Escapist Expo 2013! Durham, NC! Oct 4-6, 2013!


I'll be moderating and appearing on several panels at next week's Escapist Expo. The Expo had its inaugural event last year and was by all accounts a stunning success.

Durham and the surrounding Triangle community have the largest group of gamers I've ever seen, but they're usually dispersed into smaller enclaves near their local game stores or home groups. The Escapist Expo offers a central hub for all the area gamers to play in one place. Video games, RPGs, tabletop, Humans vs. Zombies, all sorts of games. It's awesome.

Here are the panels I'll be on this year.


It's a Hit! Now What? Dealing With Unexpected Success
You've made something and people like it and want more. Or your preorder went well - much better than you expected - and you find yourself facing a bigger print run and a bigger shipping effort than you'd planned for. Success can be a tricky thing - the bigger you succeed, the harder you have to work, and sometimes there are pitfalls. Join us and talk about the "now what?" phase.

Participants: Fred Hicks, Rob Donoghue, Steve Segedy, Daniel Solis
Location: DCC Meeting Room 2
Date: Sat, Oct 5, 2013 9:00 AM


Hosting a Weekly Game Night
We love games, and we want to play them on a regular basis. But for adult geeks with families, careers, and other obligations, the basic logistics of sustaining a weekly game session can be quite challenging. Join a panel of game night veterans to discuss how to manage locations and game collections, schedules and conflicts, pets, children, and other lovable distractions, and even personalities. Our game nights have been going strong for over five years, and yours is about to get started.

Participants: Natania Barron, Michael Harrison, Jim Van Verth, Daniel Solis, Chris Kirkman, Dave Kirby
Location: DCC Meeting Room 2
Date: Sat, Oct 5, 2013 1:30 PM


 How to Run a Small Gaming Business
Have you ever wondered what results when gaming and business meet? Panelists Jennifer Bedell (Atomic Empire), Fred Hicks and Rob Donoghue (Evil Hat Games), Chris Kirkman (Dice Hate Me Games), Steve Segedy (Bully Pulpit) share the trials and joys of running a small game company. Moderator Daniel Solis (Smart Play Games) guides a broad discussion covering everything from funding, to production, to retail and beyond.

Participants: Jennifer Bedell, Fred Hicks, Rob Donoghue, Chris Kirkman, Steve Segedy, Daniel Solis
Location: DCC Meeting Rooms 3-4
Date: Sat, Oct 5, 2013 4:30 PM


My Dearest Failure: Games That Didn't Work and Why
In the immortal words of Jake the Dog, "Sucking at something is the first step to becoming sorta good at something". The path to design success will be littered with the corpses of bad ideas, bad implementations, and unidentifiable smells that you'd rather not talk about. Today we're going to shine a light on those failures and talk about how embracing them will help you make the game you want.

Participants: Fred Hicks, Rob Donoghue, Steve Segedy, Daniel Solis
Location: DCC Meeting Room 2
Date: Sun, Oct 6, 2013 12:00 PM


In addition, my wife and I will have a booth at the Expo all weekend where we'll be selling meeple accessories, Writer's Dice, and a the few copies of Koi Pond I have in stock. Also, I have one print copy of Happy Birthday, Robot! in stock that I'll sell to whoever comes first. So swing by, say hi, and let's game at the Escapist Expo!

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