GottaCon 2012 Gaming Convention Returns for 4th Year-Feb 3-5

[Carson Upton]

Today we announce our electronic gaming line-up planned for GottaCon 2012. Below please find our list of game systems, games and tournaments planned for GottaCon 2012, which will be held February 3rd to 5th, 2012 at Pearkes arena in Victoria BC (3100 Tillicum Road).

Public stations are free to use by any GottaCon attendees as long as they are not needed for our premium events. BYOC slots will remain free and available on a first come, first serve basis. We will have 80 LAN seats available. These seats will be able to be reserved on our Warhorn site but only if you purchase your ticket in advance. A new feature in the LAN this year will be a PC check where attendees that BYOC, if they want, can drop off their systems instead of leaving them hooked up or taking them home. This service will be offered free of charge but GottaCon and its partners will not be responsible if the system is damaged or stolen. We will have someone watching the systems 24 hours a day but again this is at the owners own risk and a signed waiver is required.

Also, this year we are doing something a little different. We will have two types of tournaments in additions to our public stations and BYOC seats; premium tournaments and secondary tournaments.

Premium tournaments will require the video game add-on package ($15 taxes included) to be able to participate in. Premium events will be more competitive, have higher prize payouts and will be sponsored by our fantastic video game sponsors.

Secondary tournaments are free to any GottaCon attendees but will have small or no prizes associated to them. These events are meant to be casual, fun and easy to jump in and out of. Examples of these events include private Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source and Battlefield 3 servers as well as Left 4 Dead 2 Survival and Survivor vs. infected matches, Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, Starcraft 2 2vs2 and 1vs1 single elimination pickup matches, etc.

This year we are pleased to announce that we have numerous major sponsors for our video games area including: Kingston Technology, Antec, Logitech, SteelSeries, Shaw Communications, Canadian Joystick, GUNNAR Optiks, Patriot Memory, Memory Express, Future Shop – Uptown Mall location, DTI Computers, Island Collateral, Game Deals, Play N Trade (Duncan), Stain Internet Café, LANcouver, CrossXover and BC Gamers. All of these fantastic companies have provided substantial support in the way of prizes and technology. Events sponsored by these companies are noted below.

For a full list of premium events and more details on the LAN please visit our site.

[img:500:667]http://www.gottacon.com/components/imag ... ogames.png[/img]

[Carson Upton]

On Saturday February 4th only between 9:00am and 6:30pm, come out and take part in the GottaCon gamers silent auction brought to you by GottaCon Conventions. Convention goers are welcome to bring out their own items for sale as well as bid on the wide variety of items that will be available. We stress patience with convention staff as it takes time to enter all the information of submitted items and when the auction is complete to record all the results. If you would like to fill out a form and bring it with you to the convention please download the form here. Also this year we are looking to set up self serve computers where you can fill out your forms and print them for our staff.

What is a silent auction?
In this type of auction, items are put on display. To place a bid, bidders write on a piece of paper located near the item. The bidder will be able to see the bids made already and must bid at least the minimum amount specified higher than the current bid. The minimum increase over the current bid will be $1.00 unless otherwise indicated. Bidding closes after a pre-set period of time. The highest bidder at the end of the auction wins the item and pays the price submitted.

For more specifics on how the auction is run and how you can submit a item visit our website.

Some items that will be up for bid are:
- Board games new and used
- Tradable card games, singles and boosters
- Previously owned video games
- Video game systems
- Collectible/non-collectible miniatures and accessories
- Role-playing games old and new
- Books, comic books and animé
- Movies
- Many other gaming and hobby related items

The GottaCon auction provides a great opportunity to buy and sell all of your gaming and hobby related items at great prices. The previous three years have been hugely successful so make sure you check out the auction on Saturday!!

Please note that GottaCon Conventions reserves the right to refuse any items submitted for sale in the auction. All items must be registered with GottaCon staff at the special events area and a fee of $1.00 per item must be paid.

[Carson Upton]

GottaCon is looking for a few good men and women to for GottaCon 2012! Our last convention in 2011 was a success thanks in large part to the efforts of our volunteers. They helped to make the event happen and we can’t thank them enough for all their hard work and dedication!

To continue this momentum we are looking for motivated individuals to come join the team that will form the backbone of the convention.

Volunteering has its benefits with GottaCon. Volunteers get 1/3 off full weekend entry fee (valued at $35) for every 5 hours of time given. Put in 15 or more hours and you get a free weekend pass. But that is not the only benefit you will receive. Depending on the amount of time given, volunteers will receive one or more free meals, the option of buying a GottaCon T-Shirt and Dice package at cost (request must be received by January 10, 2012), and other potential benefits.

If you are eager to help GottaCon out, or maybe just a bit cash strapped but still want to come out to the largest gaming event on the island, then volunteering is for you. If you are interested in helping out please contact Bonnie Beyea at volunteers@gottacon.com. For more information visit our volunteer section on our website and/or download our Volunteer Information Packet.

If you have any questions let us know! We look forward to hearing from you.

Please note we prefer our volunteers to be at least 16 years of age.

[RetroRyan]

Carson, I saw the t-shirt you have on your website. Is it possible to get it in a different colour such as black?

