Plugged, Unplugged, Replugged, and B-Plugs (lol jk omg unless...)
A retrospective of PAX Unplugged 2023, as a special guest, and human.
PAX Unplugged Retro
Another PAX Unplugged has come and gone and it still vies as one of my favorite tabletop and board game conventions of the year. I think this is my 4th PAX Unplugged and it’s always been a great punctuation mark to the end of the “convention circuit” that runs throughout the year. It’s in Philadelphia which has great food and cool things to look at, plus it’s connected to train lines to other awesome cities.
Last year, me and one of my best friends Danni Loe (marketing pro for board games, French to English translator extraordinaire, and my fellow smiski enthusiast) went to NYC before PAX Unplugged and this year we chose to go to the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) area. We extended our trips and headed out on Monday and got a pre-PAX vacation where we got to co-work, see the sites, play games, and visit friends. One of the highlights included going to Games and Stuff, the largest game store on the East Coast! Paul and Amber are lovely people and we got to be a patron, take a picture with Sauron, and play games together.
Me, Danni and Dave (Danni’s partner and my other long-time bestie) also went around the D.C. proper area, going to the postal museum, portrait museum and an immersive art place called Artechouse, an experimental instillation partnering with NASA, mixing art and technology.
On Wednesday, we made our way to PAX Unplugged via train, played a roll-and-write called Golf on said train, grabbed dinner at a yummy Japanese restaurant called Yakitori Boy, and settled in with some friends.
Thursday we got to meet up with Isaac Vega and Laura Ness and got to co-work and play games at Laura’s workplace. Laura is our Philly native and always makes Philly feel like home. Isaac is the co-owner of Rose Gauntlet, which we will touch on in a bit as well. TL;DR I love them very much and it wouldn’t be a PAX Unplugged without them. Thursday night was a relaxing one with a few pre-PAX parties (with the pleasure of hanging out with Raven and Joy and Austin and Jay, our Wretched Harvest team minus Diction! + being able to hang out with Alex, Chris, Kris and Diana and so many more people…) but I called it early because I had a full weekend starting Friday!
Friday starts the con and I started my day with a Community Management 101 workshop panel with Sarah (CM for D&D Beyond), Josh (CM for Demiplane), and Jade (Cosplayer and CM/SMM from video games), 3 professionals that I’ve gotten to know other the years, and what an awesome panel it was. Not only did we get to talk about how different community management can look, but one of the best parts was being able to go into the space and interact with folks in person. I got to answer more nuanced questions, help a few people with their resumes, and just connect with folks that you may not have the chance to with a regular panel.
After that panel, I had a few meetings with publishers around the convention hall, and then my first of many events with my bubba Jay Foster of Swole Initiative fame (for those who may not know, Jay and I have known each other in whole other lifetime before TTRPGs… #FitFam). We got to hang out and paint some minis at the Eldritch Foundry booth while being interviewed by our buddy Matt. From there I had lunch with a friend who is local and had some yummy burgers in Reading Terminal and a meeting secretly named “Daddy Meat” (lol, don’t ask…or maybe do?) as I headed over to Big Gay Dinner, one of my favorite traditions at PAX Unplugged.
Big Gay Dinner is an event put on by Rose Gauntlet that hopes to connect LGBTQ+ creators and professionals in our space. This event started with a small but mighty 4 people, me and Isaac included, about 6-7 years ago. It’s evolved from grabbing dinner when we could at conventions, to crashing Laura’s apartment, to now having an event space with catered food (from a local queer chef, Chef Moise!). This event means so much to me, seeing the group grow year after year, merging professionals and creators from both board games and tabletop RPGs. It’s so energizing seeing so many queer people in one space, meeting, networking, and just existing, happily.
Saturday rolls around with a couple more meetings before one of the coolest panels with one of the best names: Bless Your Heart - Southern Living in Game and Narrative Design. I got to share this panel with Tony, Vyn, Erin, Lin, and moderated by the one and only Wes. Not only did we discuss what constitutes the South, our challenges, and the beauty of growing up in the South, but also how it affects our point of view in games. Sharing space with these folks provided me with new perspectives as well, but also a connection with my fellow southern creatives.
From there, I got to go play Codenames with Banana and Aaron in the Czech Games Edition (CGE) room with Megan and the fine folks over at Play the Game! They put up a valiant fight, but me, Banana and Aaron won 3-0 and Team Red took the trophy of arbitrary Codename Champs. From there I got to walk the halls, see Gabe Hicks cosplay for Ravensbuger and play some games with some new friends at the “First-Look” section of the convention hall, including an Oink game called Rafter Five, a hilarious dexterity game.
I got to end Saturday night surrounded by really neat people including Sam Rusk, an amazing, nerdy, queer tatooer I met earlier this year, and Kyle Shire, a producer for Critical Role and designer of Queen by Midnight. We were a team and were battling it out with Jay again in a rousing game of nerdy family feud put on by Alicia of Geek Therapeutics. This was such a fun show but more importantly we got to shine a light on the intersection of mental health and games and it was such a nice vibe with fun audience interaction (as well as some wtf answers lol). But seriously, check out the amazing work Alicia and team are doing with Geek Therapeutics. They’re enacting change and actively changing lives.
Sunday was the best way to end the weekend: my last event with Jay playing Oops! More Himbos on the TTRPG Live Stage with Banana, Kyle, Johnny Stanton and Jasmine Bhullar. This game was so chaotic and lovely and weird and wholesome. In summary
Jasmine's character Beryl now owns a bar where she won a dance contest in and ended the lives of hundreds of gnomes
Me and Banana aka Sir Loin and Phil Mignon were boyfriend twins who dated, made a weird raw meat protein-packed pre-workout drink, and then broke up.
Kyles character Dannible Von Dilf was the buffest, gruffest, fairy ever who was about to retire in 2 days.
And Johnny’s character Tarvis Spelce was definitely 100% without a doubt dating Taylora Swiftsong no matter what anyone has said or not seen.
If any of that resonates with you, GOOD. You’re probably my type of peoples. Because that’s the type of game it was. We also came together to thwart toxic masculinity on a quest given to us by a dragon drag queen… so yeah, all in all, a FANTASTIC, raucous show that I’ll hold near and dear to my heart.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to come to my panels, share their kind words of affirmation about what I do in the space, the hugs, and everything in between. I appreciate y’all so much!
OH ALSO! By the time you’re reading this, I’m already headed to New Zealand with my partner Joe for 2 weeks so next time you see me, I may have a Kiwi accent… :P Just kidding but YAY I’M SO EXCITED!
Before we go, here’s my little PAX Unplugged haul! Not pictured are all the cool stickers, dice, pins, and cards I got from lovely friends. Phew. That was a lot but it was such a fun way for me to ground myself and decompress after a very fun and fulfilling convention. Please let me know if you have any questions about any of my panels, events, or anything else related to PAX Unplugged! I would love to connect, especially for those who aren’t able to go.
Kia Ora!
Stay strong. Stay thicc. *Big hug*
i've been to australia! im hoping to explore more of the southern hemisphere in the future!