www.gama.org

It looks like the convention circuit is in full bloom with the GAMA Tradeshow (GTS) just around the corner. If you’re in Las Vegas, please come visit the Bally’s Casino and check out the convention. It’s going to be a very busy show since I’ve got meetings scheduled essentially all week, but it will be nice to see everyone in the industry again.

While the show is hosted by the Game Manufacturers Association, it really is a show for independent hobby retailers … and if you want your games to be carried in showed, it’s a must show convention. Companies that cannot attend consistently are labeled as on the ropes. In fact, many people use your attendance at GTS as a sign of your financial health. For me, it’s a chance to get a lot of business done, make the right connections and hang out with all my friends. See ya at the show!

www.gamestorm.org

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend in Portland, Oregon for the biggest small show I’ve ever attended — GameStorm. I really had a fantastic time while I was there; Mark Santillo and everyone involved with the gaming scene in Portland/Seattle put on a great event!

In this recap, your plucky hero tours a beautiful city during cherry blossom season, is befriended by hackers, plays poker with some real card sharks, pitches several of his prototypes to one of the largest game publisher in the States, speaks as a special guest panelist and is picked up at a strip club.

With so much action packed into one weekend, you won’t want to stop reading the full recap once it’s posted later. But for now, I’ll have to leave you with only this teaser. Yes, I know, my greedy hobbits … it’s not fair to leave with with a cliff-hanger once you’re built up like this. But check back in a bit and you’ll get your daily allowance of drama!

http://www.gamestorm.org/

I love supporting local gaming conventions whenever I can fit them into my convention promotion circuit. Until I have my Shifting Skies Varsity Team (read: mobile demo team) fully established, convention appearances typically mean going to conventions personally. This means a lot of travel for me. And since what we learned in physics about distance over energy squared is true, this means that I used to stay close to the Southwest.

However, when I was personally invited to attend Portland’s premiere gaming convention, GameStorm, I simply had to say yes. Many of my friends in the gaming industry live in the Northwest because Seattle is the cultural Mecca of the hobby world. And to be honest, I miss the Winter season already and could use a good dose of cool GameStorm rain. So, if you’re in the area … please come out and say Hi, play in one of my events and check out my suitcase full of prototypes at ProtoSpiel West!

http://www.idesofgaming.com

Several hundred years ago a military dictator was assassinated to preserve democracy. To commemorate this historic event, my friends at SAGA (the Southern Arizona Gamers Association) and I will be hosting a full day gaming event right here in Tucson.

You will find me running events, hosting the party and celebrating with new and old friends. You are all welcome to come visit me at this mini-convention. Free entrance for a full day gaming pass. Free parking to one of the hippest areas of Tucson. Free drinks AND a prize give away to make even the Caesars blush. I hope to see you at the High School Drama table at this very special anniversary of the Ides of Gaming!!

www.toyfair.com

So, for people who have been following my adventures recently, you already know that President’s Day weekend was quite busy with me traveling from Los Angeles to New York City. To say that the American International Toy Fair is a big show is like saying GenCon is just a local gaming convention. Toy Fair is not just a trade show, it’s the trade show in America to get business done. Toy Fair is where all the biggest buyers congregate to see what’s new in the world of toys and games.

I was there with my fulfillment house, PSI, promoting our wares. It was my first time in New York and I had an amazing time. Despite all the chaos preparing for the show, all the work on the convention floor and the vicious flu bug that was waging open war on the attendees, I really loved being at the center of all the action at the Javits Center. I learned a lot, especially about NYC. But you you’ll have to keep reading to find out this insider information. (more…)

The convention circuit has officially opened with President’s Day weekend and I got a chance to kick-off the promotion circuit in Los Angeles with a local convention that I love supporting, Strategicon.

http://www.strategicon.net/

It was a real honor to help out Paul, Eric, Patric, Vic and all the guys over at Strategicon, but I really was only there Friday night for a couple hours. But that was still long enough for me to run a couple tables of High School Drama, run a mini HSD Button Men Smackdown, test a silly new prototype and get in on some Ticket to Ride. All in all, it was a pretty action-packed Friday night. (more…)

www.toyfair.com

Arguably, the largest show of it’s kind in the United States, Toy Fair is where all the major buyers for large retail stores (like Barnes & Noble, Toys R US, etc.) go to find their games and toys, and I’ll be at the center of it! I’m really excited for Toy Fair this year; trust me when I say that this year’s show is going to be awesome. So if you’re in snowy New York City this weekend, please come visit me at booth #6246.

