I attended two conventions with Craig Campbell of Nerdburgers Games, the Nerd Burger Show podcast, and Secretary of the Indie Game Developer Network (IGDN) in October. Last week, I discussed attending Conapalooza in Kingsport, Tennessee here. The next weekend, I attended Multiverse Con in Atlanta with Craig and continued to examine the RPG scene at smaller multi-genre conventions.
MULTIVERSE CON
The second convention in two weekends with Craig Campbell was Multiverse Con held October 18 to 20, 2019 in Hapeville, Georgia (right at the Atlanta city limits) at the Hilton Atlanta Airport. Multiverse Con is a sci-fi and fantasy expo focusing on art, authors, fan-led panels, comics, and gaming among other geek options that makes diversity and inclusiveness foundational elements of the experience. Unlike many conventions, the draw is not TV and movie celebrities plus a dealer’s hall, instead, Multiverse focuses on authors, game designers, professional artists, and more. While that could be said of many conventions, Multiverse strives for diversity with a number of creators of color and female creators as well as other underrepresented voices. The conventions leadership capitalizes on their backgrounds to showcase numerous female and African American professionals within geek culture. The feel of the convention is like nothing I’ve attended as there’s a constant hum of positivity and quiet enjoyment. With its comfortable size and focus on authors, artists, fantasy, sci-fi, etc., Multiverse feels like an excellent complement to JordanCon (hosted in April, six months before, in greater Atlanta and organized by some of the same individuals). Boosting over 500 attendees for its first convention (to give context, JordanCon had 890 attendees this year, its 10th year), the show is off to an excellent start.
The venue, the Hilton Atlanta Airport, while not as appealing as the MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center for Conapalooza, was still a Hilton, so it ain’t no slouch. Featuring multiple restaurants and a great space within the hotel for everyone to gather, this was an excellent location for the debut show. As with Conapalooza, Craig’s table was located in the dealer’s room, this time near the art show.
Last week, I talked about selling games at the gaming table as opposed to the dealer’s hall. The benefit of this would have been keenly felt at Conapalooza where the areas were in different wings of the resort. At Multiverse Con, the gaming room was about 20 feet from the dealer’s hall so selling at the gaming table would have had less impact.
Gaming at Multiverse Con was notably more indie-focused than many other conventions I’ve attended. With RPG guests like Craig, Riley Rethal, Milton Davis, Nick Porter, Matthew Malis, and Robert Jeffrey II, curated by Sean Hillman, the con offered a diverse sampling of RPGs. Between CAPERS, Dusk to Midnight, Ki Khanga, Sagas of Midgard, Wracked, and the King of RPG Zines, there was a lot of life among the RPG crowd. Yhere were two RPG publishers at the con (Nerdburger Games and Drinking Horn Games) and a nice compliment of artists with RPG credits at the art show. The featured artists were professional painters with fantasy and sci-fi art published in a variety of media including games.
For a first-year show, it found its audience and has plenty of room to grow. There were no major hitches, excellent meals included at the con suite, and I am looking forward to returning in 2020.
What did other game creators think of the con?
Craig Campbell: Nerdburgers Games, the Nerd Burger Show podcast, and Secretary of the Indie Game Developer Network (IGDN)
“Multiverse Con had a solid first outing. A little light on the gaming, but that can grow. The dealer hall had a good variety of products. Lots of author guests in attendance. The high point was the panel/event spread. Nine tracks, with five or more of them having something happening in each 90-minute slot. So much to do.”
Sean Hillman: Multiverse Con Game Programming, EN World columnist, Zer0MeansYourDead’s Patreon, Podcast, and blog, Reign Dragon Press at DriveThruRPG, and his DMsGuild work
“Multiverse Con was a success. It had good numbers for a first-year convention both in terms of gaming and overall. Most importantly it showed that a convention built on the foundation of human equality can be successful. But for me, it also put itself into a position to increase that success in year two and beyond. Gaming was fun, but we also learned a great deal about the demographics of who is coming to the convention. Next year will be even better. Also, I want to make sure folks know how hard Phil Collins, the other half of the PLAY (gaming) zone, worked to make the game room a friendly place that was full of games. Our guests and panelists, especially Riley Rethal, Milton Davis, Craig Campbell, and Nick Porter. And a shout out to The Brothers Chaps, Matt and Mike Chapman for coming out and being awesome.”
Riley Rethal: itch.io and Kickstarter
“Multiverse was my first time being a guest at a convention and it was very cool to talk about my experience with games on panels with other people. I loved how small and friendly it was; it genuinely felt like everyone cared about each other and wanted the best experience out of the con. I especially loved introducing some people who hadn’t played many RPGs to my game, Dusk to Midnight, and talking about my experience playing games with kids at the summer camp I work at!”
Milton Davis: MVmedia, LLC and Ki Khanga RPG
“Multiverse Con was great! It was well organized, and the panels and panelists were interesting and engaging, a reflection of the experience of the organizers. I had a great time meeting with old and new friends and I’m definitely looking forward to next year.”
Nick Porter: Sagas of Midgard
“It was great to be part of the very first Multiverse Con. We were situated out in the Creator’s Alley pitching Sagas of Midgard, our Cinematic Norse RPG. I was fortunate enough to get to be on several panels talking RPG design,
business, and marketing with some very talented creators. We had a great time and I came away with a lot of great knowledge and ideas for future projects!”
Matthew Malis: Metahedron Studios
“Multiverse was a good deal of fun. There seemed to be a lot to do and just as many people to talk to. The panels and panelist were intimate and really connected with their audience. I look forward to next year.
I was at Multiverse, specifically, to playtest my tabletop roleplaying game, Wracked. It is the flagship game line for Metahedron Studios, which I hope to have published in 2020.”
Interested in more RPG convention coverage? Check out the scenes at:
- AetherCon (the online gaming convention) 2017 as well as my AetherCon 2019 Q&As in their magazine. Official site here
- AndoCon 2018 (and a Q&A with Ando here)
- Atlanta Sci-Fi and Fantasy Expo 2017. Official site here
- Dragon Con 2019. Official site here
- Gen Con 2019 (part 1 and part 2). Official site here
- ENnie Awards Dream Dates for Gen Con 2017, 2018, and 2019
- I’m including my friend John McGuire’s coverage of our trips to Gen Con 2017 (part 1, part 2, and Tales from the Loop), 2018 (part 1 and part 2) and 2019 (part 1 and part 2)
- JordanCon 2019. Official site here
- MomoCon 2018. Official site here
- Origins Game Fair 2018 and 2019. Official site here
NOTE: This article includes affiliate links to DriveThruRPG. As a DriveThruRPG Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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