TsunamiCon 2024 is on Kickstarter!
Our Kickstarter campaign for TsunamiCon 2024 is up and running, so it’s time to get serious about our fun and games.
TsunamiCon has always been a grass-roots, community-supported event. We’ve managed to keep it afloat for 10 years with sponsorships, contributions from the community, pre-sales via Kickstarter and other outlets, and the love and support of our fellow gamers helping us to spread the word and bring more folks to the table. My organization has never made a dime off of this event, and we haven’t the working the capital to support it any other way. Any additional funds are invariably rolled right back into the event to make it bigger, better, and more entertaining.
As always, this year brings us some new challenges. First, we’ve been obliged to move further into the year, placing us in a difficult position just after Thanksgiving and at the threshold of the holiday season. This will make our con a destination for holiday shopping for geeks and gamers this year, but may play havoc with availability amidst our regulars – particularly those who travel to Wichita for the event. It is important that we bring in new gamers, so spreading the word is more important than ever.
Second, we’ve had to change hotels. Again. This is largely a financial decision, but also influenced our scheduling options. The Broadview is a beautiful hotel with a nice ballroom, which turned out to be more than we needed during the one prior event at this location in 2022 (just back from the Pandemic, when attendee numbers were very low). We’ve taken a stab at redesigning the space to better accommodate vendors and gamers, and I’m optimistic, but if I could afford to pick up additional space I would. I might put together a poll to help us determine how best we would use that space, as well.
Costs are still high, but I was happy that I could set our Kickstarter goal a little lower this year. If we can bring in $7500, I am confident that our basic costs will be covered. In the days ahead, we’ll be highlighting some of the rewards and perks we have available on our Kickstarter page, with more to come if we can beat our funding goal and start working on stretch goals. Help us get the funds together now, and we’ll do everything in our power to provide you a first-class game con experience for the holdays.
Huzzah!!
More Cardboard, Please!
The very first year we opened the doors at TsunamiCon, we were startled to realize that the event we envisioned wasn’t quite what we saw developing around us. My friends and I were roleplayers; I’ve been a hard-core D&D nerd since the early ’80s, and naturally I attracted a group of similarly-minded gamers who got together every week for an ongoing adventure or two. We had been branching out at our FLGS and connected with other roleplayers, and TsunamiCon was soon to follow. What we didn’t realize at the time was just how the local tabletop gaming demographic – and by extension, the global demographic – had developed in recent years. We were virtually awash in board gamers.
Now, it would be inaccurate to say that we didn’t play board games. In fact, several of my friends have extensive board game collections, and they were common fare for nights when our regular gaming plans fell through. And honestly, that has been a pattern since I was very young. “Oh, Rick can’t make it for D&D… let’s play Axis and Allies.” Years later, it was Betrayal at House of the Hill. Then Lords of Waterdeep. And to be fair, I had never shied away from organizing board game nights for family or friends. But RPGs consumed a more than casual amount of my time and energy – a common trait amongst lifelong roleplayers.
So we expecting that most of our event would be in kind. RPGs with a bit of board gaming going on around it. I had an inkling it might be more; one of our local community friends offered to bring out a small library of games to share, and I even contacted some publishers and set up tournaments for Ticket to Ride and Zombie Dice. But we also set up a Star Wars Miniatures tourney, and Magic: The Gathering events. I figured it’s a gaming con… we should embrace all of it.
Still… I was not prepared for the reality that fully HALF of our gaming tables were board gamers.
Breakin’ out Dead of Winter from the TsunamiCon Game Library!
Was I disappointed? Hells to the NO. It was so exciting to realize that there was this growing community of tabletop gamers who had a completely different hobby than I did. That they were every bit as dedicated, as excited to try something new, and loved to share their passion with fellow gamers! Since that time, TsunamiCon has always had about as many tables devoted to board games and card games as to RPGs. Without the board game community showing up, in fact, our convention would have long since diminished.
