Location & Venue

LAKE GENEVA

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, located 1-hour southwest of Milwaukee and 1.5-hours northwest from Chicago, is central to the founding of the RPG industry.  In 1973, long-time resident Gary Gygax, with his close friend Don Kaye, founded Tactical Studies Rules (later renamed TSR, Inc.) and first published Dungeons & Dragons.  Prior to that, Gary Gygax had started a war games convention, called the Geneva Convention, as one of the officers in the International Federation of Wargaming.  Today, that convention attracts about 70,000 attendees annually and  is known as GEN CON, owned by Peter Adkison.

There’s not a convenient mass transit solution to get to Lake Geneva for Gary Con.  If you live near enough, you can drive from your home to Lake Geneva.  If you’re traveling from a greater distance, you can book a flight to either Chicago (O’Hare is most convenient) or Milwaukee (General Mitchell).  It’s possible to either book a shuttle or limousine service to-and-from the airport or rent a car and drive yourself; you’ll want to search the internet to find the best deals.  Some people defray transportation costs by using the Gary Con FB Group and/or the GC Discord Server to arrange ride sharing.