As I did last year, I'd like to begin my reflections on Gamehole Con by doing a quick overview of the people I met and the games that I played. Compared to 2024, this year's con felt a fair bit busier for me personally, as I was constantly running into people and then discovering, much to my surprise, that hours had passed while talking and now I had to hurry to a game or some other meeting. This is a good problem to have, but I sometimes worried that I spent far less time with some people than I'd have liked (or that they deserved).
- Justin Alexander of The Alexandrian and its associated Youtube channel.
- Daniel of the YoDanno podcast.
- Charles E. Gannon: Science fiction author and old Traveller old. I hadn't seen him since Origins 1991(!) in Baltimore, so it was a very pleasant surprise to spend time with him again.
- Joseph Goodman: Head honcho at Goodman Games.
- Kenneth Hite: A true Renaissance man who's contributed to more games than I can remember.
- Jason Hobbs: Host of the Hobbs & Friends and Random Screed podcasts. He's one of the people I wish I'd been able to hang out with more.
- Sean Kelley: Co-host of the Gaming and BS podcast.
- Mike Mearls: Formerly of WotC and Chaosium, now with Asmodee.
- Marc Miller: Creator of Traveller and one of my favorite people, gracious and knowledgeable as ever.
- Travis Miller: Blogger at The Grumpy Wizard.
- Ben Milton: Host of the Questing Beast channel and The Glatisant newsletter.
- Jon Peterson: Author of Playing at the World and probably the premier historian of hobby.
- Victor Raymond: A dear friend, as well as my co-host on the Hall of Blue Illumination podcast (sadly now on extended hiatus).
- Tyler Stratton of Limithron, publisher of Pirate Borg.
- Dave Thaumavore: Host of a Youtube channel.
- Ronin Wong: Actor and referee extraordinaire. He was the Keeper of a very fun modern day Call of Cthulhu adventure I played.
- Dustin Wright: Chaosium's intrepid customer service guy.
- And so many others whose names I have forgotten to my shame.
You’ll no doubt notice a fair number of bloggers and YouTubers in the list above, which isn’t surprising, since I’m part of that world myself. Still, it’s always a genuine joy to meet people I’ve known for years online in the flesh. There’s something profoundly, well, human about it, and I can’t help but feel we all need to do this more often. Spending time with someone unmediated by technology reminds us of the warmth and immediacy that no screen can replicate, especially as our lives grow ever more entangled with the digital. That’s exactly why attending Gamehole Con has become so meaningful to me: it’s a chance to reconnect, not just with friends and colleagues, but with the shared humanity at the heart of this hobby.
I'll at greater length about the people, the games, and other activities of the con in greater depth in upcoming posts.
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