CAR-PGa NEWSLETTER
Vol. 26, No. 5
An international network of researchers into all
aspects of role-playing games
May 2017
David Millians, Editor
Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue,
Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA
ARTICLES
My Games & Education Update
By David Millians
It
seems high time to share with you my own recent work as a game advocate, that
is, beyond checking other gamer’s writing for commas and such. I began teaching
professionally in the 1980s, and I have used games, especially role playing
games, in my classrooms from the beginning. Seeing more and more possibilities
for overt instruction and more subtle development of student abilities through
gaming, in 1989 I offered to run a seminar about games and education at Gen
Con, and to my surprise, it was accepted. Over one hundred people turned up, my
largest audience ever, and all were eager to hear what I had to say. I was
suddenly an Authority. It was easy to fill the time we had, and as always, I
learned as much as I taught.
I
soon began private newsletter to spread ideas among all interested parties, gained
sponsorship from the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA), and contacted
CAR-PGa. I received games from many wonderful game companies and wrote reviews
for teachers and parents. I was a keynote speaker at a GAMA annual meeting, and
I continued to offer my seminars at conventions. Interest waxed and waned, but
another generation of teachers, thinkers, and speakers came along and expanded
the conversation at conventions and then online. I’ve presented intermittently
since then, leaving most of the discussion to researchers, though I follow it
avidly. It’s a joy to see how much it’s grown since that first group at Gen Con.
I’ve
run games with children all along, both in the classroom and outside. I offer a
three-hour game for my school fundraiser, and it consistently brings in
hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars. In class, we have a year-long history
LARP, and I run a money management game in my math class. My algebra students
design new games, though mostly board and card games. I support the game groups
and clubs in our upper school, often a chance to see former students.
I
now write games for publications, and student groups help me playtest and
revise these projects. I continue to present as part of Gen Con’s Trade Day
education tracks, and I love working with CAR-PGa. The study, practice, and
discussion of games as educational tools has grown beyond anything I imagined,
and I have a good imagination. The adventure continues.
NEW MATERIAL
FROM
BILL WALTON
Liberty
University (2017 April 17) History students awarded top honors for research. http://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=230518.
Phi Alpha Theta awards, including one for a history of Dungeons and Dragons.
FROM
DAVID MILLIANS
Newitz,
Annalee (2017 March 26) How We Won the War on Dungeons & Dragons.
io9.gizmodo.com/how-we-won-the-war-on-dungeons-dragons-1550936588. History is
written by the winners.
Wheeler,
David (2017 March 14) Women Creators in American RPGs. dlair.net/2017/03/14/women-creators-in-american-rpgs/.
Darlene
Jean Pekul, Jean Wells, Nicole Lindroos, Shanna Germain, and Lisa Stevens.
FROM
HAWKE ROBINSON
Reilly,
Peter J (2017 November 22) Tax Court Denies Exempt Status to Group Using
Trading Cards to Promote Sobriety. www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/11/22/tax-court-denies-exempt-status-to-group-using-trading-card-games-to-promote-sobriety/#363d42231641.
IRS out of touch with society.
Robinson,
Hawke (2017 April 4) Preparing for RPG Research Presentation at WSTRA 2017. as01.mynetgear.com:7070/rpgresearch/blog/wstra-17-prep-1.
Showing other professionals how to do it.
FROM
JOHN BOARDMAN
Cox,
Ana Marie (2017 March 17) Brianna Wu Wants to Change the Democrats’ Playbook. The
Washington Post: Talk, page 58. Major target of Gamergate to run for Congress.
CONVENTIONS
New listings this month were provided by Paul Cardwell and Lou
Zocchi, others are urged to submit information. If you attend a convention, be
sure and check the conventions table and let us have a copy of the fliers (or
at very least the when, what, where, and contact information) for upcoming conventions
available there. CAR-PGa is international, so this includes anywhere in the
world.
Dates, precise venue, contacts' URLs or phone numbers, and other
information, where missing from this list, would be particularly appreciated.
"[LARP]" means only LARP events as many RPG cons include
at least some LARP, as likewise applies to the mention of specific game
systems. The same bracketed information applies as well to game systems when
the con will have only those games present.
In an attempt to get more face-to-face meetings of the membership,
we list who will be going to what convention, if they will tell us. Get this
type of information in at least two months before the convention itself, so we
can run it at least once. Support your local cons by helping in the staff. It
is a good way to promote RPG and you generally get in free for the brief time
spent helping.
A review of any attended convention afterwards for the Newsletter
would be appreciated too. These reviews should include demographic data such as
attendance, percentage male/female, white/ethnic minorities (or what- ever is
the majority/white/others), games in addition to tabletop RPG, and more
subjective matters such as unusual events, quality of games and dealers' room,
encouragement of new gamers, and whatever seems worth reporting. We need to
work to restore CAR-PGa's reputation as the media's go-to on gamer
demographics, especially since the media are still citing a study that cut off
all those over 35 - at a time when that was the median age of gamers - it is
closer to 40 now - which indicates we also need to work on recruiting younger
players, although some increase in college age players at conventions has been
noted.