Recently a friend of ours who is a local leader in the board game community opined on social media that TsunamiCon is “very good for RPG and so so for Board Games.” (He went on to say that it’s a great time.) Despite the prevalence of board games at our event – the company now maintains a growing library of games that we bring to the con for attendees to freely enjoy – I discovered that I couldn’t disagree. I think I know why… I think I’ve always known why; it’s just a little hard to articulate to anyone who isn’t primarily a roleplayer, and a bitter pill to swallow at some level because we really do try to celebrate it all.
RPGs aren’t typically casual games. That isn’t to say that there aren’t exceptions to the rule, nor is it a suggestion that board games can’t be very serious endeavors. But what is true is that most successful RPG experiences require planning, preparation, organization, and engagement by all parties. It’s far easier to take out a board game on a moment’s notice and dive in than it usually is for roleplaying games. Even if you are dealing with published adventure content and pre-made characters, your game master typically has to spend hours familiarizing him/herself with the material and determining how to approach it. It’s a style of gaming that requires a great deal of mental focus, mastery of game system and material, and improvisation.
So naturally, any event that provides roleplayers a chance to list gaming scenarios (that they then spend hours preparing for the event) and sign up for games (that they can then bone up on in their spare time, perhaps write up characters, etc.) is a huge draw for the community. It’s harder to find a good opportunity to throw down on some RPG action. Consequentially, one of the highlights of an organized tabletop gaming event that supports RPGs is the online schedule. It quickly becomes a central component of the entire con, which definitely focuses the attention on the games that show up on the schedule.
And this has been the case since Day One.
The TsunamiCon Game Library circa 2017
I earmark a substantial segment of our resources to board games every year. We don’t hold “play to win” events for RPGs. I don’t have a library of RPG books available. Roleplayers are on top of that for their own tables. Just as board gamers can bring games out to share and/or demo, and – to the point of my post, if I have one – also schedule them in advance. A handful of people do, and I’m excited to see it. But while we currently have maybe eight or ten board games on the schedule for the whole weekend, we have dozens of RPGs.
I want to show the board gaming community the love it deserves. We have 35 Play-To-Win games on the shelf this year, and we have a staff of knowledgeable volunteers managing our library. We’ll have some demos listed for Play-To-Win titles in the next few days. We have tables available for scheduled games and for open gaming. What we’d love to see is more board games and cards games on the schedule.
If you want to bring out a game and share it with your fellow attendees, feel free to list it in advance! Maybe you have a closet full of games and there’s some you never get to play; the convention is a fantastic place to do it. And letting your fellow gamers know about it ahead of time helps you find people who are excited to check it out. Maybe it’s a favorite of theirs, too! Maybe you picked up something new and want to play it more. Maybe you just don’t have the time in life to play your games, but you still have something to share. Bring it to the con!
I know that we’ll see plenty of cardboard hit the table. Being “very good for RPG and so so for Board Games” is all about context. When people check out the con in the weeks leading up to the event, the RPG crowd just takes up a lot of the space… Letting attendees know that board gamers are ready to rock and roll is a perfect step toward a level of equity.
~ E. “Captain” Carl
A Note from the Director
It was about 10 years ago, summer of 2013, when I first uttered the word “TsunamiCon” to my fellow podcasters on Metagamers Anonymous. We’d been casting pods about gaming for over a year at this point, and I had been inspired by a show I listened to out of Chicago to connect with a local game store – The Burrow – and launch our Tsunami GameDays. We were working on our second such event, and I remember telling my crew about a con in St. Louis that had been constructed by the hosts of a podcast. And I said… “I see TsunamiCon in our future.”
It got a good laugh.
We weren’t the kind of people who launched major events. Those took money. And vision. And a lot of work. It wasn’t until after we met Shaun and Eli at one of our early GameDay events that a plan started to take shape. I had more than a decade of experience planning events when I was in radio, but I’d never even been to a game con. Shaun and Eli, on the other hand, had helped run the gaming at several conventions over the years, and the idea of building one from the ground up was appealing. Jonikka helped me run the numbers and we started working on a game plan.
In the spring of 2014 we launched our startup. I had seen another convention out of Waco, TX, launch a Kickstarter campaign to pre-sell tickets, and I realized that we had finally (potentially) solved the last big problem: raising capital. None of us had much money to put into the endeavor, and it would take a large injection of cash up front to secure a venue, print programs, merchandise, promotional materials, pay for hotel rooms, catering, equipment, signage – the list went on and on!
