We talk about our personal experiences at the convention, what we did and didn’t do; we talk about our observations about Gen Con, the trends we observed, the demographic shifts and how this stands as a snapshot of the state of hobby gaming; and we do a live post-mortem of the entire season of TJIGenCon, from the pre-production steps months before the con, to the crowdfunding to the actual convention coverage, picking apart what worked, what didn’t, where we dropped the ball and what we learned for future seasons. We conclude by thanking each and every one of the backers of our IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign.

Thank you all so much for all your support this year, and we hope to see you next year at This. Just In… From GEN CON!

Full show notes forthcoming.

Patron: Fear The Boot
Sponsor: Every single backer of our IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign. You all rock!

In this episode, Rich and Daniel interview Rone Barton of Atomic Array and the Iron GM tourney, E Foley (aka Geek’s Dream Girl) of Geek Speed Dating and Plus5cha.com and Jerry from Obsidian Portal.

Patron: Fear the Boot

Today is Sunday 8/7, the last day of Gen Con. Go forth and make the most of this!

Download to your player, listen as you get ready, have fun.

In this episode, Rich and guest host Dustin 8one6 of the Under Discussion podcast  interview Ken Hite and Tony Digetano, race director of the Orc Stomp 5K held at GenCon (Orc Stomp is also organized by Suzanne Wills).

Patron: Fear the Boot
Sponsor: Under Discussion podcast (http://undergopher.com/)

In this episode, Rich and guest host Ryan Macklin interview Cthulhu (who is a fan of the new book Stealing Cthulhu), Cam Banks of Margaret Weis Productions (who just announced they have a license to produce the Marvel comics RPGs) and Fred Hicks of Evil Hat Productions (the many ENnie winner).

Patron: Fear the Boot
Sponsor: Cthulhu

Today is Saturday 8/6. The weekend’s here and it’s the busiest day of the con! What are you up to?

Download to your player, listen as you get ready, have fun.

In this episode, Rich and Daniel interview The White Wolf Dev Team (Eddy Webb, Russell Bailey and Rich Thomas) and Wolfgang Baur of Open Design.

Patron: Fear the Boot

Sponsor: Open Design

In this episode, Rich and Daniel interview Ryan Sturm from How to Play Podcast, JR Blackwell, author of Shelter in Place, and our sponsor Tim Rodriguez from Dice+Food+Lodging Podcast.

Patron: Fear the Boot
Sponsor: Dice+Food+Lodging

Today is Friday 8/5. As the song goes… Well, nevermind. Here’s some stuff that you can do today.

Download to your player, listen as you get ready, have fun.

In this episode we interview Daniel Solis, creator of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple, and we are joined by co-host and sponsor, Jason Pitre.

Patron: Fear the Boot
Sponsor: Jason Pitre, Genesis of Legend

In the first episode, Rich and Daniel interview Gen Con CEO Peter Adkison and Guest of Honor Will Hindmarch.

Patron: Fear the Boot
Sponsor: O’Reilly’s Irish Bar

Today is Thursday 8/4, the grand opening of Gen Con 2011! What will you do on the first day?

Download to your player, listen as you get ready, have fun.

Be sure to check back daily as of Thursday for new episodes recorded at the show. Recordings are at 11am and 5pm, and episodes should drop into the feed up to an hour after that, barring any technical issues.

Also follow on Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr to receive live updates from the con as they happen! You’ll get messages, photos, audio and video as Daniel and Rich experience Gen Con.

If you’re going to Indy, see you there! If you’re staying at home, don’t worry, we got you covered.

Off to Gen Con!

In this episode Daniel and Rich talk about getting excited for Gen Con, what they’re looking forward to, dish out Gen Con tips of all kinds, talk about eating and stocking up, and tell you how to join in all the TJI excitement.

Running Time: 25:10 / File Size: 23.04 MB

Show Notes:

2011 Season Patron: Fear the Boot

• Jess Hartley’s Conventions for the Aspiring Game Professional (RPGnow)
• Adam Jury’s Tips (3 parts, linked)
• Gen Con Eateries (Map)
• CVS
• Indianapolis City Market
• Marsh Supermarket
• Gen Con Mobile App iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad)
• Gen Con Mobile App Android

By now all the TJI backer rewards have been ordered and are on their way to Indy to be picked up by all those who will meet us at Gen Con. Those that won’t be at the con will have their rewards mailed to them after the show.

Rewards by our publisher friends stand as follow:

• The Indianapolis Transmission for Technoir is almost done being written. We are trying to get it ready before Gen Con but we don’t want to make any promises that the hectic week-before-prep may not allow us to keep.
• The adventure for Bulldogs! and the campaign frame for Mortal Coil, both games by Brennan Taylor, are almost complete but will be sent out after Gen Con.
• The exclusive character for Guestbook, by David A. Hill, Jr and Filamena Young, is done and will be distributed to backers at Gen Con, mailed to all others after the con.
• The PDF of MECHA will be email to all applicable backers any day now.

For those that may interested, I have done a full analysis of the campaign on my blog.

