Hiya! I’m heading back to Game Hole Con to help celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons! This year, I’m speaking on panels, running adventures I designed for Pinching Tarts and Scarred Lands 5th Edition, and a fun DMsGuild.com adventure called Sweet Dreams are Made of Cheese by the amazing Jamie Chan. I can’t […]

Are you heading to GenCon: Indy? This year, Gen Con will be held from Thursday, August 1st, 2024 through Sunday, August 4th in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Writer’s Symposium, featuring over seventy award-winning authors, poets, experts, and game designers, will be held on the second floor of the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott at 350 W Maryland St, […]

As part of their annual PaizoCon celebration, Paizo will include several friendly local game stores (FLGS) and one convention as pilot partners in the PaizoCon@ project. These local game stores will receive access to the PaizoCon exclusive Organized Play releases, as well as the ability to participate in the PaizoCon Interactive Specials for both Pathfinder […]

On Wednesday, April 9th, Gen Con has named its 2014 Industry Insider Guests of Honor [IIGoH]. A diverse group spanning the breadth of the game industry, IIGoH members participate in numerous panels, seminars, and discussions on topics in their field of expertise. Selected by a four person Advisory Panel, IIGoH member events provide numerous opportunities […]

Award-winning graphic novel publisherArchaia Entertainment is excited to announce it will exhibit at booth #1019 at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) for a fourth straight year since the event’s inception! C2E2 is one of the Midwest’s biggest celebrations of comics and pop culture, taking place during the weekend of April 26-28, 2013 in […]

This year, for GenCon, I will be working in my capacity as Marketing Director for Steve Jackson Games. We have a giant eye-in-a-pyramid at the top of our booth so you can’t miss us in the Exhibit Hall. If you don’t spot that, we’re listed as Booth #1301 in the program book.

This is my first fan-facing convention for the company and I’m pretty excited about it. I coordinated a Munchkin Apocalypse preview contest on Twitter and the winners will be sitting down with the Munchkin Czar, Andrew Hackard, to play this upcoming release. (Hint: we also have a capsule machine in our booth and the last golden ticket… Er… seat will be won there.) There are also a ton of signings, interviews, and announcements planned.

Well, it’s been a little while since I’ve dropped in to talk about what I’ve been up to, so I thought I’d write about some of the exciting things that are happening behind-the-scenes. In this update, I talk about Geek’s Dream Girl, John Kovalic, The Creepy Cottontail and my helping out at the DriveThruRPG/ White Wolf booth at GenCon: Indy.

In July, my first article geared toward freelancers debuted on a site called Geek’s Dream Girl. My new column is written to help new writers move from commoner to freelancer and offers some “mechanics” to help you do that. Dubbed Calling all Freelancers: Adventure to Dice Castle, it’ll provide a different take on the topic and will appear once-a-month.

North America’s largest pop-culture tour continues as Wizard World Chicago Comic Con returns to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, August 11-14, with superstar guests Patrick Stewart, Bruce Campbell, Christopher Lloyd, Morena Baccarin, Felicia Day, Academy Award Winner® Lou Gossett Jr. and James Marsters headlining the list of celebrity attendees. The event will bring together thousands of fans of all ages and dozens of celebrities and industry professionals to celebrate the best in pop-fi, pop culture, movies, graphic novels, comics, toys, video gaming, television, sci-fi, gaming, original art, collectibles, contests and more.

Many top writers and creators will be joining Marvel Comics at New York Comic Con (NYCC) as the renowned comic books and media entertainment company reveals preliminary plans for the 2011 edition of the annual pop culture extravaganza which will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City, October 13 – 16, 2011. Marvel will not only have a 3000 square foot booth on the show floor where attendees will have an opportunity to mingle with creators and staff, but the company will also be conducting numerous high profile panels throughout the weekend which will feature their top talent. Joe Quesada, Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment, and Axel Alonso, Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief, will be Guests of Honor at the show and will be joined by many other notable Marvel creators including Guests of Honor Jason Aaron, Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen, and Stuart Immonen.

“The enthusiastic participation of premiere companies like Marvel is critical to our success,” notes Lance Fensterman, Group Vice President for ReedPOP and Show Manager for NYCC. “We are always eager to host Marvel at New York Comic Con and to provide their talent with a range of opportunity. Our show not only brings thousands of fans together with their favorite writers, artists and creators but we are a preeminent venue for launching and displaying new content and product. Marvel’s participation is a huge validation of our efforts and we are grateful to them for their energy and commitment. We look forward to making the 2011 edition of New York Comic Con one of the best ever!”

This weekend, I’ll be attending OddCon in Madison, Wisconsin as a panelist and moderator. Guests include J.V. Jones, Robin Laws and Sarah Monette. You may recall we conducted an interview with Robin Laws here at FlamesRising.com just recently. Well, Robin is the gaming industry guest of honor at OddCon, which takes place from Friday, April 8th through Sunday, April 10th in Madison, Wisconsin.

In this post I talk about other guests, my panels and offer more information.