[Carson Upton]

Today we announce our board games line-up planned for GottaCon 2012. Below please find a list of tournaments planned for GottaCon 2012, which will be held February 3rd to 5th, 2012 at Pearkes Arena in Victoria BC (3100 Tillicum Road).

Settlers of Catan Tournament
By GottaCon and M3 Gamers.
Day: Friday Start Time: 7:00pm

Race for the Galaxy Tournament
By Starlit Citadel.
Sponsored by: Rio Grande Games
Day: Saturday Time: 10:00am

Small World Tournament
By GottaCon and M3 Gamers.
Sponsored by: Days of Wonder
Day: Saturday Start Time: 10:00am

Munchkin Victoria Championship
By Steve Jackson Games.
Day: Saturday Start Time: 2:00pm

Sherwood Showdown Tournament
Day: Saturday Start Time: 2:00pm

Dominion Tournament
By Starlit Citadel.
Sponsored by: Rio Grande Games
Day: Saturday Start Time: Time: 7:00pm

The Great Canadian Board Game Blitz Qualifier
By GottaCon.
Day: Sunday Start Time: Registration at 9:30am games start at 10:00am

Ticket to Ride Tournament
By GottaCon and M3 Gamers.
Sponsored by: Days of Wonder
Day: Saturday Start Time: 2:00p

For a complete list of tournament details, board game events, and how to pre-register for them please visit our website.

[Carson Upton]

Sorry I missed your question about the t-shirt. I am afraid that you cannot pre-order it in a different colour. But the t-shirt company that is making them will be one of out vendors and may be able to make you one.

[Carson Upton]

GottaCon is please to present the following guests who will appear and be speaking at our upcoming February 3rd to 5th, 2012 convention. Following the information on our guests please find our discussion panels descriptions.

Guests of GottaCon 2012
Standard Action – Guests of Honour
LoadingReadyRun
and many more...

For a complete list of guest please visit our site.

Panels of GottaCon 2012 – in order from Friday to Sunday
LoadingReadyRun Q&A and Video Session
Making a Player Character That is More Than Just Statistics
Evolution of Social Gaming
So You Want To Write A…
RPG Improv with Standard Action
DM Roundtable
GottaCon’s Minute to Win it staring Standard Action
Learning Through Gaming

For a complete list of details for each event, including day and time, please visit our site

[Carson Upton]

Today we announce our role playing games line-up planned for GottaCon 2012. We are hosting more RPG events than ever before, a vast variety of modules and game systems.

For a full list of RPG events, and instructions on how to save yourself a seat, please visit our site.

[Carson Upton]

If you plan on attending GottaCon 2012 and the massively huge and impressive amount of games at it you should buy your ticket while it is still on sale and save yourself some cash. Full weekend tickets can now be bought for $35 whereas after January 24th they will cost you $45. It just makes sense to buy them now. To buy your tickets online you can go to our site.

To see the full announcement, which has the full list of retail locations you can visit to but tickets, click here.

[Carson Upton]

Advance tickets closed as of last night. We are still collecting store sales info but it looks like we will break the 500 pre-sales mark which will mean pre-sales this year over last will exceed a 60% increase!

For more details about the upcoming convention and some of the great events happening there visit our website.

[Carson Upton]

GottaCon 2012 saw more than a 33% growth from last year, with more than 1500 people coming through the doors. There were fantastic Exhibitors, and more sponsors, which meant more prizes and giveaways.

Successes:
- Huge increase in attendance
- Our volunteer team of over 50 "Wardens" did a fantastic job
- Record number of individual events by record number of event coordinators delivered
- Video Gaming LAN was hugely successful and will see an increase next year
- RPG growth in Pathfinder as well as various other systems was significant
- Largest Magic: the Gathering events ever held on the island with one event hosting 134 players
- GottaCon now hosts the largest miniature based event in western Canada...maybe even in Canada with 138 competitive players playing at one time
- Board Games area saw huge growth and was consistently busy, BG library saw about a 400% increase in use.
- Discussion panels were very well attended and will continue to be a core feature at GottaCon

Challenges:
- Lineup Friday night was unprecedented and plans are already in the works to diffuse this issue in the future.
- Space is becoming a major concern given growth. We are exploring options for 2014 and beyond but may have to limit ticket sales for 2013.
- Public play LAN station use in the LAN tournaments caused major delays in the tournaments and steps will be taken to eliminate this issue going forward

GottaCon would like to thank all the fantastic volunteers and event coordinators who came out and made the event great. Also a big thanks to our area managers; Bonnie Beyea, Corey Burger, Dan Erickson, Jules Sherred, Mike Gruber, Paul Puhello and Spencer Whitney. We would also like to thank BC Gamer, CrossXover, eSports Collective, EVO Games, IRL Events, LANcover, M3 Gamers, Magic Stronghold, Raise your Weapon, Skyhaven Games, Standard Action, Starlit Citadel, VCON, VicLUG and Yellowjacket as well as the numerous individuals for coming out and organizing some great tournaments/special events.

If you have any feedback please send a email to Carson Upton cupton@gottacon.com

Look for more information on GottaCon 2013, Feb 1 to 3, 2013 coming soon to our website!