CONTEXT, Millennicon, Imaginarium, Oh My! Appearances for 2014 and Con Going on a Budget

In addition to heading up programming at CONTEXT in Columbus Ohio (Sep 26-28), I’ll probably be on several panels and around and about.  I’m also hard at work making sure there’s a strong series of panels there for everyone to enjoy.

And I know I’ll be at Millennicon in March of 2014. 

And yes, I’m also going to be joining people at The Imaginarium the weekend before.  It’s going to be a busy year – I’m just getting started making plans.

Actually, I’m probably going to do a lot more panel appearances in the area in 2014.  However I’ll probably only be at each event for a day, maybe a day and a half.  So please plan ahead – there’s a lot of great conventions this year.

One note for the people who ran into me at GenCon and Origins last year:  At this time, I do not have plans to attend either of those conventions.  I might drop in at Origins, but again, as of right now I’m not scheduled for anything there. 

One of the things I keep thinking about is the price of conventions.  It’s a great part of why I’m pushing CONTEXT.  It delivers a LOT more than it should be able to with the cost of admission, and definitely costs less than a big gaming-focused convention.  Addie J. King wrote up how she was able to attend (two years ago) on a serious budget;  it’s a great example.  And while I highly recommend the long workshops, it’s a top priority for me to ensure that the panels alone are worth your time and money… and then you can be wowed by the workshops.

One other tip:  You might also want to consider volunteering for the conventions you want to attend.  For a bit of work before (or during) the convention, you may be able to get a significant reduction in the ticket price.

Carpool, share a hotel room, book early (many conventions have “early bird” rates going on right now), and you can make it to those conventions without breaking the budget.