Gary Con XV, March 23-26, 2023
Check back here often as we populate the happenings at Gary Con XV from The Pre-Con Party on Wednesday to the Undead Dog Volunteer Party Sunday Night. Details on events listed below the timeline in case you aren't sure what its all about.
Daily 9:30 am: Draw from the Deck of Gary Things! Test your luck to win prizes or an ignoble end. -Forum
*** Join Luke Gygax in the Forum lobby area for a chance to draw from a special Deck of Many Things. Will you win a Gold Badge or be beholden to the volunteer manager for an hour of service? Only the gods know! Five lucky attendees will be selected at random to participate each day. ***
Wednesday - Set Up Day
Vendors Move Into The Forums: 9 am to 10 pm. Vendors can pick up their badges at the Forum during this time. Roll-up door hours are 9 am to 5 pm.
Badge Pick-Up at Con HQ: 5 pm to 8 pm (Special Guests, Diamond and Platinum Badges begin 4 pm)
Pre-Con Welcome Party: 7 pm to when the pizza and Spotted Cow beer run out in the Convention Center
Thursday- Sci-Fi Thursday
Wear your Sci-Fi costumes if you are so inclined
Vendors Move Into The Forums: 7 am to 10 am (continued)
Convention HQ: 7:30 am to 8 pm with extended support via GC Discord (https://discord.garycon.com)
Chainmail Jousting 8 am to 8 pm (Legends of Wargaming Room)
Boardgame Library Hosted by Innroads Ministries in the Grand Ballroom: 9 am to midnight
Draw from the Deck of Gary Things! 9:30 am in the Forum Lobby. Test your luck to win prizes or an ignoble end
Opening Ceremony: 10 am in the Exhibit Hall Lobby (Forum Lobby) with Luke Gygax
Diamond & Platinum Badge Preview of the Exhibit Hall: 9-10 am
Exhibit Hall Hours: 10am-5pm (Forum)
Diamond Dinner: 6 pm to 7:30 pm at the Chophouse (Diamond Badges Only)
VIP Welcome Party: 8 pm to midnight in teh Grand Suite, Bldg 4 (Special Guests, Diamond and Platinum Badge Only)
Friday- Fantasy Friday
Dress in fantasy costume if you are so inclined
Convention HQ: 7:30 am to 8 pm with extended support via GC Discord (https://discord.garycon.com)
Chainmail Jousting 8 am to 8 pm (Legends of Wargaming Room)
Boardgame Library Hosted by Innroads Ministries in the Grand Ballroom: 8 am to midnight
Draw from the Deck of Gary Things! 9:30 am in the Forum Lobby. Test your luck to win prizes or an ignoble end
Exhibit Hall Hours: 10am-5pm (Forum)
Happy Hour: 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm (Free Soda and Spotted Cow with Official Stadium Cup)
Saturday - Hawaiian Shirt Day
Wear your Hawaiian Shirt the iconic con garb of choice for Gary Gygax
Convention HQ: 7:30 am to 8 pm with extended support via GC Discord (https://discord.garycon.com)
Chainmail Jousting 8 am to noon (Legends of Wargaming Room)
Boardgame Library Hosted by Innroads Ministries in the Grand Ballroom: 8am to midnight
Draw from the Deck of Gary Things! 9:30 am in the Forum Lobby. Test your luck to win prizes or an ignoble end
Exhibit Hall Hours: 10am-5pm (Forum)
Gary Con Cosplay Contest: 1 - 2 pm (Lobby Lounge Area)
Chainmail Jousting Elimination: 1 pm to 6 pm (Legends of Wargaming Room)
HAWAIIAN SHIRT PICTURE: 2pm in the Lobby (any and all in a Hawaiian shirt are welcome)
E. Gary Gygax Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation: 2:30 pm in the Forum Lobby (Lobby)
GC Charity Auction: 3 pm to 6 pm in the Lobby (we welcome your rare and unique collectables at Con HQ Thursday - Friday)
Happy Hour: 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm (Free Soda and Spotted Cow with Official Stadium Cup)
Chainmail Jousting Championship: 8 pm Attendee Champion challenges the Black Knight (Gygax Family)
Stefan's Metal 'til Midnight Party: 10pm to midnight in the Lobby Bar Area
Sunday
Convention HQ: 7:30 am to 1 pm (at 1 pm Staff and Volunteers begins tear down of all GC equipment) with extended support via GC Discord (https://discord.garycon.com)
Geek Preacher Service: 9 am to 10 am in Galewood C (tentatively)
Draw from the Deck of Gary Things! 9:30 am in the Forum Lobby. Test your luck to win prizes or an ignoble end
Exhibit Hall: 10 am to 2 pm - last call to get merch from our amazing vendors
Gary Con XV is over at 4 pm (finish up your games, bid farewell to your fellow adventurers, and get some rest)
Undead Dog Party 8 pm: Pizza, drinks and games for the hard working Volunteers, Staff, and Special Guests.
