I attended the TravellerCon in 2021 and was very happy I went. Megan and the team did an amazing job with everything and made everybody feel welcome. Though for me, the event turned into an expensive affair and it was difficult to get there. Sad to say, I haven't been back, though I did purchase a ticket the next year and got a T-shirt. I would have loved to go every year. At the time, the air-fare from DFW was only a fraction of what it is today, but transportation back and forth from PIT to the hotel almost cost as much as my plane tickets. Together with the hotel, meals and convention costs it becomes prohibitive.
That said, TravellerCon doesn't have to be the end-all and be-all of Traveller conventions. Maybe there is room for more than one "Traveller" Con per year? I guess anybody is free to organize a convention where Traveller games are featured, though sponsorship through Mongoose would of course be nice. I was looking into what it would take to organize a "Traveller" convention here in Dallas, which is very easy to get to from anywhere in the USA and has direct flights from Heathrow (or was it Gatwick?). The Westin hotel is literally across the street from the airport and provides a free shuttle service. It is used by the NTRPGCon (hosted in June) every year and has over 500 guest rooms, 30 event rooms totaling almost 35,000 sq. ft. and 20 breakout rooms. There are other hotels nearby, even within walking distance. I have not contacted the Westin for a quote, but could do so if there is interest.
In any case, have a great time this OG TravellerCon weekend. I wish I could've been there!
A few friends of mine have been running a sci-fi wargaming con for a long time (this year, 2024, will be the 26th year).
https://gzgecc.com/gzgecc26/ Ground Zero Games East Coast Convention
At one point, we were supported (and may slightly be? not sure) by Ground Zero Games UK, a miniature producer. They came up with the best/fast/decent 25mm platoon to company level infantry rules that can play fast and not be gross in terms of time (Stargrunt II which I believe is free now) and the space game Full Thrust (and its follow on Full Thrust Fleet Book). That was the basis of the mechanics in Power Projection games that Traveller eventually got.
We used to go to Lancaster (I think that changed maybe around 2003 or so) as the hotel with annex in downtown Lancaster were bought and the new owners were overmuch as far as costing (also I think it might have been torn down since then). Historicon was also something that happened as well as some others (Little Wars? Cold Wars?) so that are was known to miniatures for conventions. Historicon got $$$ too.
The con was situated at the time in Lancaster because it was close enough to Baltimore, Albany, Harrisburg & Philadelphia plus Canadians from Ottawa and Toronto and Kingston. We ran with about 50 people though a few more or less may have come - the first one was 13 or 15 and Canadians covered 7 or 8 of those. We got Jon Tuffley of GZG one time. We got another friend who played from Tasmania to attend.
It was great because it was NOT a big con. With about 5-6 active tables in each slot from Friday night to noon Sunday, you could wander around and see every table and you could play several different game systems and there were painting events. We had vendors (at that point, the major ones were GeoHex and Ground Zero Games). It got to be so familiar that everyone looked to see the same people every year (about 60% were repeats every year). Almost every year, there were 2-3 Traveller setting wargames with Stargrunt II or Dirtside II (some you folks would really love and I could see if I can find some of the pictures and AARs).
At one point, there was enough support to spawn up a Ground Zero Games West Coast Convention. It lasted a few years, but some of the folks who wanted to get it going had some changes in their lives. And then GZG moved out of the 'rules' side of things because the minis and the UK shows became important.
Having went to Gen Cons, and Origins, and this small 50 person GZG ECC convention, I know which one I'd go back to. $27 for a light lunch in Milwaukee in the 1990s... argh. Origins I liked, but it was stenchy. The small 50 person room where you could see everything, catch up with friends year to years, etc. was a much better experience.
Our negotiator, in the 2000s, moved from Lancaster to Owego NY at one hotel that has conferencing options but now its at an VFW facility and they have been very reasonable to work with.
