Dear readership, have I ever the story
to tell you. You may recall me finishing the previous post with news
of how I was going on a trip for a few days. Such an outing would
usually be enough to excuse some inactivity on the blogging front,
only it was far from the only thing keeping me from this keyboard. If
you've a mind for tales of travel, trade shows, and emergency vet
visits then boy do I ever have some stories for you.
It all began with an invitation to
attend the ACD Games Day trade show in Madison, Wisconsin. ACD is a
board game distribution company and this is their yearly convention
for stores to attend seminars and presentations along with nabbing
goodies at the warehouse. What’s that you ask? Do I own or even
work at game store? Nope, I help one occasionally but you shouldn’t
sweat such petty details. Fact was I haven’t been out of the state
in almost two-years and have never stepped foot in Wisconsin, so for
whatever reason I opted to go along with the store owner and another
lad.
The opening leg of any trip is always
the worst part. Not only is there the knowledge that you have to go
all the way there and back, but with each second you get further away
from home, unable to go-back on your decision. Add to this a concern
for my cat with pisser problems and the initial drive was rather
unnerving. Even so, I’d decided to take on this bizarre journey and
there was an entire household of adults back home to care for the
kitty.
Indiana was the same as always,
nothing all that special. Even in parts of that state I find
fascinating like Kokomo, it always seems like something is missing.
Still I hold no grudge towards the place. Illinois on the other hand
I believe should be surgically removed from the map. Traveling
through there is already torture and in this case we had to go
through Chicago. I haven’t been within the city proper for close to
twenty years and it’s even more of a hole than I remember. I’m
sure there must be some decent people within the metro but by god
what a hideous facade of dirt, utmost cruelty towards the homeless,
plenty of rust, and a surprising amount of barbed wire. It’s as if
a war-zone were dropped on top of the Midwest.
Finally finding myself in Wisconsin I
couldn’t help but note it’s not all that terribly different from
Michigan save for a few odd tidbits. For instance what is with all
the traffic roundabouts as highway on/off ramps? Perhaps that was
just a string of lousy luck on our part. Getting into Madison it
seemed like a very nice city though I'd have to wait til the
following day to explore. For now it was all convention antics.
I've never been to this sort of trade
show format before and the thing I found most unique is how spending
multiple days in close proximity to the same people creates a tiny
community. Before you know it, folks you'd never have met under
normal circumstances are your breakfast group. The first two people I
saw were the pair of Frenchmen from Blue Orange Games who would later
demo some decent games to me and the one would make the mistake of
patting me on my sweaty back, sorry dude! A little people watching
and you can learn who likes who, who's new to this, it's good
sociological study that thankfully keeps you from feeling too alone
away from home.
Another big part of a gathering like
this is company seminars. These ran the gamut from horrifically dull,
sloppy yet interesting, or in a few cases actually worth attending.
Of the showcases I hit up Calliope Games won hands down. What put
them over the top? Easy, beer and free games. The least interesting
award goes to CMON who actually put people to sleep with their
self-aggrandizing corporate jargon.
Meals were provided throughout the
event with items varying from decent to downright bizarre. Consider
how the first meal paired roasted asparagus dip, Swedish meatballs,
and some brie cranberry bake with all he consistency and flavor of
sugary snot. Oddball menus were simply a fact life throughout the
trip such as Thursday nights, 2 salad, two potato, rare roast beef,
champagne capital, and a freezer full of chaco tacos. It was possible
to wash these down with some proper hooch though the bar was cash
only for some god-forsaken reason. Mercifully each I.D. pouch came
with 2 freebies at least so I was able to put down the saltiest gin
martini in history.
On Thursday afternoon there was an
exhibition hall where each company displayed their current hot titles
and networking became a major point of conversation. Even brought
home a few business cards myself from folks who I discussed game
design with. While I certainly enjoyed learing over new games as
company reps attempted to impress me into stocking their goods I was
haunted by one question; “what's with the green dot?” Turns out
being the one guy at a convention with a hazelnut allergy makes you
the one asshole out of hundreds with a green sticker attached to your
I.D.
