Well, here we are. Two ENTIRELY too early mornings and a lot of dragging of heavy-arse books from the wilds of Hampshire to Reading and we’re set up and good to go. Wednesday was quiet but that was just as well since tables and things weren’t QUITE set up right and we ended up having to re-setup. We’re boxed in between two massive sets of shelves from two boardgame sellers but it isn’t too bad a spot all things considered. Next year I’m thinking getting perched on an end might be better for exposure though…The organisation seems better this year but the make-up of the tradehall is a bit… odd. The bring and buy is packed and there’s a couple of second-hand gaming book stalls but then there are no – apparent – main game sellers. Most of the role-playing stuff on sale seems to be from people ‘like me’. Companies selling and promoting their own games. Me, Cubicle 7, Cursed Empire, Corporation and some others. On the one hand that’s good – for us – but on the other hand it seems… odd. The sheer preponderance of board games, card games and collectable/constructable mini games seems a real shift in focus of the con, in just two years. Also I’m surprised there isn’t more in the way of a computer game presence, but all there seems to be is a LAN area and a demo area by Atari.
Still, the organisation this year seems more up to speed and it is nice being back in Reading. I haven’t been to a gaming con in Reading since.. .what.. 1992. Its a good venue, friendly, not too big, accomodation on site (if you don’t have obliging friends – thanks Steve). I’m really glad Gencon’s landed in Reading and not just because it is convenient!
For a Thursday we did pretty well on sales – Hentacle is still pretty strong and Final Straw is selling surprisingly well, but then it always seems to in person. If you’re coming down to the con, please buy my books, they’re heavy and I don’t want to drag them home again! Thanks, it would be appreciated. I’ve got Blood! and ’45 that I’m mainly pushing, but also the staples like 100 Seeds, Bloodsucker and Cloak of Steel.
I’m not sure there’s going to be a great deal of ‘News’, news from the con – coming shortly after Gencon US that seems unlikely – but there’s quite a lot of small/medium press people around and we’ll see what we can do to get you some interesting news and some scoops. Take care and I’ll have someting for you tomorrow night.
Postmortem Studios 