We are recording the pre-con episode of the show this week and releasing it in the next few days. Gen Con is already next week, and we look forward to bringing you a new season of This Just In… From Gen Con!

2011 This Just In… From Gen Con Credits

Patron

Fear The Boot

Sponsors

Chad “Doomedpaladin” Middleton
Cthulhu
Dice + Food + Lodging
Dustin “8one6″ Brants
Genesis Of Legend Publishing
O’Reilly’s Irish Bar

Backers

A. David Pinilla
Accidental Fraser
Adam Rajski
Anders Smith
Brennan Taylor
Brian “Fitz” Fitzpatrick
Dan Shimizu
Dave “The Game” Chalker
DivNull
Eloy Lasanta
James Dillane
James Paese
Jeff Mechlinski
Jessica Beauchamp/Geeky Clean
Jim Sweeney
JJ Lanza
Joanna Charambura
João Mariano
John Anderson
Josh Rensch
Lars
Leonard Balsera
Manu Marron
Neal Dalton
Pete Griffith
Rebecca Brown
Scott Acker
Scott Dunphy
Simon “Trooper94″ Silva Jr
Steve Dempsey
Steve Hammond
Victor J. Wyatt
Will H.
William Huggins
Willow Palecek and Tim Jensen
Yehoshua Paul

We have launched a crowdfunding campaign via IndieGoGo. Become a supporter and get neat perks like TJI stickers and T-shirts, as well as sponsor credits on the show. Thanks to some of our friends in the gaming community, we are also able to offer some neat gaming perks as well, like exclusive content to Jeremy Keller’s new game, Technoir, and a free PDF of Chris Perrin’s game, Mecha! And there might even be more coming!

We hope you will become a partner in this year’s season of This Just In… From Gen Con.

IndieGoGo.com/TJIGenCon

We’ve also been busy setting up TJI on the various social networks so news and updates can be spread far and wide across the internet. Apart from the main website, you can now find TJI at:

@TJIGenCon: Arguably our main chatty place on social media. We’re making sure all posts to the website and Tumblr show up as links here. This account will also be active during the show, if you wanna talk to us.

Facebook.com/TJIGenCon: Give us a Like and follow along. Website and Tumblr posts should also show up here for those that prefer to use this social network over others.

TJIGenCon.tumblr.com: Follow along and catch Gen Con as it happens through our eyes and ears. The multimedia nature of Tumblr means we’ll be adding pics, video snippets, audio clips, quotes, etc as the show goes along, giving you the closest experience to being there with us. Posts will syndicate to Twitter and Facebook, too.

THIS JUST IN… FROM GEN CON GEARS UP FOR 2011 WITH NEW HOSTS

This Just In… From Gen Con, the unique live-from-the-con podcast, returns for the fourth consecutive year featuring new hosts. The 2011 season of This Just In… From Gen Con will be hosted by Daniel M. Perez (The Gamer Traveler Blogcast) and Rich Rogers (Canon Puncture Show), with founder Ryan Macklin remaining on board as Host Emeritus and Executive Producer.

Said founder Ryan Macklin, “I’m excited for this new year. After deciding to hang up my press hat and focus on Evil Hat & other projects, I approached Daniel about taking over. When he told me he was bringing on Rich Rogers (who took over for me on The Voice of the Revolution), my confidence grew even more. They’ll do a great job of carrying the torch! And I’ll be around to help them out and even appear on the show a couple times.”

The new hosts will continue the tradition of excellence established by creators Ryan Macklin and Paul Tevis and offer an as-it-happens window into the greatest four days in gaming. The show will be recorded twice a day Thursday, Friday and Saturday and once on Sunday, with shows released shortly thereafter. There will be pre- and post-show episodes as well.

You can find This Just In.. From Gen Con online at http://thisjustinfromgencon.com and on Twitter at @TJIGenCon. Gen Con 2011 is held in Indianapolis, Indiana from August 4-7. Check the website for more information as it becomes available.

*****

ABOUT THIS JUST IN… FROM GEN CON
This Just In…From Gen Con! is a special podcast produced live at Gen Con Indy. Hosted in 2011 by Daniel M. Perez and Rich Rogers, they work hard to capture the excitement and mania that is Gen Con — both for listeners who can’t make it and for those who sync their MP3 players at the show! Find out more information at http://thisjustinfromgencon.com and on Twitter at @TJIGenCon.

This year, Ryan hosts the traditional tired-as-all-get-out roundtable with Will Hindmarch, Will Huggins, Darren Watts, and of course Ken Hite.

(If someone would like to provide us with detailed show notes like we did last year, we would love you with thanks and credit. Use the email address on the right column.)

