Historicon - History Geek City!

Last weekend I made the trek (actually only a 2 hour drive) to Lancaster, PA which is the site of the annual Historicon odyssey. What is it you say? I guess the easy answer is that it's the biggest convention of war game players in the free world. Maybe the universe. When I pulled up to the convention center, I had to park on the lawn like it was Woodstock or something. Crazy!

I don't play war games (God knows I don't need another hobby) and I had no idea how big of an industry it is. I was enticed by my friend Keith Rocco to make the trip, meet him there and check it out. Keith is a great guy and I knew that regardless of how the show went, it would be worth the drive just to hang out with him and have dinner. So, off I went.

My first impression was absolutely overwhelming. I mean every nook and cranny of that convention center had gaming tables crammed in. The games ranged from simple board games to huge, elaborate affairs complete with realistic terrain (think model railroading) and thousands of tiny hand painted figurines (which may cost in the 10's of $K) . Some required only measuring sticks and dice to play, while others used more sophisticated computer software. The games continued far into the night.

Then there was the vendor area. Cavernous. Most of the vendors were geared toward gaming supplies but one could also find tons of books, movies, artwork....you name it. I had a great chat with the folks at Casemate Publishing who do mostly military titles. Their marketing guru, Simone Drinkwater, did a short seminar on the history book publishing industry. That was especially interesting to me since I'm contemplating writing a book myself. We may be reviewing some of their titles right here at History Geek soon, so stay tuned! By the way, if you are interested in doing a review, drop me an email.

I also had the pleasure to meet with Gerald Swick, online editor of Armchair General and History.net. Unfortunately I missed his seminar on How to Write History (without putting people to sleep!. I know, I could probably use a few pointers. Anyway, I may get the chance to practice by being a monthly contributor for them. Stay tuned on that too!

Oh yeah, and I did get to have dinner with Keith and the convention's guest of honor, Rene Chartrand. You can check out his full bio here. He's the editor for the Company of Military Historians series of plates. They will be using one of my paintings for a color plate next year and I was eager to meet him in person. Basically, he's a French Canadian with an encyclopedia for a brain, a quick wit and a million stories. It was a great evening.

OK, so let's face it; when someone mentions "wargamers" you get a not-too-flattering image in your head. It's prejudice, I know. What I found was a cadre of very intelligent people who are serious historians and, to be honest, just plain fun.

Even if you aren't a gamer, there is a tremendous educational experience to be had. The list of seminars alone is worth the price of admission.