Comic Cons and GM Stars

Monday, March 6, 2017

Last night the Pathfinder Society community of Seattle and I wrapped four days of demonstrating Pathfinder games at Emerald City Comic Con. Before working at Paizo I traveled to a fair number of cons, but they were mostly gaming-focused. My first exposure to the world of comic con style events was Fan Expo in Toronto. Larger than anything I attended prior and packed with big names in the film industry, it exceeded any expectations. Over the past two years, I've attended several other comic cons and come to enjoy the loads of people, colorful costumes, and variety of activities the shows present.

As I worked the information desk in the Pathfinder Society area, I compared the differences between comic cons I'd attended and other large conventions like Gen Con, PaizoCon, DragonCon, and Origins. In the latter, we have many tables of Pathfinder Society, but most of the attendees are there to play our games. They come bearing dice and characters, ready to play games, win boons, and enjoy themselves for scenario-sized blocks of time. At Emerald City, and by association other comic con style events, our audience is mostly people who have not heard of Pathfinder and their schedule is determined by gaps in panels they want to attend. This got me brainstorming about how best to approach this style of event and what sort of presentation would work best to intrigue those walking by enough to pull them in to see our games.

With my experience of comic cons being limited to a few events, I ask those that attend these gatherings and who plan events for this style of "demonstration" environment: How do you approach the event? What tools would make your event pop more? As an attendee, what does a group do that motivates you to spend more time in an area? Please comment below with your thoughts!

One of the items that we need, no matter what style of convention or show we attend, is GMs. And GMs who spend lots of time at conventions or local game days start tallying up the number of games they've offered to the community. Soon, a GM reaches the 10-game mark and earns their first star. Many go on to achieve their 2nd star by running 30 games, 3rd star by running 50 games, and 4th star by running 100 games. A small portion of the overall GM pool makes the milestone of 150+ games, of an expansive variety of scenarios and with ten of them being special events. These GMs achieve their 5th star and the acknowledgement of the time and effort it took to reach the milestone. This month, I am please to introduce your newest 5-star GMs:

• Jerad Bailey
• David Creighton
• Ryan Force
• Brian J Fruzen
• Dan Hennessey
• Roy Lewis
• David Neilson
• Matthew Owens
• O.J. Pinckert
• Caedmon Tracey
• Emery VanderHart
• Jeremy Wenrich

This week my to-do list includes sending out letters to Gen Con and PaizoCon volunteers and preparing materials for next week's GAMA Trade Show. Hosted by Game Manufacturers of America, it is a week conference for hobby retailers and industry professionals in Las Vegas. But before I take off for GAMA, the team and I have a bit of information to share with the community. Come back Wednesday and check out the blog for our not-to-miss newsflash!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator