https://www.kamloopsbcnow.com/watercooler/news/news/Kamloops/First_ever_KamCon_gaming_convention_coming_in_October/
They're going to host Rifts games!
So...I have "D&D" on my Google News search so I get the odd RPG article now and again.
Turns out, Kamloops is a real place. Its in America's Hat. Looks very pretty and has an interesting history. Nice locale for a CoC adventure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamloops
Anyone here from the area?
My sister lived in Kamloops for years, so I've been there more times than I can count. I'd consider going there for the convention. Of course, by the end of October, getting there by car could be a challenge depending on the snow. It's a beautiful drive from Vancouver, once you get out of the Fraser Valley. You can take the train, too, if you have time to burn.
There isn't any place actually called Kamloops. You're jerking my chain!
I was in Kamloops this summer. It's a decent, small city. In a valley flanked by high hills. Arid. Very hot in the summer. Probably kinda grim in October, though. And not especially easy to get to - it's going to be a long drive from any major city.
Quote from: Spinachcat;1034828Anyone here from the area?
No, but I love how excited this makes you! :D Okay, that's the 37th largest metro area in Canada... the U.S. Equivalent is Hampton Roads (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Roads#Metropolitan_Statistical_Area), which I also don't know off the top of my head, although I would recognize 'the Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News Metro Area.'
Is there a specific reason this excites you? I mean, I don't hear about them, but I'm sure 'highly specific locale that's undoubtedly important to the people who live there is hosting a gaming convention' happens all the time.
As for CoC, I always figure that they always take place in sleepy New England college towns with isolated old mansions owned by eccentric old-wealth families with histories they'd rather not get into, and a ivy-covered brick buildinged campus that inexplicably hosts a still-operating 1950s experimental nuclear reactor (overseen by a professor who definitely is rocking the pseudo-immunity-to-firing/scrutiny that tenure only provides in works of fiction).
I am always happy for new gaming cons to sprout up. Done well, they're good for the hobby and take lots of effort to make happen. I also enjoy discovering new places with funny names.
As for CoC, I enjoy getting away from Lovecraft Country and looking for equivalents. Kamloops is a good choice because it was Indian territory, then fur traders, then gold rush, then railroad, then logging so you can easily have "old families" from the early 1800s and mysterious pre-colonial Mythos stuff hidden from sight.
Also...there's this!
"Kamloops" is the anglicised version of the Shuswap word "Tk'mlúps", meaning "meeting of the waters". An alternate origin sometimes given for the name may have come from the native name's accidental similarity to the French "Camp des loups", meaning "Camp of Wolves";
So...tentacled Mythos beasties from the depths and werewolves. Boom. Done. Call the PCs!
Driven through it a million times, it's a small city but it seems endless because of how the highway snakes around. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats were always wandering into town. There were a lot of abandoned places in the BC mountains, the Tranquille Sanatorium for instance is in the area, eerie places in the middle of nowhere.
Quote from: happyhermit;1035146Bighorn sheep and mountain goats were always wandering into town.
Licking the roads. That's pretty much the entire Rockies though. I don't think I've been there for 20 years. Mind you I'm no stranger of wildlife walking around.
Quote from: happyhermit;1035146There were a lot of abandoned places in the BC mountains....the Tranquille Sanatorium for instance
This CoC adventure is writing itself!!
https://drunkinagraveyard.com/2017/10/06/haunted-places-tranquille-sanatorium-in-british-columbia/
Quote from: Spinachcat;1035153This CoC adventure is writing itself!!
https://drunkinagraveyard.com/2017/10/06/haunted-places-tranquille-sanatorium-in-british-columbia/
You got me thinking about it now too. I've taken the train from Jasper to Vancouver that way and it's interesting, but back in the day it was a huge deal. Fancy hotel/resorts and hotsprings in Jasper and Banff were drawing tons of people especially rich/famous/powerful ones. Vancouver is just another port city more or less, at least as far as this sort of thing, lots of Chinese (people, money, Triads) I suppose that could be a thing. Actually Kamloops had a surprising amount of Chinese back in the day, for a small place. Either back in the day or more modern there is some interesting stuff and it would be the opposite of done to death. Something could have turned up in the Burgess shale maybe. Could be clues at a sanitarium or some such. Maybe a mining ghost town. Some interesting tribes out that way too. Hmmm
It's a decent little town in British Columbia. I've been through it several times. I have trouble imagining it will have a big gaming convention.
If a first year con gets 200 people, that would rock. Especially outside a large urban area. Even 100 paying people would be a success.
It's only a couple hours from here so I think I'll go and rent a table. I've got a lot of slow moving stock that might go if I took it somewhere new.
My wife is from Vernon which is not too far from Kamloops.
Well, I wish them luck. I know that Vancouver and Victoria both have decent gaming scenes, but I would have imagined they'd suck all the oxygen out of the rest of the province. Kamloops is very isolated and small-town by comparison.
The best convention in California is PolyCon, (http://www.polycon.org/) hosted by the California Polytechnic University on the Central Coast about 200 miles between SF and LA. It gets about 250 attendees. What makes a small town, out of the way, convention work is playing to their strengths. If the Kamloops con has a cheap hotel deal, good food options and spins their event as a weekend getaway, they have a shot at developing a following. For big city folk, there's a draw to getting out of town and going somewhere close-ish and quaint. For the locals, there is the unique factor. If the Kamloops con does enough positive local outreach, they can advertise invites for nongamers who are intrigued by non-video games, so plenty of demos is the key.
Of course, it all depends on outreach, advertising, and money management.
I wish them the best. There's some good event planning advice on this topic, for anyone else who is interested. :) Good job everyone!
Quote from: Spinachcat;1036210The best convention in California is PolyCon, (http://www.polycon.org/) hosted by the California Polytechnic University on the Central Coast about 200 miles between SF and LA. It gets about 250 attendees. What makes a small town, out of the way, convention work is playing to their strengths. If the Kamloops con has a cheap hotel deal, good food options and spins their event as a weekend getaway, they have a shot at developing a following. For big city folk, there's a draw to getting out of town and going somewhere close-ish and quaint. For the locals, there is the unique factor. If the Kamloops con does enough positive local outreach, they can advertise invites for nongamers who are intrigued by non-video games, so plenty of demos is the key.
Of course, it all depends on outreach, advertising, and money management.
What makes it the best? I mean, is it just the location factors you named, or does something go on in the con itself?