Conventions are currently being compiled by archivist Paul Cardwell,
1127 Cedar, Bonham, TX 75418 or plcardwell@gmail.com so send them there.
May 2017
6: Spiel mit den Wölfen, Stadtmission Wolfsburg, Mühlenpfad 2,
Wolfsburg, Germany; spiel-mit-den-wölfen.de
12-14: Comicpalooza, George R Brown Center, 1001 Avenida de las
Americas, Houston, TX; comicpalooza.com
12-14: Outlantacon/Gaylaxicon, Atlanta Marriott Century Center, 2000
Century Blvd NE, Atlanta, GA; outlantacon.org
12-14: Sferakon, Faculty of Electrical Engineering &
Computing, Unska 3, Zagreb, Croatia; sferakon.org
13: Bellingham Anime Convention, Whatcom County Community College,
Main Campus, Bellingham, WA; bellinghamanimecon.com
13: OG Con, Orange Grove Public Library, 12135 Old Hwy 49,
Gulfport, MS; www.facebook.com/events/1728710670726560
19-21: Motor City ComicCon, Suburban Collection Showplace, 46100
Grand River Ave, Novi, MI; motorcitycomiccon.com
20-21: Beer & Pretzels Games Weekend, Town Hall, King Edwards
Place, Burton on Trent; spiritgames.co.uk
20-21: Flower City Comic Con Rochester Riverside Convention
Center, 123 E. Main St, Rochester, NY; fceroc.com
20-21: Southern Geek Fest, Forrest County Multipurpose Center, 962
Sullivan Dr., Hattiesburg, MS; southerngeekfest.com
25-28: Momocon, Georgia World Congress Center, 285 Andrew Young
International Blvd, Atlanta, GA; momocon.com
26-27: Hamburger Spieletage, Hamburg Haus Eimsbüttel, Doormannsweg
12, Hamburg, Germany; hamburger-spieletage.de
26-28: Cherry Capital Comic Con (C4), Grand Traverse Resort, 100
Grand Traverse Village Blvd, Traverse City, MI; cherrycapitalcon.com
26-29: BayCon, San Mateo Marriott San Francisco Airport, 1770 S
Amphlett Blvd, San Mateo, CA; baycon.org
26-29: BGG Spring, Hyatt Regency DFW Airport, 2334 N International
Pkwy, DFW Airport, TX; boardgamegeek.com
26-29: Paizocon, Doubletree Seattle Airport, 18740 International
Blvd, Seattle, WA; paizo.com/paizocon
June 2017
1-4: North Texas RPG Con, DFW Airport Marriott South, 4151
Centreport Blvd, Fort Worth, TX; ntrpgcon.com
1-4: Wizard World Comic Con Philadelphia, Philadelphia Convention
Center, Philadelphia, PA; wizardworld.com
2-4: Niagara Falls Comic Con, Scotia Bank Convention Centre, 6815
Stanley Ave, Niagara Falls, ON; niagarafallscomiccon.com
9-11: Southern-Fried Gameroom Expo, Renaissance Atlanta Waverly
Convention Center, 2450 Galleria Pkwy, Atlanta, GA; southernfriedgameroomexpo.com
9-12: Continuum, Ether Conference Center, 265 Little Bourke St,
Melbourne, Australia; continuum.org.au
16-18: AwesomeCon, Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon
Place NW, Washington, DC; awesome-con.com
16-18: U-Con (DortCon), Fritz-Henßler-Haus,
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 23-27: Dortmund (Mitte); dortmund-in-2017.com
26-July 2: PrezCon, Doubletree Charlottesville, 990 Hilton Heights
Rd, Charlottesville, VA; prezcon.com
30-July 2: Denver Comic Con, Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th
St, Denver, CO; denvercomiccon.com
30-July 2: Milwaukee Summer Revel, Sheraton Brookfield, 375 S.
Moorland Rd, Brookfield, WI; coldironconventions.com
July 2017
12-16: Historicon, Fredericksburg Expo, 2371 Carl D. Silver Pkwy,
Fredericksburg, VA; historicon.org [wargaming]
18-20: Flying Buffalo's T&T Con, Holiday Inn Express, 3131 N.
Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ; flyingbuffalo.com
20-23: Amber Central, Embassy Suites Minneapolis Airport, 2901 34th
Ave. S, Bloomington, MN; ambercentral.com
20-23: Ambercon, Embassy Suites Minneapolis Airport, 7901 34th
Ave. S, Bloomington, MI; ambercon.com [Amber
diceless only]
21-23: Fan World, Niagara Falls Conference Center, Niagara Falls,
NY and Crowne Plaza, Niagara Falls, ON; fanworld.us
23-25: Border City Game Convention, Adventures in Learning, 7230
Gateway Blvd. E, El Paso, TX; bordercitygameconvention.com
August 2017
4-6: Ohio Comic Con, Greater Columbus Convention Center, 500 N
High St, Columbus, OH; wizardworld.com/home-ohio
16: Akua Con, Universal Lazer Family Fun Center, 15 1st St NW,
Watertown, SD; www.facebook.com/AkuaCon
17-20: NecronomiCon, Providence Biltmore, Providence, RI; necronimicon-providence.con.com[Lovecraft]
18-20: Geekfest, Mayborn Space Theater, Central Texas College,
Killeen, TX; starsatnight.org/geekfest
18-20: Starfleet International Conference, Crowne Plaza New
Orleans Airport, New Orleans, LA; ic2017.org
19-20: Pensacola Comic Con, Pensacola Interstate Conference Building,
6655 Mobile Hwy, Pensacola, FL; pensacolaparacon.com
24-27: Wizard World Comic Con Chicago, Stevens Convention Center,
5555 N. River Rd, Chicago, IL; wizardworld.com
25-27: Bubonicon, Albuquerque Marriott Uptown, 2101 Louisiana Blvd
NE (at I-40), Albuquerque, NM; bubonicon.com
©
Copyright 2017 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games
(CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For
more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de
Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404)
377-3491, e-mail millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are
available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the
byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month,
email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter,
provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn't
have someone else's copyright on it. Information, including details on joining
CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.