If you want to see a small, but fun con that has expanded out a bit in terms of what games they'll play (wargames mostly), check out
Ground Zero Games, East Coast Convention Web Site
gzgecc.com
What have I run there? (a sample)
- A western gunfight (with the lawmen and their prisoner against the gang trying to bust him out)
- A 12 hour game where the Kravak (the alien bad guys in GZG setting) were trying to wipe out a NSL (Germans) + Legion Etrange (French) on a board that was a dead end mountain pass - 8' wide at one end, 2' wide at the other end, 19.5' length of game board - 'A Grey Day To Die'
- Traveller themed race to capture an Ancestor artifact on a low grav, no atmo large rock which had a step pyramid - Zho Commandos versus Imperial Marines (Stargrunt II)
- An air-cushion military convoy moving up a river being ambushed (Stargrunt II, both sides got a marginal victory - both had asymetric goals) and it was one of the best tactical experiences even though the overall casualty counts on both sides were low
- With help, a 3 table game, two had a bridge between them and one was in another room entirely. It was setup as a command simulator. One player had a table and a laptop and could order drone runs to help manage the situation from HQ and to provide assets. The goal was an SF team trying to capture and enemy leader by catching him enroute and taking him. The foes were all run by GMs. The group were orbital hardsuits dropping down to try to capture a missing nuke that was expected to destroy the city. It was wild.... it had a lot of the character of 'Blackhawk Down' in the sense of the leaders at HQ having limited understanding and sometimes giving orders that weren't useful due to lag and it also saw the team pulling the target of interest away never knowing that their was an armed WMD in the city... because that team's leader was the son of Jerry Pournelle and a USN Commander. He knew, but he didn't bother telling the rest because they had a job to do and it would just be distraction.
- Traveller 2300 AD: A group of humans that were fighting and then here come the Kafers. Then the attrited human forces had to try to survive (which I believe they did). The Kafers started low quality and went up 1/turn until they were elite.
I've played:
- An attack on a Starport (traveller) where we were Mercs blowing through whatever local revolutionaries to get to relieve the Star Port (Stargrunt II)
- An historical game where the South African Defense Force introduced the new Ratels and ran over a SWAPO camp. With air cover, the new armour, and the artillery, the SADF were expected to win. However, the Ratels were so valuable that losing them was a problem. In the end, the camp of 5,000 (we only see part of it) flattened but the losses from the tenacious SWAPO fighters and some bad luck crossing trench lines left the Ratels at a minor defeat at the end of the game. The game system was something where the enemies were likely to melt away in the face of causalties and dangerous attackers - forget the name. There was a 'bottle test' or the like when they got hit, but there were soooo many of them....
- A 15mm Traveller themed game (that also saw Firefly's crew running around) - one of those '8 players, 8 sets of goals, not just violence, but interactions and dealings' sort of game
- Using the AHL maps where an Human ship jumped in time and space and were boarded by Vargr raiders (and the crew had never seem Vargr and the Vargr couldn't speak to the raiders!) - it was wild and was run with a Full Metal Anorak Skirmish (FMAS) test rules from GZG. It was fun!
- A Broadsword mission with a town that held a bunch of local revolutionaries and a team of Sword Worlds Special Forces (cadre). The Broadsword sent an ATV, some skimmers, and the round cutter. As it turned out, I ran the defense and we smashed the Broadsword's attack. I wrote an After Action to explain to the other side exactly how they should have come in and then they'd probably have won - they were slow (while having the high ground and armour) and they got bogged down on tripwire sentries rather than just passing them (nobody had launchers). Because they were slow, the SW SFs found a fast skimmer in a parking lot and were off the game table by turn 3. The Broadsword team didn't even get to crash into the bar until the 4th turn and then the locals were so angry, they gave the Broadsword's team a good drubbing.
- An Ogre game where there was literally a 3'6" nuclear cloud and the Ogre was about 15" long, 8" wide and was facing 1/285th (6mm) tanks and artillery and so on. It took an entire room's floor....
Anyway, check it out.
And my suggestion as far as convention expansion:
Create a few smaller cons aiming with about 50-100 people and keep the friendliness and the experience such that it is very human and not just 'show up, see someone, never see them again' like you get in Gen Con or Origins. That also means if one of the smaller cons have trouble, it doesn't take the whole thing down. If you get it wrong one year, your con can be kaput.
Just my 0.02 credits.
