GooCon: Villa Ridge 2

Scott Hardie | May 6, 2012
It's my pleasure to announce the 2012 edition of GooCon!

Last year was a fantastic success, thanks to great guests and a great location. This year, I'm looking to repeat the same elements that worked so well last year, including the same rental house, but I'm also trying to shake things up a bit as GooCon enters its fifth year.

The schedule of activities hopefully demonstrates this blend. Some of the items are familiar from past GooCons, such as the field trip to a local attraction, the sample session of Gothic Earth, and the late-night movie. But I'm also trying some new things: Four very different ways to play Celebrity Goo Game, a Pirate Paradise event like none we've played before, and several brief party games just to shake things up. I'm always open to suggestions and requests for more activities.

As with last year, I expect a few people in the St. Louis area to want to join us but not be able to attend the entire weekend. For those folks, we'll have a cookout at the house followed by a single round of the goo game, for one evening only. Funeratic has a large number of users in the area -- Chris, Erik, Joanna, Justin, LaVonne, Richard, Russ, Samir, and more -- and I'm hopeful that most of them can join us for the entire weekend. I'm also hopeful that some out-of-towners will want to join us, whether they've attended in the past or are just coming out for the first time. GooCon is an enormously fun weekend, as any previous guest can tell you, so you I hope you'll consider joining us this year!

Fyi, the exact dates and location are not set in stone yet. I'll register the house once we have a few confirmed guests. If you would like to attend but have a conflicting appointment that weekend, please let me know asap and we'll see if we can move it while there's still time. Thanks!

Scott Hardie | May 26, 2012
Chris signed up right away, and Joanna and Justin joined the registry just a few minutes ago. Woohoo!

After last year's flurry of sign-ups on the same night as the announcement, I was starting to wonder if this year wasn't going to happen. Not that I don't enjoy Chris and Kelly's company, but it would be awfully weird running all of those games with only the two of them at the table. :-) But two more guests is enough to hold the event for sure. GooCon is on! I'll start planning the individual activities on the schedule.

I'm still very hopeful to get other guests from the St. Louis area and around the country. Who wants to be the fifth guest to register? The earlier you sign up, the better choice of bed you get, and the more influence you have in our private discussion for planning the weekend.

Scott Hardie | June 10, 2012
Several people have expressed interest in attending part of GooCon but not all, such as one or two days. To make that easier and fairer for all, I've changed the price structure so that the weekend is divided into eight parts, and you can pay for just the parts that you attend. Each part will be an equal share of the total cost of the weekend.

In case there's any confusion: The rental house is part of GooCon, not just someplace that we sleep at night, so it's part of the cost for all guests whether they sleep there or not. We don't rent the house just to have a place to stay; if that were the case, Kelly and I could get a hotel room for much less, while the locals slept at home. The reason why we rent the house is to have a large, convenient space to gather for the full weekend. Other spaces like restaurants and hotel conference rooms are too expensive and have restrictions such as only being available during business hours. Every year, I search far and wide for the cheapest house that will meet our needs; there are some pretty sweet venues out there, but I try to keep everyone's costs down.

Three Clues is such a hit that I've added a live version of it to the schedule, along with a few other new items.

Scott Hardie | June 16, 2012
I plan to register the house next weekend. If anybody considering attending GooCon (whether they've signed up yet or not) will not be available on the weekend of October 25-28, please let me know in the next few days while there's still time to move it. Thanks!

Scott Hardie | June 27, 2012
Want to know more about the activities on the schedule? You can now click "show game rules" next to any item to see an overview of how it will be played. We'll go over the rules in greater detail in person.

Usually, I prefer to surprise players and let them discover how to play a game by playing it, as discovering strategies in the moment can be fun. But I appreciate that some players really dislike this, especially when there's a more intense competition. This year, I'm happy to divulge this information before GooCon for a change.

Scott Hardie | July 11, 2012
The house is now rented, and the dates are locked in.

Chris Lemler | July 11, 2012
So looking forward to it Scott once again :)

Scott Hardie | September 8, 2012
My friends, we have a problem: Joanna and Justin have been forced to drop out of GooCon by a situation beyond their control. That's a lousy shame. I know how much they wanted to be there, and I wasn't the only person really looking forward to seeing them.

