September 2, 2017
The First Inspiration for CascadeCon
CascadeCon is my lark. Its inspiration arose in the confluence of three things. First, desiring to play more board games with like-minded people, I began attending board game conventions of various sizes several years ago. Among three-person gaming retreats and enormous conventions like Gen Con, I found the happiest of mediums when I stumbled upon Game On! in Issaquah, Washington.
Game On! has all the personality of its motley founders: it’s fun and not too serious, but still focused on the right things. At Game On!, people feel welcome and have a good time. In part, this is because of its size. Game On! is just big enough to add variety for attendees but not so big that it’s impersonal.
Shortly thereafter, I started attending the San Diego Historical Games Convention (SDHistCon), which has a similar feel. And soon after, I started attending other similar smaller conventions.
All of these conventions share the following characteristics:
- They provide a event that is large enough to promote variety of interactions, but
- …small enough to encourage loyalty and friendliness among players (overall, each is about 150± attendees); and
- They are all run by people who care very much that the players attending are having a good time
CascadeCon is for All Types of Tabletop Games (Thematic, Euro, Wargames, etc.)
CascadeCon is “genre agnostic.” It is a place for omni-gamers—a convention for the type of people who see the same joy of strategy in a 45-minute negotiation card game, as in a 12-hour civilization-building epic, as in a 10-minute social deduction game, or as in the idiosyncrasies of a 3-hour counterinsurgency scenario. At least that’s how I am.
The Second Inspiration for CascadeCon
The second inspiration for CascadeCon arose from the fact that my law office is next to the Dome Room—one of the very best event spaces in Bellingham. I’ve walked past the Dome Room for years and attend events there from time to time. I have long thought it would be fun to play games in the Dome Room while enjoying the water view.
The Third Inspiration for CascadeCon
And the third inspiration for CascadeCon comes from the fact that Bellingham—even though it is populated by 88,000 people in a county of 212,000, straddles the Seattle and Vancouver metropolitan area, contains a high density of board-game players per capita and a has a strong sense of its own character—didn’t yet have its own local convention. I thought Bellingham should have its own board game convention.
So here we are.
My Aspirations for CascadeCon
I aspire for CascadeCon to have the following characteristics: First, when you attend I very want you to enjoy yourself immensely.
Second, I thoroughly enjoy a very wide-range of game types and weights. I hope many of you are also that type of player so that we can enjoy a wide range of interesting experiences together. That said, if you have a preferred focus (i.e., you are a consummate hex-and-counter wargamer, or you really prefer Euro mechanics, or you really need thematic tie-in to make a game come alive for you), then I still want you to come and feel welcome. You are each going to add to the variety that will make CascadeCon satisfying.
Third, I hope you will make new friends and have experiences that enrich you.
Fourth, I want you to feel comfortable bringing and introducing us to your family.
And finally, I hope you bring your friends along, too.
I look forward to playing games with all of you in January.
O. Shane Balloun
Bellingham, Washington