More Information on Gary Con Events Listed Above
Cosplay Contest: Gary Con XV is our first official cosplay contest. 25 contestants can sign up on TTE, its an event listed on there just like a game or seminar. The themes for 2023 is any D&D, Boot Hill or Gamma World inspired costume. Make sure to check the event policy link in the event if you sign up to compete. We have amazing judges; Joe mangainiello, Larry Elmore, Vivid Vivka, Elisa Teague and Chris Zephro, and fabulour prizes from Trick or Treat Studios. https://www.trickortreatstudios.com/
Happy Hour: Get one of our cool 22 ounce stadium cups and enjoy beverage discounts all Gary Con long. There are two types of stadium cups for sale; the soda cup and the Spotted Cow cup. Each gives a discount on soda or Spotted Cow beer. The cups enable you to get FREE drinks from the happy hour pop up beverage stations from 5:30-7:30pm Friday and Saturday. So if you have the Spotted Cow cup you get FREE BEER! Why Spotted Cow specifically? Gygax is a Swiss name and Spotted Cow is made by New Glarus Brewing. Gary enjoyed taking his family to New Glarus for the William Tell Festival and other fun events. As an homage to Gary's love of all things Swiss, from beer and cheese to pikes and two-handed swords, we have made Spotted Cow the Unofficial Official Gary Con Beer. Prost!
Hawaiian Shirt Picture: On Saturday we all wear our favorite (loudest?) Hawaiian shirt in honor of Gary Gygax. He was known fro wearing these festive garments to conventions during the last 25 years of his lifetime. Why a Hawaiian shirt? Was Gary color blind or just have an "unusual" fashion sense? Well his eldest daughter, Elise, lived in Hawaii in the 1980s and sent him some lovely hawaiin shirts because she knew he would get a kick out of them. Gary enjoyed dressing in garish clothing as a way to poke fun at those who took things too seriously. When he was president of TSR, Inc he would announce bad tie days and the like as a way to have some fun at the office. So he grinned and wore these shirts to conventions where they served to make him essily identifiable in a crowd. So this is why gary embraced the Hawaiian shirt, and we adopt it as a nod to Gary and his sense of humor.
Chainmail Joust: A fun little game that simulates knights in full platemail crashing into one another at a tournament. The game is in the Chainmail rules book by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. So it is a fun, fast and fitting competition to have at gary Con. Stop by the Legends of Wargaming Romm and play anytme during its hours of operation. If you make it to the finals you can face off against the Black Knight for the trophy!
Draw from the Deck of Gary Things: Join Luke Gygax everyday at 9:30 am in teh Forum Lobby outside the Exhibit Hall where 5 lucky (?) attendees will be selected from the crowd at random for a chance to draw from his Deck of Gary Things, a specially modified Deck of Many Things. Will you risk a draw from the deck? It could be a coupon for discounts, free merch, or even a GOLD BADGE to the next Gary Con. Or it could result oin being banished to the depths of Con HQ to work as a volunteer! Tru your luck and see what the norns have woven for you......