Several people have expressed interest in attending on Saturday night, and that's great. But only Chris and Kelly have been able to commit to attending the entire weekend, and that's not enough people. Everything except groceries is already paid for and much of the activity planning is done, so I hate to cancel GooCon now.

To save the weekend at this late stage, I'm prepared to take a big step: I'll pay for GooCon myself. The house, the meals, the field trip, and the supplies are all on me. All you have to do is get yourself out there.

However, this offer is conditional: We must have at least two more guests sign up for the entire weekend. If you and your spouse can make it, that's enough right there.

This is also a temporary offer, since I don't have long to get a refund on the house. I'll need to have two more guests signed up no later than Sunday 9/16. If that fails to happen, GooCon will be canceled. Kelly and I will still be in the area in late October, so we'll try to put together a group meal out at least.

Any takers? We have a fantastic time every year, so I hope you'll consider joining us, whether you live near St. Louis or farther away. The more, the merrier!

Sarah Kyle | September 8, 2012
Sorry my phone is being stupid and I am just now seeing this. When and where. I can't view the dates and such.

Scott Hardie | September 8, 2012
GooCon will run from the evening of Thursday October 25 through the morning of Sunday October 28, in Villa Ridge about 45 minutes west of St. Louis. There's a full schedule with info about what we'll be doing. Hope you can join us!

For the record: Guests who can only make it on Saturday night are still welcome, and can now visit for free, but only if the entire weekend still happens.

Scott Hardie | September 11, 2012
Another possibility: We can rearrange the GooCon schedule so that guests who work a 9-5 Mon-Fri job would not have to take time off. We could begin Friday 10/26 around dinnertime, and run through mid-afternoon on Sunday 10/28. We would have to cut a few lesser activities from the schedule to make it all fit, and I would need to confirm with the landlady whether it's even possible to change our rental nights. Would this change make the difference between attending and not attending for anyone interested? Feel free to answer in private if you prefer. Thanks!

Scott Hardie | September 16, 2012
I'm calling it. GooCon is canceled.

My thanks to the people I've been talking to in private, trying to work out a way to save the weekend. It's too bad we couldn't make it happen. I'm especially grateful to Chris and Kelly for being so supportive.

I doubt that we'll ever have another GooCon. This week was too depressing to go through again. However, there are three ways that GooCon will live on:

- Kelly and I will still take our road trip up north next month, and we'd like to have dinner with Funeratic members in the St. Louis area. We'll be in touch about the time and place. Any suggestions for a good restaurant on the Illinois side that would be convenient and comfortable for our little group?

- Some things that have already been built for GooCon: Villa Ridge 2 will find their way online: I've written hundreds of Three Clues that I'll slowly add to the online game. You Sank My Pirate Ship will become an event in Pirate Paradise sooner or later. Players have come up with goos for the Player Revolution game that I'd like to use online next season (I'll say more about that shortly).

- I'm not sure yet of the logistics, but I'd like to find ways to replicate some of the GooCon experience with Skype, Google+ hangouts, or other face-to-face online media. We could meet online a couple of Saturday afternoons each year to play a live round of the goo game or a live mini-event in Pirate Paradise. It could be fun!

GooCon always had to end someday. I had hoped that when that time came, I would call it off myself rather than being forced to by circumstances, but I'm not going to spend any more time feeling lousy about this cancellation like I have all week. I'm going to remember the good times instead. So many of you have been a part of GooCon -- Kelly, Matthew, Aaron, Jackie, Steve, Amy, Carol, Chris, Denise, Erik, Ines, Jeremiah, Joanna, Justin, LaVonne, and Russ, plus folks who helped without attending -- and I'm grateful to every one of you for the many happy memories. Thank you!

Sarah Kyle | September 17, 2012
Let me know when you plan on being in this area because I would love to meet up with you guys. I was looking forward to showing up for GooCon :)- There are a bunch of nice places to eat on the Illinois side as well as the Missouri side.

Samir Mehta | September 17, 2012
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | September 18, 2012
I'm up for either side, especially if it's a good restaurant. :-) I just figured most of our people are on the Illinois side, so it would be a shorter drive for them.