Recently Ive been thinking about hanging up my Vancouver Gaming Guild pooh bah hat, after V-Con. Its just too work-intensive and though I love gaming, Im frankly tired of organizing conventions. It takes a lot of time and energy and commitment, and I figure 6 years of that is nothing to sneeze at. Would anyone pick up my responsibilities, such as they are? I dont know. I think everything is in place for the system to continue. Certainly the message boards arent going anywhere and weve got a good ongoing relationship with the Marpole Curling Club and the various game stores in town to continue events. I would still go to events and whatnot, but I want to focus my time, energy and commitment to new personal projects.
Speaking of which, I learned last week that Chester Brown got a Canada Council grant for his Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography. While my comic wouldnt be about a historical Canadian personality, at least I know that its possible to get a grant for a comic. Ive been browsing a number of sites for lists of Canadian animals (for World Wildlife Federation of Justice characters). Still havent come up with any gripping ideas for beavers or moose, though Datalynx and The Great Wolverini could apply. Maybe I can find a Haida co-writer for some extra sellout action (though even in Power Enterprise I did have a Kwakiutl eco-terrorist shaman). Did you know that Canada is home to the rubber boa, the hoary marmot, and the bushtit? Some of them, like the nighthawk and the screech owl, write themselves.
I can appeciate the the feeling, especially as Vancouver has never been a game Con kinda town. You’ve been involved in a lot of aspects of the gaming scene and the scene is better for it.
I honestly think the VGG should focus on no more than two hotel based Cons. Maybe Weathertop (March) and Cloud City with V-Con(Oct). I’d rather see two rock solid, well run Cons, than four struggling. The Game Day scene needs some revitalizing too! We need a to discuss these issues and hopeful before Summer 2007!
You did good, T. Ignore all the bitching I did, because you did a great job while it was all under your care and attention.
Hey, kudos to you for putting in all that work in the first place. It is difficult enough to keep up with life’s “duties” let alone maintain the time for various time intensive hobbies.
I know a bit about north coast animal mythology from my interactions with local carvers and that was one of the first things I thought of when I first heard about your WWFJ.
By the by, I was kayaking up in Desolation Sound this weekend and the park ranger was telling me the story behind the name. Apparently, when Vancouver (or one of those explorers) showed up in the area all the villages were abandoned or everyone was dead. This was due to one of the neighbouring groups getting guns for the first time and winning battles.
Got me thinking that a cool RPG could be set in that era with all the various tribes, explorers and complex geography. It’d be tough to pull off.