Gamestorm is a long running TTRPG and board game convention in Portland OR. This was my first time attending in any capacity. It was a four day event, but the vendor hall was only open for three.

I’m going to say up top, this was not a successful event for me, and I don’t think I’ll return, unless I add a new product that feels tailored to this audience. Maybe a couple solo journaling games, a board game, maybe a miniatures game.

The Vibes

This was the first convention that I’ve attended where most of the folks I spoke to knew what ‘OSR’ is. Unfortunately it seems they knew just enough to know they didn’t want to buy any of my zines! It’s possible this crowd just wasn’t quite sold on the concept of adventure modules in general, or I didn’t pitch my books well enough. I’m sure that’s much more likely than an entire convention of over 1,000 attendees had a specific beef with OSR gaming.

My friend, the Muscle Wizard himself, Tyler Welch joined me at the table, and we had a great time workshopping ideas for his kickstarter project Piledriver, and a skirmish game we’re collaborating on currently titled “Beef Island”, or alternately “Escape from Beef Island”.

The Numbers

$279 in losses for the weekend.

My partner traveled to the con with me to visit friends while we were in Portland. If I had stayed with a friend and stomached a long drive to the con each morning, I’d have made a couple hundred bucks. I’m happy to call it a wash.

Things I did that worked

1. Frames for my prints

My art prints did much better at this con than at previous ones. I put them in little thrifted frames I picked up, and I think that helped considerably, they looked great behind some glass.

2. Less grid cubes is more better

Instead of building some grid cube monstrosity, I built 2x1 columns on either end of the table. This gave me a place to store some of my books, and something to hang my frames from. I used book displays and a little mdf bookshelf, and I was much happier with the table at this event.

3. QR codes for pdfs

I printed off a bunch of unique QR codes with itch product keys for my adventures, and gave them out with all my booklets. It felt great to be able to put a little piece of paper in the bag and not have to worry about telling folks to email me to get their pdfs.

Things I’ll do for the next con

1. Continue to develop my prints

If I find myself at an event where my games aren’t selling well, I hope that a robust selection of non-game offerings will help to avoid another event that loses money. I’m going to research cost-effective printers, and a methods to store, display, and package larger format prints.

2. Table runner & backdrop

I’ve been using a vinyl banner hung off the front of the table, and it sucks. It’s not the right size, so it doesn’t hang nicely, and it doesn’t have the word ‘games’ on it. I’m going to get a table runner from Fabric Sign Guys at the suggestion of some peers. And I’m going to put the words “Adventure” and “Game” on it!

3. ‘I said I would come back’ cards

At the suggestion of some other creators, when folks told me they’d come back, I gave them a business card and said ‘show me this when you come back and I’ll give you a discount’. For the next one, I’d like to print off some cards with text to this effect, and formalize the discount that is offered. Maybe even include a discount code for my webstore!

4. Comic bins

I’ve been trying to find a solution for carrying around a couple hundred zines, all of my various totes and tubs just aren’t the right size. Skeleton Code Machine called out that they use BCI comic book bins, and I think these are a winner. I’ll be picking up a few of these for my next event.