April 9, 2013: Andrew's International TableTop Day Report

I was honored to be part of the main International TableTop Day event in Los Angeles on March 30, and I wanted to share my impressions of the event.

First of all, what an AMAZING day for our hobby. The hashtag #TableTopDay was trending all day on Twitter -- for most of the day it was the #1 trend in North America. Wow!

I don't know how much of the studio we were in was evident on the live stream, but this was a genuine full-on production: multiple cameras, SERIOUS stage lighting, coordination between the main stage and the side stage . . . and this crew made it look easy. Even though I know it wasn't. Skype was obnoxious at times, but that's Skype. I even got to jump in on a couple of the store remotes, which was kind of awesome. All the other guests were very cool, including some people I did not expect to see (shout out to Pat "I'm so glad Wondercon was this weekend" Rothfuss!) and some others I was really glad to meet.

But the "main" event was just the tip of the iceberg, because what made International TableTop Day such a success was you gamers out there in the world, representing dozens of countries on all seven continents -- we even had TableTop Day at the South Pole, and how freaking cool is THAT? Getting together with friends, family, and even folks who aren't yet friends and sharing the love of gaming is what this day was all about. The worldwide enthusiasm just bowled us all over, and if I had done nothing all day but refresh my Twitter stream to see the #TableTopDay tweets, I still wouldn't have been able to keep up.

Thanks to Steve and Phil for encouraging me to get in touch with Geek & Sundry so I could come out here. Thanks to Wil, Felicia, Boyan, and the entire TableTop team for letting me come hang out with them. And thanks to all of YOU, because while we make the games, you play them, and THAT is the lifeblood of our hobby. See y'all on International TableTop Day 2014!

-- Andrew Hackard