ask the Champion to go and represent Cryptozoic at these shows. Providing events and demos means that we are able to hit more players in a convention atmosphere.

If you have a local convention in your area and are a Champion of the Black Flame, don’t hesitate to contact us about support. We have plenty of support available, but I warn you, make sure to manage your expectations.  If the show you want to support has 400 attendees, we aren’t going to send you support for multiple Spectral Safaris. If you would like to receive support for a convention in your area, please email volunteers@cryptozoic.com with the following information.  Name of convention, link to their website, attendance of last year’s show, how big of space can you get for events and demos, what support are they able to provide (free booth space, etc), is the show looking for specific support for the show (raffle prizes, etc), show contact name. In the subject line, please be sure to put – Small Con Support: Name of show. Not everyone will receive support for a show, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Helping out the Community

Just because you are not a Champion of the Black Flame doesn’t mean you can’t help grow your player community. Being a Champion can demand a lot of a person’s time and has strict requirements. If you would just like to help out a tournament or do a demo or two, by all means, you are only doing positive for your community. There is no requirement for doing this, but those helping out the community should be recognized for the hard work they put in. Jackie Palacios (San Antonio), Bridget Downing-Jack (hell on earth), and Jane Derouen (Smyrna, GA) are just a couple of examples of people who like to help out when they can to make events/demos better. Thank you, to everyone that does this, we are very lucky to have players that like to help out.

Event Spotlight

One such “Small Con” that Cryptozoic will have a presence at is Cyphan 2. There will be demos, beginner events, and a Spectral Safari.  The events and demos will be headed up by CZEV #377, Nick Zimmerman. Cyphan 2 will be held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, IL over the course of July 29-July 31, 2011. For more information about Cyphan 2, check out their info page. If you are in the Chicago area, I encourage you to stop by, say hi to Nick, and apply some WoWTCG beatdowns.  Tell him I sent ya!

That’s it for this week, back to the grind for me.  I hope to see each and every one of you at Gen Con next week.  There are plenty of surprises in store.  Have you seen the new table numbers yet?