Yes, I’m in LA Friday and NYC in Saturday. That’s what we call jet-set, baby!

http://www.strategicon.net

The convention circuit is kicking up again and it’s time to hit the road again! And to be perfectly honest, I actually miss the excitement of entertaining at conventions and hanging out with all the friends I’ve made over the past year. It’s a little bit like a travelling circus, but it’s as close to family as we’ve got.

If you’re in the LA area, please come out and visit me Friday night. Come sit in on my Play with the Creator event Friday night at 7pm. I’ve got a new set of buttons to pass around, so come check them out!!

www.gencon.com

Now, when Peter Adkison says that he puts on the best four days of gaming, he really means it! Gen Con Indy really is an amazing show, and their 40th anniversary did not let our expectations down. If you follow the link above, make sure to check out the video segment that Geek Squad put out for the show. Obviously, there are a lot of booth babes and people in costume as those tend to look much better on film than a bunch of gamers imagining an abstract role-playing world or analyzing board game positioning. But they do give you a sense of scale as to how many people actually attended the show this year. And when I hear 30-40 thousand people attended, it really did feel like that many were there. It was crazy busy, but I had a blast! To give you a taste of what the show was like for me, here’s just what my Saturday schedule looked like … (more…)

www.gencon.com

Gen Con! Gen Con!! Gen Con!!! The best four days of gaming are upon us and I really hope to see you guys there! I’ll be running the HSD Showcase Showdown to help showcase our new title and grab some new players. I’m also running the Schoolyard Smackdown for Button Men, which is a Button Men tournament open only to student fights (like High School Drama, Lunch Money and Sailor Moon). The winner takes home the World Championship Button Men belt (yes, there’s a real belt!) so that’s going to be a lot of fun.

Make sure to stop by the Pulp Gamer booth #2224 for more details about all the events I’m running, start your HSD Button Men hunt and maybe grab a copy of HSD. While you’re there, make sure to talk to Don, Derek and Jeremiah about all the great stuff they have there at their booth — including their new CDs and those fresh new shot glasses!

www.comic-con.org

Most of you already know quite a bit about the International Comics Convention held last week in San Diego, because of the massive media coverage that the “geek prom” has earned. You already know what E! Entertainment, G4 Network and if you’re reading from San Diego, all the local networks have shown you. The mobs of comic book fanboys, the thralls of super collectors and masses of parents with their kids all watching the human zoo of the entertainment industry. In total, I think the numbers were something in the order of 150,000 — the San Diego Convention Center sold out each day — and I was there on the front lines with HSD. I got a chance to meet a lot of great people at the show and made some new fans for the game. (more…)

www.comic-con.org

High School Drama is really starting to get the popular recognition that you all have known from the start … so, you better make sure you come visit me at Comic Con!! Trust me when I say that if you’re anywhere even near San Diego during the last weekend of July, you want to make sure you come down to Comic Con before it sells out. And if anything can sell out the San Diego Convention Center, it’s Comic Con! (more…)

Winding down from the excitement of Origins, so I thought I’d jump online before my flight to give you all a quick recap of the weekend. I know a lot of you are only reading this now to see if we won the Origins Award.

… and the winner is … Munchkin Impossible.

I know many of you may be upset that High School Drama didn’t win in it’s category of best card game of the year. Now I can’t give you specifics into the voting process; however, I’ll say here what our esteemed master of ceremonies, Phil Lacefield, said: “Some of the votes were extremely close and were only decided by a few ballots.”

Was Phil talking about our category or just categories in general? Was HSD, a new game by a freshman designer, really a couple votes shy of beating one of the most successful card games on the market today? It sure makes for a good plot if it were true! But in all honesty, it was a incredible honor even to be mentioned in the same company as Reiner Knizia, James Ernest and Steve Jackson. Those guys really are my gaming idols. (more…)

www.originsgames.com

Yes, we’re up for the Origins Award for Best Card Game … so, you know I’ll be at Origins this week promoting and campaigning for High School Drama! Please make sure to drop by the Shifting Skies games booth (#223) while I’m in Columbus, Ohio.

Pick up your autographed copy of HSD, grab a full set of HSD Button Men and vote for the best non-collectible card game on the market — High School Drama!