We recently made the trek down to Chicago for the second year of C2E2. The attendance was up by ten-to-fifteen thousand people year-over-year to reach in upwards of 40 to 45 thousand; you can see by the picture at the top that the show was hopping. I was really impressed by the attention to detail to make this show fun. Last year, the show’s organizers walked the floor on Sunday, which had died down considerably, and asked the vendors and booth managers what could be done. Huge, huge, difference between this year and last year. Huge.

Like comic conventions? This year for Wizard World, otherwise known as Chicago Comic-Con, I spent the weekend in Artist’s Alley with Leanne Buckley. First off, I should point out that I couldn’t help but compare this convention to C2E2, which was held at the McCormick Place just this past April in Chicago. The difference between the two is pretty distinct, because the venues had a different emphasis from one another. As many fans pointed out to me, there was a noticeable lack of comic book publishers at Wizard World. Most, if not all, of the publishers that were missing had booths at C2E2 this past Spring, so I wasn’t surprised that there was a lack of publishers at this show. I was happy to see that Avatar Press was at Wizard World, and I had a great chat with them. Admittedly, I was a little curious why some of the local Chicago comic book publishers didn’t have a booth at the show.

When it comes to all things gaming, nothing compares to the gamers paradise that occurs every August at Gen Con Indy, the nation’s largest annual consumer fantasy, electronic, sci-fi and adventure game convention. With Co-Sponsors like Upper Deck Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast and hundreds of other exhibitors, 6,000+ gaming events, anime and more, there is much to look forward to at Gen Con. For the seventh year in a row, the event will be held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis from August 13-16.

Gen Con, celebrating its 42nd year and going strong, is the quintessential “destination” for all types of gaming , for all ages. Activities range from interactive game play and computer gaming to big money hobby-related tournaments sponsored by industry leaders such as Upper Deck Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast.

Play New Games. Meet New People.

Madison Games Day is a chance for gamers in and around the Madison, Wisconsin area to meet new people and play new games. Bring your friends, bring your game group, but while you’re here, sit at a table with folks you barely know—or don’t know at all—and try some games that you haven’t played before but maybe have always wanted to.

We invite everyone in the area (or willing to make the trek) to come and play some games! There will be indie and mainstream roleplaying games, card games, and board games. If you have something you’d like to play, bring it!

Meet new people. Play new games. Madison Games Day, May 30th 2009.

Matt M. McElroy (of Flames Rising and DriveThruComics.com) and Jason L Blair (designer of Little Fears) announce Madison Games Day, a ten-hour event dedicated to introducing Madison-area residents to meet new people and play new games.

Madison Games Day will take place on Saturday, May 30th 2009 at the Pizza Oven on Monona Drive. From 12p until 10p, Madison-area gamers are invited to stop in, meet local players, and try new games. A variety of games are slated for play and attendees are urged to bring their own as well. Have a game you want to try but your regular group isn’t into? Bring it! Have a hankering to dust off an old favorite for one more spin? Bring it! Want to give a game you weren’t sure about another shot? Bring it! There is an official event schedule but pick-up games are encouraged. If you have something you want to run or play, bring it along!

For complete information on Madison Games Day, join the Yahoo! Group or you can register an event, or view the existing event line-up, visit the official website at MadisonGamesDay.wordpress.com.

Gen Con LLC announced today that the US Bankruptcy Court of Western Washington has confirmed the company’s plan of reorganization and approved the company’s rejection of a hostile takeover bid.

“This is bright day for us”, said Adrian Swartout, CEO of Gen Con. “The entire team is looking forward to 2009 and continuing our growth as a stronger, more focused company. Our emergence from Chapter 11 is a testament to the skill and perseverance of our employees and the strength of the phenomenal Gen Con brand. Everyone here is excited to begin working outside of Chapter 11.”

Since filing for bankruptcy protection in February of 2008, Gen Con has significantly reduced its expenses and increased its cash position.

Jennifer Rodgers will be vending at Monster-Mania 11, August 22nd through 24th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ. Jenn will be selling her line of creepy greeting cards, including the new “Thank You” design. She’ll also have prints and original artwork of her many illustrations for horror and fantasy role-playing games. More […]

Flames Rising was fortunate to attend Wizard World Chicago this year, at the gorgeous Rosemont Convention Center in Des Plaines, Illinois.

This was our first year at the convention, and we’re happy to report that we are making plans to go back next year.

Some of the Flames Rising crew was at Wizard World Chicago this weekend checking out new Horror Comics and Dark Fantasy Artists. Michael Erb helped us diversify our efforts and dropped by Origins Game Fair to get the scoop on upcoming games, cool events and the 34th Annual Origins Awards.

The Innovative Creators Will Hold A Toy Design Discussion From 4-5 P.M. On Friday, June 27th.

Have you had a killer toy idea in your head for years, but don’t have the know-how to make it a reality? Does the idea of it leave you awake at night with a gnawing, burning desire in your gut to turn your dream into a toy?

Well, after you’ve been to your doctor to rule out an ulcer, get on over to the Wizard World Chicago Convention Friday, June 27th from 4-5 p.m., because we’ve got the cure for what ails ya! Two of the demented minds behind the Teddy Scares toy line, co-creator, Joe DiDomenico and Chris Patchell, Teddy Scares artist extraordinaire, will discuss the “how-to” of designing your very own toy!