I took a while to type this up.
Firstly, I could not hold my head upright without assistance for a
couple of days after the con and was peck typing. It had nothing to
do with the hold up on me assigning words to my feelings, but my
throat was also a little raw as I spoke more last weekend than I do
over the entirety of some months. TOTALLY. WORTH. IT. I also did not
know what to blog about as there was just so much. Not everything was
sunshine and puppies, but nothing kept me from coming back day two on
less than three hours of sleep after more than a gallon of mixed
local beers jostling around in my tummy either.
The building where the convention
itself was held was nothing fancy, but serviceable for those not in
wheelchairs. The building is old and does not have to update to city
standards until they change something like the wallpaper or carpet so
is not the prettiest venue. The elevator closed on my wheelchair and
changed floors twice with part of my chair sticking out the door
while I was the only person in the elevator. I had to remove the feet
off my chair to close the door on the handicap stall in the roomier
bathroom. I'm glad I took my manual wheelchair because my electric
chair is larger. Still, TOTALLY. WORTH. IT. for me at least. I saw a
couple of other people in wheelchairs on Saturday, but not on Sunday,
and never saw either again aside from the once each. I'm fairly
certain I was the only person to use the elevator last weekend. I saw
two strollers at different points upstairs. One of those was too big
to fit in the elevator so was likely carried up the stairs which were
quite wide, but the other might have used the elevator. The primary
concern I can see with the location is they experienced a 40%
increase in attendance this year compared to last. Most of the con
was fine, but there were times sections of the con were closing in on
heel-to-toe.
Another minor concern I have is the
tabletop gaming side of the convention. The board game area was never
in danger of filling up any time I was near or in it which admittedly
was not all that often. The guy running the miniature painting table
was doing it because nobody registered for the two day 40K event the
convention started promoting months ago. The Infinity tournament was
part of the state championship, and there was one local in it. Ennie
award winning game designers should not have an empty table when they
are the only game designer running a game in any given time slot. One
of the people whose game folded that joined us is a retired GM that
happens to be the only five star Pathfinder GM in our region so will
still run games for special events when asked to do so. I don't keep
up with trading card games or living card games any more so can't
comment directly to that end of tabletop gaming. I just don't have
the kind of money it takes to feed my Magic addiction, so I don't any
more. I was told by a Magic judge they had lower turnout than they
were expecting however. I don't know about the other areas of gaming,
but the organization for roleplaying games was handled fairly well
from an outsider perspective. I'm not sure if there is anything more
that could be done on that end to get more butts in seats. I am
tempted to run a small minis event next year like a Kill Team game as
I would love to get in some miniature wargaming, but I want to have
time to see the rest of the convention as well. Most of the people
that were in either the Minis or Roleplaying rooms are truly
dedicated to tabletop games and were in there all weekend. I just
wish there were more of them.
Right now Zappcon is more of a Cosplay
and anime convention which is great. I enjoyed soaking it all in.
Anime conventions do well in Fresno. Comic book and gaming
conventions have struggled here in the past. I don't think Zappcon
would be a success if it were limited to just comics or just gaming.
There are some dedicated tabletop gaming fans that I am fairly
certain will go every year, but there are many, many, many local
tabletop gamers that do not attend yet talk about how there is
nothing for them locally while opining about tabletop gaming
opportunities in other cities within half a day's drive if only they
could do _______ in order to attend.
I hate ending my impressions of Zappcon
on a sour note. I am wrapping this series up after couple of weeks
have passed and I am still abuzz with the energy of Zappcon. It's
given a boost to my desire to get some hobbying done. On a completely
unrelated note, I am in the planning stages for a costume that will
work with my wheelchair. It should be done in time for Halloween of
next year. Zappcon was one of those few times in my life I can
describe as having a magical effect on me. I would not change the
weekend as I experienced it, but I am also attempting to peer through
the glamour of it all to see if there is a way to expand the effect
in the future and what might help make it better for others as well.
Zappcon 2015
Part 3 - You're reading it
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