Alright, back in the saddle!

This whole “a convention a month” schedule that I’ve been on promoting High School Drama has really started to take it’s toll on my health. It’s taking longer and longer each time for me to recover for the long days of pimping myself and the game out. But then again, it could be all that Becherovka that I had while at the con. For those of you who know, I have quite a taste for Czech alcohol (actually, I loved everything about Prague last time I visited!) … but I digress.

Phoenix Con Games was a great show for me because I actually got a chance to game! *shock* Yeah, my really good friend Darrin came in from LA and stayed for the show, plus I got to see all my friends from Phoenix again. Ivan really knows how to put on a show! The tables were humming 24 hours a day and there was such a cool vibe the whole time. Ivan and I got a chance to sit down and talk about the process of putting on a convention and the sort of sacrifice it takes to make it really successful. As Peter Adkinson (owner of Gen Con and a general great guy) had anointed Ivan, Ivan Erickson had knighted me in the ways of the con organizer. Look forward to hearing a lot of exciting news about the Tucson gaming scene for 2008! (more…)

http://www.conevents.com

Just packing up for the big Phoenix con. If you’re in the area, please make sure to come by one of the many HSD events that I’ll be running. Once I have a little more time, I’ll report back with convention updates. Be sure to check back in!!

http://www.kublacon.com/

http://funkyplaid.livejournal.com/

http://www.buttonmen.dhs.org/

Okay, we’re back up and running! I know you guys have been looking forward to the Kubla Con recap and I’ve taken a litte longer to post than I normally do. This is because the server actually went down for a bit and well … life happens; but everything is rolling smoothly now. Onto the recap!

Kubla Con was a lot of fun, especially seeing all the fans who already know and love High School Drama! Also, I always love hanging out with my friends in the Bay Area and this year at Kubla Con was no different. The HSD Showcase Showdown was a lot of fun to host and we had the main foyer of the hotel for our event. That was fun! And the HSD Button Men promotion was a major success! It’s been two years since an official expansion to the game has been released, so the fans were very hungry for the HSD Button Men (HSD-BM) set! And most of the Kubla attendees seemed excited about the HSD-BM easter egg hunt that I ran as a cross-promotional with the other vendors in the dealer room. Fans kept coming back with 6 or 7 of the full 8 button set asking for hints in finding the remaining buttons for their collection. It’s a great feeling seeing people having so much fun with the game! (more…)

Are you ready for the Button Men smack down?

I’m very excited to report that the HSD Button Men game is officially in and Kubla Con will be your first chance to get your greedy hobbit hands on them. The full set includes 8 of your favorite HSD characters and there are no special rules to learn. So, if you know the regular Button Men game, you’ll be able to just pick up the new set and play. If you haven’t had the pleasure of playing Button Men before, please come by the Shifting Skies booth and learn how to play. It takes less than a minute to learn and less than five minutes to play a full 3-round match. Button Men is the perfect filler game for conventions and/or as a little sidebar game around the gaming table while people are waiting. (more…)

www.kublacon.com

I love visiting the Bay Area. But this year, not only will I be able to 1) visit all my fantastic friends who live in San Francisco, Oakland and San Rafael, 2) dodge the Arizona sun in the summertime, but 3) Shifting Skies Games will be exhibiting at Kubla Con this year!

We’ll be running a High School Drama tournament called the HSD Showcase Showdown. That’s going to be a lot of fun! Also, the fantastic guys at Gamescape North will be helping us man the event and will be offering great prize support. I can’t thank Darren and Andre enough for all the support they’ve given us over our first year. Also, we’ll be giving away our exclusive, world premiere HSD Button Men buttons at Kubla Con. I’m very proud to able to present world-class designer James Ernest’s Button Men game line with the High School Drama cross-promotional! You can collect them all, but you have to be at Kubla Con! Also, get a sneak peak at the brand new game Shifting Skies is working on for next year’s release — get a chance to play test this sure to be knock-out success before it even hits the shelves!

For those of you who don’t know, Kubla Con is the largest gaming convention in California. Some people will argue the numbers, but I’m predicting that their attendance will only continue to grow. Why? Because of the massive draw that Shifting Skies brings to the table. See you there!

