We took photos during the quiet times, so the booth pics don't show how busy we were most of the time. We also failed to get photos of Zachary and Theresa Houghton and some other key Palladium characters. Oh well.
A few hundred gamers stopped by the Palladium Booth to wish us well, say hello, get autographs and chat a while. It was great.
We also enjoyed a lot of laughs over The Rifter #35 when people discovered there were photos of the guys on the Palladium staff snuck in with the great artwork. In fact, if the reaction and sales of The Rifter #35 at Gen Con are any indication, this will indeed become a collector's item! And as strange as it may seem to say so, but it is a history making item, the very first swimsuit issue in the role-playing game industry, maybe even in all of gaming! Silly, but true.
As always, we had a large number of people thank us for being so accessible to them, the fans. You are all very welcome. In our minds, that's what we are there for -- to make your convention experience more fun, memorable and rewarding.
I was, however, surprised by the large number of fans who thought they would have to pay for autographs. They were happy when they learned there was no charge, but I find it a sad reflection of our times that people expect to pay for an autograph.
Dennis Hughes and a few other folk pointed out that there was NO other "big" company at Gen Con who had any major game designers, writers or artists available at the booth to sign books and chat with fans ALL day long, every day of the show. That at best, a creator would appear for an hour or two and then vanish. Only Palladium ever makes its creators available to fans on a wide scale basis. We always have. The only notable exceptions, of course, were artists in "Artist Alley" and those artists with booths selling prints and original art.
This year we had the fewest Palladium creators in long a time. 1) Because Palladium couldn't afford to pay for many rooms this year (sorry, guys), and 2) because most couldn't get away to both Gen Con and the Palladium Open House. We hope to have a few extra creators at Gen Con in 2007 -- even though we also plan to have another HUGE showing of Palladium freelance writers, artists and creators again at the 2007 Palladium Books Open House.
In fact, I cannot stress enough how awesome the Palladium Open House was and we plan to make next year's 2007 Palladium Open House even better! I plan to be (reasonably) rested and run 3-4 games over the weekend, John Zeleznik is seriously talking about coming down (bringing prints and original art with him -- this would be John's first Michigan appearance ever), and I hope that all 30 of Palladium's artists, writers and creators plan to come back in 2007 along with additional creators and guests! The Megaversal Ambassadors have already pledged to come down in force and game, game, game.
For those of you who don't know about the Palladium Open House (May 4,5, 6, 2007), it is 3-days of gaming. Not just any kind of gaming, but EVERY Palladium RPG with many run by the very men and women who created the game or write sourcebooks for them. That includes folks like Kevin Siembieda (me), Carmen Bellaire, Carl Gleba, John Philpott, Jason Richards, Josh Sinsapaugh, Julius Rosenstein, Brandon Aten, Taylor White and lots of other people! Plus, panel talks and an artists area where you can chat, get autographs, and buy prints and original artwork, a big dealer's area (with new and rare items), and much more! And it's all held at the Palladium warehouse and offices!
I didn't mean to turn this into a plug for next year's Open House, but we are super-excited about it and we want YOU to start saving your money and making plans NOW to come next year. We want this to be an even bigger and better celebration of role-playing and Palladium Books than last year (which was incredible). A lot of people at Gen Con said they were sorry they missed this year's event and hoped to make next year's Open House. Others said they hadn't heard about it before, but would come to the 2007 event, and a number of fans who came this year said they wouldn't miss next year's event for anything! Cool. So start planning. You will NOT regret it. There is NEVER a gathering of so many Palladium creators anywhere, except at the Palladium Open House.
A bunch of gamers also said they'd be coming down to Ubercon VIII this October. Wayne Smith, Mark Evans (Madhaven cover artist) and I will be there selling books, signing autographs and doing panel talks. Hey, all of you Palladium fans in the New York and New Jersey area should come on down to Ubercon VIII in the Meadowlands, October 20-22, 2006. If we can drive in from Michigan, you can pop in to a convention in your own back yard! Go to www.UberCon.com for more information.
As for Gen Con, we enjoyed talking about gaming, our plans, hopes and dreams with those of you who asked. We met new people, made new friends and said hello to old pals. We made our expenses and a little extra, and everyone had a safe trip.
I want to thank the Palladium fans, gamers and everyone who helped make our Gen Con 2006 a pleasant and memorable one. We plan to be back next year with more great, new product, and more stories to tell. And if we make it to Gen Con 2007, we also hope that when you ask, "Is Palladium saved? Are you back on your feet?" the answer will be a resounding YES. Let's hope so anyway.
Thanks for listening to my mutters and murmurings.
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, Artists, Convention Organizer and Behind Deadline