My god, it is full of gamers: Dispatches from the GenCon Writers’ Symposium
After wandering the streets for what felt like weeks, I finally found a group of friendly Jamaicans willing to part with a styrofoam container of jerk chicken and plantains. Of course, it could just be the hunger talking. At this rate GenCon might kill me, and we are less than 12 hours in.
GenCon is massive. If comic con is nerd prom then this is…nerd homecoming? Anyway, for a lover of writing and gaming it is freaking amazing.
It struck me as odd, this idea of a writer’s symposium at GenCon (‘the best four days in gaming’, or so the sign behind the odd steampunk couple standing on a small stage yelling at each other says. They are doing what I believe is a comedy act, but it is hard to tell. I can barely hear them over the folk act that is also playing. That, and I am watching them from the second floor while shoveling jerk chicken into my mouth as I write this. And I don’t even rate a first glance here, let alone a second one.)
Though, when you think about it the overlap between gaming and writing has always been there, gaming is just another writing gig and there have always been a plethora of gaming tie-in novels. Though, dear god the scale of this thing is mind-boggling. The floor for gaming is larger than any con I have ever seen. It is twice, maybe three times the size of the floor at Emerald City Comic Con. And this is just the tables that set up for playing games. In addition, there is a dealer floor that is about the same size.
Other than missing the one Jim Butcher session (while I got food) I have made all my sessions, and I have to say I have been by the quality of the sessions. They have four rooms all together exclusively for writers’ symposium. They have a damn good system for getting people in and out and even though you are told to get tickets ahead of time, only the Butcher session one has been full.
AND, I managed to talk to Kameron Hurley without making a fool of myself so I am feeling pretty rock star.
More updates to follow,
Luke W. McCullough
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