Running time: 1:13:37 / File size: 53.5 MB

- Ryan

Guests: Monte Cook, Robin Laws, Eddy Webb

Show notes to be provided by OgreCave.com

Guests: Adam Jury, E Foley/@geeksdreamgirl

Show notes to be provided by OgreCave.com

Guests: Jessica Blair, David Stansel-Garner

Show notes to be provided by OgreCave.com

Guests: Steve Kenson, Ken Hite

Show notes to be provided by OgreCave.com

Guests: Darren Watts, Jennifer Brozek

Show notes to be provided by OgreCave.com

Guests: Will Hindmarch, Jeff Tidball

Show notes to be provided by OgreCave.com

Guests: Matt Forbeck, Cam Banks

Show notes to be provided by OgreCave.com

Next time you hear from us will be at the show! Our first show is Thursday morning, 11am. As with the last two years, we work to get the show out within an hour of recording.

Catch you at Indy!

Running time: 33:03 / File size: 22.8M

This episode deals with events that Kevin and Ryan are looking forward to at the show, a little bit about Gen Con’s drinking culture, and the traditional Convention Survival Tips.

We’ve like to thank this year’s sponsor of TJI, Sandstorm Productions. Be sure to check out ENnie nominated Eclipse Phase (and remember, voting on the ENnies goes until the 25th!)

(One thing not mentioned in the episode: once again, the fantastic guys at OgreCave will be saving our butts by doing our shownotes for us. A huge thank-you to Allan & Mike for his hard, frantically-quick work over the years.)

Running time: 28:23 / File size: 20.5M

[Detailed show notes forthcoming]

• 00:20 – Ryan heralds the virtual arrival of Paul & Ken in an exhausted manner.
• 01:50 – Ken begins the commentary on the effects the economy has had on GenCon
• 02:23 – Ryan talks briefly about the RPG bloggers & podcasters, turning the discussion to new media navel gazing.
• 04:55 – Paul saves us by relating it back to the economy and its effects on GenCon.
• 06:15 – Ken talks about the transition of booths in the dealer hall.
• 07:20 – And we go briefly back to gaming new media.
• 08:10 – And Godwin’s Law is demonstrated.
• 08:30 – Hero Sixth Edition sold well, without the book even being there. And many other people did very well, like Pelgrane & Adventure Retail.
• 09:40 – Talking about the split up of “indie alley”
• 10:47 – Moving onto Gen Con’s management & investing in the convention — the new registration system & iPhone app.
• 11:46 – Welcome to 2007, Paul.
• 12:13 – “It’s not that they’re in survival mode.” / “They’re in growth & improvement mode.”
• 12:49 – Paul talks about the difference between this and last years This Just In. This year was less product-oriented.
• 14:08 – And Paul makes us fix this remedy. Our list:
  • 14:22 – Action Castle
  • 15:22 – Homecoming: one soldier’s story
  • 16:35 – Sign In Stranger: Making Contact
  • 16:55 – Bloodstained Stars
  • 17:30 – Venus 2141
  • 19:30 -  S/Lay W/Me
  • 22:20 - GURPS Vorkosigan (Angry fan mail can be directed to Paul)
  • 23:35 – Geist: the Sin Eaters (for a look at the visuals, check out the quick start guide)
• 26: 13 – “If Ed Healy is liking something, the odds are it’s certainly worth paying attention to.”
  • 26:32 – Pathfinder (and talk about the production model and its amazing success)
  • 29:02 – Cubicle 7 Pathfinder supplements
• 29:24 – “4/e was selling membership in a brand. Paizo was selling membership in a religion.”
  • 29:45 – Starblazer Adventures
  • 31:13 – Warhammer Fantasy 3rd Edition (Preview at Gen Con, not yet out)
  • 31:40 – Fantasy Craft
  • 33:20 – Warriors & Warlocks
• 34:35 – Paul acknowledges special guest producer Ryan Macklin
  • 34:53 – Spycraft 2.0 Pocket Edition
• 36:08 – Volume, indeed
• 36:34 – Paul asks Ken about the Day After Ragnarok different form factors between the Savage Worlds edition & Hero Edition.
  • 37:44 – Weird War II for Savage Worlds
  • 40:20 – Chronica Feudalis
• 41:23 – Clearly, there needed to be more post-production. I was punchy at nigh 2am.
• 41:57 – “The Gen Con of Twitter”
• 43:43 – The ENnies live-tweeted the results as they happened. And somehow Ryan neglected to boast about the Evil Hat ENnies he accepted for.
• 44:10 – Hi, Rob.
• 46:34 – We declare it to be late.
• 46:45 – But not so late that Ken can’t remind us of our duty of pimpage:
  • Rough Magicks for Trail of Cthulhu
  • Day After Ragnarok, Hero 6th Edition Version (A note that it’s the first Hero 6th supplement, alongside The War of Worldcraft, both of which are third-party books.)
  • Cthulhu 101
  • The Antarctic Express
  • Grim War
• 50:15 – And Paul gets in on the pimpery train:
  • A Penny For My Thoughts
• 51:20 – And the trio closes out the show as they should, with some fine scotch.

I apologize for the poorer audio quality. This was recorded in a hotel room, we were tired, but for all you hardcore fans out there, here you go. And a big thank-you to Ken & Paul for, well, being Ken & Paul on tape.

And again, thank you to our friends at OgreCave for the show-note support at the con. Beers are on me.

Running time: 51:57 / File size: 35.7M