SALT Con

The sun was suspiciously cheerful for a February in Salt Lake City.  It's as if the sun knew what pressure my Dale was under and had come out in full blast to spy on his final preparations.  Boxes secure, packaging well built, inventory complete, Dale and James drove to an otherwise inconspicuous hotel in one of the lesser noticed corners of down town.  This was the time and the place where they would reveal their creation.

Yup!  Dale presented his own self-made game down town last month!  Our college friend James Harper flew back in town to help Dale present and prepare to negotiate.  We loved having him stay with us, and it was a great support for Dale as he took a big step toward living his long-term dream of being a game-maker.  I COMPLETELY respect Dale for progressing his interests in the midst of a full-time job and all other adult responsibilities to the point that he gets noticed by the professional game making arena. 

If you check here and scroll down to the entry on January 9th, you  can see Dale's name printed as one of the finalists in a competition of original game makers to be noticed and reviewed by publishers from all up and down the Western United States. 

It was really a lot of fun.  I left work early on friday to catch up with Dale and James as they presented, and then soak up what fun there was to have at a board game convention!  There were booths advertising and selling new creations, a free library of games (hundreds of them!) to check out and play, tournaments to enter for prizes of free games and such, and at least 400 other people who wanted to play, teach, and learn about games that most people wouldn't find on shelves at Target.  It was a great place for Dale.  He ended up getting 3rd place out of the 25 people who had submitted games!  Better than that is the professional exposure and feedback he got as a contestant.  I really am so proud of him for pursuing his interests like this.

And the best thing for me?  Dale found a half a dozen other guys at the convention who live in our apartment complex and love games (almost) as much as he does.  They're making a schedule to have man gaming nights 2 or 3 times a month.  Dale now has people to play his more...intense... games with.  Sigh!  And I don't have to!