GAMA Trade Show (GTS) was absolutely the best! I don’t know if I could have asked for a better show or to be any more blessed. High School Drama was really well received, our booth in the dealers room generated a lot of traffic and Tuesday night’s Prom had everybody in the industry talking. But there’s even better news to report from GTS –

High School Drama has been officially nominated for the Origins Award in the category of Best Non-Collectible Card Game! The Origins website does not reflect the new nominee list; however, as soon as that list comes out, I’ll be sure to send you all a link to their site. I sense a sticker party in our future!

Now that I’ve had a chance to catch up on my sleep debt, it’s time to report back all the exciting news from GTS. And I really feel that it was a resounding success for Shifting Skies. It was a very long and extremely fruitful trade show for us; so, here’s your Reader’s Digest version of the events of last week. (more…)

www.gama.org

Heading out to the GAMA Trade Show (GTS) in a couple minutes, so I thought I’d post to remind everyone attending this industry standard show to come visit our booth. GTS is held in the beautiful Bally’s Casino this year, and we’re very excited to exhibit High School Drama there.  More news to be updated as soon as I find an internet connection to post with. Stay tuned!

www.toydirectory.com

During the Games Expo, we were lucky enough to run into Julie and her cameralady from the Toy Directory. Toy Directory and TD Monthly are online tools and directories geared at helping retailers find that perfect new game to add to their shelves — games like High School Drama!

You can watch my 30 second pitch for High School Drama on their website by scrolling down until you see HSD and Shifting Skies Games. Click on the video link to watch me fumble my way onto online video. I hope you enjoy!

Okay, I’ve recovered enough stamina damage from the whole Expo trip to finally write the recap from last week’s show. I know there was a lot of excitement going into the show and the good news I have to report in a bit should be equally exciting. But before all that, let’s get to the general overview of the show.

Games Expo 2007 was conceived as the greater gaming trade show, not being focused so tightly on hobby games (as some argue is the case with the GAMA Trade Show). And I must say that there was certainly a lot of diversity in the number and type of exhibitors at the show. We had a good distribution of family games, party games, some toys and hobby games manufacturers of all kinds. In regard to bridging the various gaps in the gaming industry and getting a diverse exhibit hall, I think the show was a tremendous success. Unfortunately as a first time show, the amount of attendance foot traffic among the retailers and press was very light. Many of the established companies understood the difficulties of generating traffic to a new show but were still somewhat disappointed at the same time. From the perspective of the established companies who were at Expo, I think it is fair to say that the show was a mixed bag.

However, for Shifting Skies Games, I think of the show as a strong success because of everything we got accomplished. (more…)

www.gamesexpo2007.com

Arguably the most anticipated trade show for the gaming industry in recent years is coming around the corner. Mark Simmon’s Games Expo will have their first convention in Las Vegas next week and Shifting Skies will be there to support the Expo from the beginning. In fact, you can find me promoting High School Drama in both my central Game Town booth with my good friend Mike and additionally with my friends Dean and Fred at the PSI booth.

So, if you’re looking for me please check either location or leave a message with Mike or Fred. I’ll be running a few demonstrations of HSD in the evenings to help acquaint retailers with our exciting new product. Also, there are many seminars that I’ll be participating in while I’m at Expo. If you see me around the South Point Hotel, please shout out and let me reconnect that bond we’ve made at previous conventions. Games Expo will be our second major trade show for the Spring 2007 offensive and I hope to generate a lot of good buzz for HSD and to help secure some more sales. Make sure you check the program guide and find the Shifting Skies Games booth in the Game Town area! (more…)

GUNG HEI FAAT CHOI!

Before I get into the recap for Stratigecon, I’d just like to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!

For everybody who’s celebrating, I hope you had a great time with your friends and family and I wish you all the best of luck in this New Year! For those who are curious, both Shifting Skies Games and HSD! were born in the Year of the Dog,  a very auspicious year for Tigers like myself. Let us hope that this new year will be just as fortunate (if not more so) than the previous!

For most people reading, this weekend was spent remembering the institution of the American Presidency, sleeping in and playing lots and lots of games. There are many gaming conventions that occur during this weekend. Just on the West Coast we have OrcCon in Los Angeles, DunDraCon in San Francisco and ConQuest NW in Seattle. While I wish I could somehow have been to all of them, I did get to spend the weekend in LA enjoying the new Stratigecon with my old friends from the area.  Special shout out to Darrin,  Mike and Todd and to all the really cool people I got to meet. I really hope to spend more time with you all the next time I’m in the area! (more…)