At a few points on Thursday I was
allowed some time to explore Madison which very much lives up to its
reputation as one of the most pedestrian friendly cities in the U.S.
Overall I’d say it is a pretty damn nice town though not without
its issues including one that as a resident of Michigan I never
though I could levy against another place. What is with all the white
people? I mean the place is just a bit lacking for social diversity
to the extant that it made a cracker like me self-aware. I even
checked the census numbers and now understand the the percentages
that take a place from regular to scary white. Furthermore the ease
of access for walkers and bikers allows so many people the
opportunity to constantly work-out in some form plus the lakes
provide for water sports. So you have a lot of physically active
people but ya know what else Madison is known for? It’s often
listed among the top ten drinking cities in the country. Add it all
up and you get my big issue, You are surrounded, by fit, drunk, white
boys all the time. That may be just fine for some people, not quite
my style though. Still it is a nice place and I wouldn't dissuade
anyone from vising.
During my adventures around town I
sought out a few Frank Lloyd-Wright locations as my sister is a big
fan. The convention center itself is one of his designs, boasting a
rooftop garden featuring a memorial plaque for Otis Redding who died
in a plane crash in Lake Monona. The most troublesome part of
sightseeing came from the Rob Lamp house which eluded me until I
realized it was dead center in a city block surrounded by other
houses, an apartment complex, and even a damn hotel. Never before in
my life have I wanted to shout to the heavens “the fuck are you,
house?”
I returned to the convention center in
time for game demos. The whole exhibition area had been stripped down
and reformatted to accommodate a massive amount of game tables.
During my time there I tried out a couple of excellent titles like
Cursed Court which is a great betting and bluffing game that
I'm very enamored with. An upcoming title called Blue Lagoon
also tickled me by providing a nice mix of area control and resource
collecting. Of course there was some rubbish in the mix as well but
I'm not here to tear down a bunch of games I got to try for free. And
while it can be disheartening to see some lousy stuff hit the market,
it provides some hope that there's a spot for one of my own designs
someday.
While demoing I witnessed a line
forming for a display at the far end of the hall. Seems this
particular show has a system where you gather tickets from demoing
games only to turn them in for raffles or free games randomly put out
on a table or behind doors. My first go through nabbed me some fairly
uninteresting items but I was hooked and went out to get another full
stash of six tickets. Unfortunately while waiting in line the prizes
ran out and I was forced to enter the raffles which as you can assume
I didn't win. On the upside I got to trade my items with fellow
travelers and took home some stuff I actually wanted. I mean sure
role-playing books are cool but if you never play em it's a bit of a
crap shoot. Still, this portion of the show solidified a few feelings
I've been having on the topic of tabletop games. That's a topic for
another day when we cover what I brought back from the show.
After Breakfast and more presentations
Friday afternoon marked the time to clear out of the hotel and head
to the ACD distribution warehouse for some shopping. Taken on its
own, the experience of combing through a warehouse full of board
games and toys is the stuff of dreams. It'd be easy for an impulsive
buyer to loose their shirt when surrounded by so many goodies.
Unfortunately the warehouse itself lacked for climate control as it
was filled to capacity on a sunny 80-odd degree day. I've seen sauna
with less sweat than this place. Everyone was cooking in their own
juices. Suffice to say it wasn't a pretty sight.
The trip home went off without much
issue save for more classic Chicago traffic. We even had a chance to
stop for some donuts. Once I got home however, things got more
complicated. Turns out the cat situation had only worsened in my
absence. What followed was a period of extreme stress as I did my
best to care for the critter before we finally made a family
agreement to take him to the expensive, and well worth it, emergency
vet. A massive weight was lifted from my shoulders thanks to
caregivers who actually seemed to know what they were talking about.
Within mere house we knew more about what was going on with him than
we had for months. He's been there for a few nights and should be
home later today.
With both the adventure to Wisconsin
and the cat problem dealt with I've finally been able to get working
on writing, school crap, and getting out to see Solo. All in all it
has been one of the nuttiest, most draining weeks I can remember.
Sure most of these experiences were good for me. I got out of my
comfort zone, met new people, saw another bit of the globe. That
being said I am looking forward to staying home with my animals for a
real long time.
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