And that’s how we did it. Kickstarter.
I know it may be hard believe if you’ve never been in the business, but in 10 years we’ve never made a dime on TsunamiCon. As we grew the convention became more expensive, and any money we made – which wasn’t much! – went right back into the event. In a very real sense, it’s a labor of love… and we know that our community gets that. Because so many of our friends and fellow gamers volunteer their time, energy, and yes, CASH, into helping make TsunamiCon an amazing place to spend a weekend in Wichita.
The Pandemic hit us hard, of course. The costs of running an event have skyrocketed, while our attendance numbers took a dive. It took everything we had and then some to make 2021 happen… we gave until it hurt, and in some ways we’re still reeling. But there was never a question that we’d made a run at Year 10. This event means a lot to us and our community, and we owe it to ourselves to keep on giving.
But we need money. It’s been a few years since we turned to Kickstarter for help, but we want more than anything to make this year’s event successful, and the cost of entry is daunting. Kickstarter represents our first best chance at putting together the bare minimum funds to kick things into motion, and we the community to pull together.
So pledge. Get your friends and family on board. If you’re not sure about how Kickstarter works, ask us. Share the campaign. On Facebook. On Twitter. To your Instagram followers, on TikTok – wherever you can! It’s important. Not to line anybody’s pockets or make anyone feel important, but just to help provide our local gaming community a place to get immersed in gaming fun and frivolity for three amazing days!
This campaign has been a grind, but it’s far from over!
On Crowdfunding, Game Registration, and Returning to the Holiday Inn
The past few weeks have been very nose-to-the-proverbial-grindstone as we started working on logistics for this year’s convention. We are all truly excited to be sharing this experience again with our Wichita gaming community! It’s hard to believe that this October marks our 10th year with TsunamiCon.
We still have some major obstacles to overcome. Many venues were booked up before we even hosted our 2021 event – including last year’s venue – and for a while our only hope was a cancellation. Fortunately, the Holiday Inn came to our rescue. We held our second event at their hotel back in 2015, and we left on really good terms… but they are pricey. In 2016 we shopped around because we could barely afford the space. It’s definitely worth noting that we’re looking at a very high price tag this year as well. And we need your help.
For TsunamiCon 2023 we’ve launched a Kickstarter to help meet the bare minimum funding we need to make it happen. And it’s not a small figure. We’ve raised prices a few bucks on some products, but the last thing we want to do is make it harder on our community to hang out all weekend and play games with us. It’s important that you can afford to be there and help us make 2023 another great year for the con.
Badges are currently available exclusively on the Kickstarter page, including some very nice packages for merch and VIG options. We absolutely must hit our funding goal, so we need everyone to pledge now and help us get the word out. Let your friends and family know; if the platform seems intimidating, let us know and we’ll help you with the details. It’s all super easy, and as long as we hit our goal you’ll be charged on the day the Kickstarter comes to a close. We even have some vendor booths and sponsorships available on the campaign page.
Finally, by popular demand, we’ve opened up event registration for GMs who want to get games on the schedule early. It’s pretty early in the game, so to speak, but I don’t mind getting events on the schedule now and showcasing some of the fun that will be available at the con. So submit your games now, if you are so inclined. This goes for panels and other events. too.
Ideally, we’ll reach our goal quickly and start building some additional funds to bring more features and guests to the con. Keep an eye out for further updates to learn more about how you can help make TsunamiCon 2023 an unqualified success!
Announcing TsunamiCon 2023!
It’s time once again, my friends, to gather together with dice firmly in hand and celebrate the tradition of the Wichita game con! TSUNAMICON 2023 is happening October 20th thru 22nd! This year we make our long overdue return to the hallowed halls of the Holiday Inn Wichita East I-35! So batten down the hatches, me hearties! We’re once again preparing to ship off for another year of grand adventure!
Early VIG tickets are currently available for those who want to get in early on the action, and we’ll have early vendor registration up soon as well. They’ll only be posted for a limited time, however! Soon we’ll launch this year’s crowdfunding campaign. This one’s gonna cost us more than a few dabloons, so get ready to spread the word far and wide and snatch up each and every one of your gamer friends to get in on the action!
