Lessons from Gen Con

Thursday, August 11, 2011

So much Ultimate Combat at the Gen Con booth!

Though I only joined the company a couple weeks ago, I was invited to join the rest of the team at Gen Con in Indianapolis. I was thrilled at the opportunity, since it would enable me to bolster our company's presence within the gaming community and meet some of our most passionate fans. In addition, the trip nurtured group cohesion within the company, and I'm happy to say I know many of my coworkers far better than I did before. All that being said, I am glad to be on familiar ground again. As for my Gen Con experience, I have the following words.

It was fun! It was exhausting. It was a lot of things. It reminded me of the retail job I had when I was 18 in some respects. It reminded me of the anime convention I went to when I was 15 in other respects. In most respects, though, it was totally unique and utterly impossible to describe. I met a lot of cool people, and I learned a lot of weird things. Things I learned:

• There is a restaurant chain called Steak 'n' Shake.
• Local coffee shops in Indianapolis close ridiculously early, usually around 3 p.m.
• Our fans are awesome.
• Some people still don't know all about Pathfinder (what!?) and are eager to learn about it.
• I love Washington weather and will never complain about it again.

Patrick Renie
Developer

If my first Gen Con taught me one thing it's that no one can adequately prepare you for the spectacle and energy of this convention. (If it taught me another thing it's that I can apparently make do with a lot less sleep than I had previously thought.) Meeting all the fans who visited the Paizo booth was a real joy, and while I certainly do not possess the roleplaying expertise of James Jacobs or Jason Bulmahn—or any other Paizo employee for that matter—I had a lot of fun discussing our products with the endless stream of visitors. We really do have the best fans in the business.

We also get to work with the best artists in the business. As this was my first time attending Gen Con, I obviously can't compare it to previous years, but I was shocked by the number of talented artists who stopped by to say hi or to show us their portfolios. Meeting—and reconnecting with—artists is the best part of my job, and I can't think of a better venue for this than Gen Con (cue special shout out to Stephen Radney-MacFarland for introducing me to Larry Elmore). I can't wait for next year!

Andrew Vallas
Graphic Designer