I had an incredible time at Gencon 2023. I’m grateful for the participation program created to get more BIPOC folks to the convention. And it worked, this was the second time I’ve been to Gencon, and it felt like I actually saw more people that looked like me than ever before.
There were a few highlights, the first being the Celebrity Side Quest games by SixSidesOfGaming. I only knew two people personally involved in those games, and I was happy for the familiar faces of Surena Marie and DM Devin Wilson. There was the pressure of a bunch of other cool people at the table, like Damien Haas, Sandeep Parikh, Elisa Teague, Vince Caso and Keith Baker. However, once everyone said their intro and started with their silly voices for their characters, everything felt less scary. Damien was always a loud, friendly buff character that you could rely on, Surena played a lot of assertive, delightful, and adorable characters, Elisa brought back amazing characters from previous games and everyone else was excellent. I was the only player at the table that isn’t from LA. That was a weird moment, where I felt like everyone thought I was “one of them” until the imposter syndrome slapped me in the face when I had to admit that I am just some basic bitch from Canada. Regardless, everyone was super kind and this will be memorable.
The most memorable game was, of course, the Gaxx Pack. It was streaming on GenconTV and this was a game with folks I’ve shared a table with before. I’m comfortable being the dorkiest, I adore them all, so I was happy that I ended my Saturday night with Jason Charles Miller, Vivid Vivka, Luke Gygax, Sarah Moore and Adriana Cazador.
This was the first time I’ve attended gencon and there was a BIPOC lounge. It felt so great and safe to have that space to go and unwind, and I met so many cool people there and swapped business card for future connections. I enjoyed the BIPOC networking event as well. It felt very informal and I didn’t have enough time to meet everyone I wanted to, but to those I did speak with, it was informative. I’m so happy my spouse helped me make my business cards in time.
I met a lot of wonderful people who spent a few hours chatting or walking around the con with me. I love that I can hang out with someone who was a stranger 2 minutes ago, but the instant friendship connection is undeniable. I only remember a few names like Amber and Remy from the folks I met and spent time with, but thank you! This was the third TTRPG I had brought my spouse to, but this was the first time we attended a con as a married couple. It was so exciting introducing Bronwen as my wife to everyone.
Lastly, Power Play. I think I have spent over 300+ hours in the past 2-3 years with the cast of Power Play RPG but I had never met them in person. Finally, the stars and planets aligned so that I finally met Rick, Omar and Kaitlin! We send a beautiful video to Sam, our other cast mate. But it was so incredible finally seeing these humans in person and holding their hands to say hello. They have been such a light during the years where things were not as bright for me. It was probably the best feeling being in the same space, smiling and laughing with them. My wife got to meet the people I’ve been talking about forever too. It was the best. All in all, this gencon was seriously the most fun.