Keep yer eyes locked on the horizon and our website and social media pages for updates, including our next GameDay event coming yer way soon!
TSUNAMICON 2022 | We’re Back!
It has been nearly three years since we’ve gathered en masse to celebrate our unique and amazing hobby. We’ve weathered numerous cancellations, venues shutting down, a massive shift entirely into cyberspace (with all the hiccups that naturally extend from that grand endeavor), and a fine-tuned existential dread that some things will never be what they once were… And yet, we still gather around tables in our homes and local hobby shops to adventure, rabble-rouse, skirmish, and trade wood for sheep with reckless abandon.
So it’s official: TsunamiCon is back again for another round of gaming goodness this October 21st, 22nd and 23rd. This year we are descending on the historic Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview in downtown Wichita, just across from Century II. We’ll be filling their grandiose 9,000-square-foot ballroom to the brim with gaming tables and special events, and using the adjacent Riverview Room – with it’s picturesque view of the east bank – as our Marketplace and Guild Hall. We have also secured a special hospitality room for our VIGs, and will be working with the hotel restaurant and caterers to provide excellent food and snack options throughout the con.
Early VIG badges are now available, and tickets will go on sale soon enough. We’ll be making announcements in the weeks ahead regarding featured events and special guests. As always, if there is a special game, panel, or event you would like to bring to the con, reach out to us at events@tsunamicon.org to discuss the particulars. If we can fit it in and it feels like it belongs at our event, we will. We will also open game registration soon, allowing GMs to list games and events for attendees to join. It’s never a bad idea to plan your convention experience in advance to get the most out of the experience.
Stay tuned, friends. And be sure to spread the good news! TsunamiCon is back for 2022!
Announcing TsunamiCon 2021 Virtual Con
Are you ready for the main event? Join the crew of TsunamiCon, Wichita’s premiere tabletop gaming convention, for our fall convention. In the wake of the continuing public health crisis, TsunamiCon 2021 will once again be entirely virtual.
TsunamiCon attendees can enjoy a number of fun and exciting events throughout the weekend – brought right to your computer and/or mobile device! Including a variety of tabletop games and RPGs, Featured Events, Demos, Special Guests, Organized Play, Live Entertainment, Panels, Contests and Giveaways, and more…!
TsunamiCon 2021 Virtual Con is scheduled for the weekend of October 22nd thru 24th, and registration and event submission is now open! Keep an eye on our website (www.TsuanmiCon.org) and our social media feeds for updates and information.
Announcing our Spring 2021 Virtual Con!
Join the crew of TsunamiCon, Wichita’s premiere tabletop gaming convention, for our newest gaming adventure. In the wake of the continuing public health crisis, our 2021 events will be entirely virtual – starting with our very first springtime convention!
Tsunami GameFaire attendees can enjoy a number of fun and exciting events throughout the weekend – brought right to your computer and/or mobile device! Including a variety of tabletop games and RPGs, Featured Events, Demos, Special Guests, Organized Play, Live Entertainment, Panels, Contests and Giveaways, and more…!
Our inaugural Tsunami GameFaire event is scheduled for the weekend of April 30th thru May 2md, and registration and event submission is now open! Keep an eye on our website (www.TsuanmiCon.org) and our social media feeds for updates and information.
Got Merch?
Every year at TsunamiCon we have offered official merchandise to help celebrate and commemorate your hometown game con, and we feel that 2020 should be no exception! As such, we are producing a limited number of TsunamiCon T-shirts and dice to enhance your convention experience this year, despite moving to an entirely virtual format. Shirts and dice are currently available for purchase, but we’ll be printing to order so buy now! Our current plan is to take orders through the 20th of September.
This year’s T-shirt will be available in a wide assortment of sizes in maroon or midnight blue, and will feature our TsunamiCon 2020 Virtual Logo with Homeslice looking on from above. You won’t want to miss out! Get your merch today!
Incidentally, we are offering premium badges for a limited time that also include this merchandise.
Note that shipping is included in the price.