Today, we will be talking to one half of ‘Team Gamesfest’s’ Mark, who will be answering questions on their upcoming and ever-growing Gaming Convention held in Tring, Hertfordshire. Let’s hear what he has to say:
GR – Hi, talk me through how Gamesfest started, and where did the inspiration come from?
GF – It started by chance when we ran a Magic tournament in 2006 . After that we ran our first “real” convention later that year. We thought “why not?”, after our successful Magic tournament.
GR – The origins of Gamesfest sounds like you have a real ‘grass roots’ love for gaming? Has this always been the case? If so, what games have you grown up playing?
GF – I suppose it was for the love of Gaming, ironically as an organiser you don’t get to game that much at all on the day. I have been gaming since about 83/84 with Fighting Fantasy being my gateway to Gaming, then it was D&D , Warhammer Battle, Paranoia, CofC, etc.
GR – When organising an event such as Gamesfest, what are your aims and goals? What do you hope to achieve, and how do you measure those achievements?
GF – It’s all about the money! This year it’s about a great event and everyone enjoying it. We want a successful commercial venture, but I don’t want to lose our friendly, informal atmosphere. The customer comes first to us. We want an awesome convention and everyone to enjoy it. We want to break the 200 mark on attendees. Personally, I want to enjoy it, and my measure of success is loads of people and everyone leaving happy with loads of new stuff.
GR – What has been the biggest challenge when pulling the project together?
GF – Juggling a full time job, family, and a convention.
GR – I understand that there may be a few special guests attending the event. Can you give us a few clues as to who they might be?
GF – “Don’t fail me again, Admiral”.
GR – How can our readers get more information about Gamesfest?
GF – We’ve been using Twitter @gamesfest and FB Gamesfest to push the convention, it’s difficult as the line-up is constantly getting bigger. Or drop us a line at Team@gamesfest.co.uk
GR – Last question and I’ll leave it to you. Tell us why we should be attending Gamesfest, and what’s on offer?
GF – The Dragon mused..Why should you attend? Obviously, I’m biased, but if you are bored of the impersonal big conventions and want to play games, shop, and meet great people, then Gamesfest is for you. Our ticket price is minimal, and for a small convention we have a lot to offer. So it’s not just Games, its Collectables, comics, books and celebrities. It’s going to be awesome!
As we have heard from Mark, Gamesfest is going to be packed full of things to do and games to play including X-wing, Warhammer, and Magic: The Gathering.
As well as the larger, more established gaming companies, this year’s convention will feature many independent developers including Ed Harrison from Walrus Games and Gaming Respawn’s very own Chris Dove (Me 🙂 who will be representing Age for Heroes Gaming. Gamesfest will be held Saturday 22nd October 2016 at Victoria Hall, Tring in the UK, so get yourselves along and come and say hi.
Meanwhile, stay tuned into Gaming Respawn where I will be speaking with Ed Harrison from Walrus Games and reviewing the hugely anticipated Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu.