June 2, 2009

Probably not the "right" place for this

"Gee Chris, what have you been up to?"

Not a normal question, except from the folks, but one I do get asked occasionally. I'll refrain from discussion/rants/complaints about work, but the last month has been very, very busy and all the non-work stuff has been gaming related....somewhat.

Carolyn and I went to South Bend, IN at the beginning of May for Geekbert and Snorky's wedding. For those of you who may not know Geekbert is kind of the head honcho for the HackMaster Association. I only say "kind of" because I've been helping him out...which has proven interesting.


Trying to wrangle volunteers for Origins and GenCon this summer is bad enough, but trying to get the events registered has proven an interesting comparitive study between the two best gaming conventions in the US.

Both Origins and GenCon have websites used for registration and admin purposes, but the similiarities pretty much end there. The Origins folks have been so very helpful, answering questions and checking back to ensure our needs (the HackMaster Association) are being met. The Origins folks seem to genuienly care that we come to Columbus and have a good time.

GenCon....what a pain in the ass. Our events still aren't listed. Granted I was late with the initial submission, but I've had every event summarily rejected for a myriad of little reasons. Each time I have quickly made their desired changes and re-submitted them. The longest it's taken to get back to their "issues" is 3 hours. First they didn't like that I had Kenzer & Company noted in the notation block. I honestly cannot remember what the 2nd rejection was. The last time thety didn't think the descriptions were "descriptive" enough. I went through the event listing that was available online and sure enough....the events they did accept totally violated their "rules". It's been over 6 weeks now since the last re-submission and still nothing. I've sent off an email and got a reply that was basically, "We'll get to it when we get to is, now fuck off."

So I'm wrestling with the conventions admin stuff, coming up short on GMs and I still have several adventures to finish up. Two just need editing and two need to be typed up from notes. This has to be done so I can get the props and GM aides squared away. I leave for Origins in 17 days. Adventures should be done and sent off to GMs by June 8th.

Added into this is that Carolyn and I went back to Chicago last weekend to wish Jolly Blackburn a happy 50th at the surprise party that Dave and Jennifer Kenzer put together for him. We were the only non-employees who didn't sit at their gaming table. Pretty cool.....and a great party, totally worth the time and expense.

Here is some linkage to the pics and short videos we took at the party. I feel the need to apologize to Mrs. Mark Plemmons as I think most of the pictures she's in make her look like she's drunk......and she wasn't even close.

Jolly Blackburn's Surprise 50th Birthday Party

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