Staff

These are some of our top contributors on the ground and behind the scenes. We appreciate their work and efforts, which make Gary Con a success that can return year-after-year. Thank you Gary Con Staff!

Luke Gygax President

Luke Gygax

Luke Gygax
Biography

Luke Gygax is an Ennie Award winning designer, Founder of Gary Con®(garycon.com), Gygax Ink, and the son of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) creator, Gary Gygax. Luke literally grew up at the gaming table with the designers who laid the foundation of the RPG industry. He played the iconic character Melf, whose spells are still in the D&D rules. Luke is an author and game designer with numerous design credits including The Lost City of Gaxmoor, The Eye of Chentoufi, Dread From Geneva Lake, and The Tomb of Gyzaengaxx. He is the creator of the World of Okkorim Fantasy Setting and Melf’s Guide to Greyhawk series. Luke is thoroughly enjoying being a leader in the gaming community after retiring from the US Army in in 2022. Luke resides in Southern California with his beautiful wife, Bouchra, their three daughters, Miriam, Amira and Sabrina, as well as his faithful canine companion, Grogu Spoticus Gygax. You can follow Luke on social media (@lukegygax) and the Gaxx Worx website.

For him, it is a distinct honor to organize and run Gary Con every year with the help of his loving family, good friends, fellow gamers, and the entire GC Team. He enjoys talking to people at conventions and swapping adventuring tales, so if you can catch him while he’s available, feel free to walk up and say, “Hello!”

He also wants every con-goer to know that he appreciates them for coming and being a part of the celebration to remember his father and celebrate “A life well played!”

Bouchra Gygax Vice President

Bouchra Gygax

Bouchra Gygax
Biography

Bouchra met Luke Gygax in 2002 while earning a Master’s degree at UW-Milwaukee. Luke took her to GenCon and had her help promote his new module, The Lost City of Gaxmoor. After he saw how many copies she sold while talking to gamers—he proposed to her. The rest is history.

Josh Popp Convention Manager and Events Director

Josh Popp

Josh Popp
Biography

Josh got involved with Gary Con in 2020, to help run the virtual convention. When Gary Con came back to in-person for Gary Con XIV, in 2022, he was invited to join staff. Josh used to only be interested in Greyhawk, but now enjoys many forms of gaming including board games, card games, and RPGs of all types, thanks to all the friendly folks sharing their interests with him.

Tim McMenamin Operations Coordinator

Tim McMenamin

Tim McMenamin
Biography

Tim was introduced to D&D, the Holmes boxed set, as a Freshman in high school Study Hall in 1980, and he never looked back. 2e AD&D and Gamma World are some of his perennial favorites. As an avid gamer, Tim has played in 40 different game systems and always loves to learn new games/systems. If you see Tim walking around the con, and he has the time, ask him to sit in on your game if you need to fill a seat. He will always have his Game Science dice on him that he bought way back in 1982 at his first Gen Con, GC XV.

Dave Conant Exhibitor Relations Manager, Special Advisor

Dave Conant

Dave Conant
Biography

Gary Con Staff & Owner/Partner of Tom Wham Games

Dave had the good fortune of growing up in Lake Geneva at just the right time to be one of those geeky high school kids hanging out at the Dungeon Hobby Shop when D&D was first created. Since he didn’t go to college, getting a job at TSR in 1979 was a no-brainer (working from 79-83) where he quickly settled in on managing GEN CON (the Kenosha years), GEN CON South/East, and all the mini-conventions with his good friend Skip Williams. After falling victim in one of the waves of TSR layoffs, he still ran the GEN CON Auction all through the 80s and eventually returned to TSR a second time in the early 90s to manage their Pre-Press Department until the company moved to Seattle. Choosing not to follow, he finished his career working outside the gaming industry and retired in 2017. Dave is busier than ever in his “retirement.” He has the honor of helping to run another great convention, Gary Con and has formed a business partnership with life-long friend, Tom Wham (Tom Wham Games). The two are publishing as many of the games Tom has on his shelves (of which there are many) for others to enjoy.

Dave seldom plays D&D anymore, but was blessed to be a regular player in the campaigns of two great DMs in the 70s and 80s—Skip Williams and Frank Mentzer. Playing that game with those masterful DMs as well as the other players in those early years will always recall wonderful memories for Dave. These days, he is fortunate to play online board games with a couple lifelong friends every week as well as attend an occasional convention. Whenever the opportunity arises to sit at the table, however, any Tom Wham game is high on his list to play.

Dave has a wonderful wife (Sue) of over 40 years who he loves dearly and who indulges him with the many hours spent working on both Gary Con and Tom Wham Games.

Eric Patton Volunteer Coordinator and Gygax Youth Gaming

Eric Patton

Eric Patton
Biography

Eric received the Holmes Basic D&D set in the summer of 1979. Within a year, he had moved on to AD&D, which continues to be his go-to TTRPG. He plays all editions of D&D and loves playing Chainmail and Castles and Crusades at Gary Con. He is retired and lives in western Pennsylvania.

Skip Williams Events Director

Skip Williams

Skip Williams
Biography

The D&D Game and Skip Williams share the same home town—Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Somewhat more than 35 years ago, he noticed an article in the local paper (The Regional News) that featured model tanks in battle. The article was about an early GEN CON, which had taken place the week before. By the time GEN CON was next held, he was there, dice in hand. Between then and now, he’s done a few things to get noticed in the gaming community—such as running GEN CON for several years and co-authoring the D&D 3rd Edition, to name a few. He’s a co-coordinator for events at Gary Con, taking on the task with school chum and fellow GEN CON veteran, Dave Conant, and events team new-comer, Josh Popp. Skip also does double duty as a GM and VIP Featured Guest.

Tony Kenne Events Coordinator

Tony Kenne

Tony Kenne
Biography

Tony began playing D&D in 1980. A military law enforcement specialist and analyst who has lived all over the world, he has played various TTRPGs off and on throughout the last 45 years. In addition to being our master event scheduler, he is also a skilled GM who custom builds both his adventures and terrain. He lives in western Wisconsin and enjoys time spent in the wilderness.

Eric Grimm Customer Service and HQ Administrator

Eric Grimm

Eric Grimm
Biography

Eric started playing D&D in Ravenloft at around age 10 and has played through all the different editions of D&D since then, detouring along the way for Pathfinder, Cyberpunk, Star Wars, and many other TTRPGs. He started running D&D games as a GM with 5th edition. He met Luke through a 5e game with friends, and when the need for additional Gary Con support arose, Eric stepped in to help respond to all the incoming emails—so if you’ve ever had a question for Gary Con, you’ve probably already chatted with him.

Anna B. Meyer Art

Anna B. Meyer

Anna B. Meyer
Biography

Courtney "Kat" Mason Communications Manager

Courtney "Kat" Mason

Courtney "Kat" Mason
Biography

As a dedicated Gary Con volunteer turned staff, Courtney “Kat” Mason has taken over website management for Gary Con. In addition to website development, she assists with TTE event tasks, registration, and other miscellaneous work that needs accomplishing. Giving back to the Gary Con community is Courtney’s small way of paying tribute to her favorite hobbies.

Gary Con is one of her most highly anticipated events to attend each year, because she loves to socialize with all the other game enthusiasts and like-minded people she meets. As an avid gamer, she’s always willing to learn a new game or system. Be sure to invite her to play at your table if you see her and she’s not actively gaming!