Smoggycon Show Report!

[Leon]

This weekend was our local show, Smoggycon, held in the Southlands Centre.  This one is a massive 3 miles from us, so we decided to set up on the Friday night to save some time!  The snow had appeared on the Thursday night, and by Friday evening was pretty deep.  We carefully headed over to the venue about 8pm and got most of the stand set up.  There were a few traders who had decided to set up early as well, which with the weather was probably a wise move.

Saturday morning came, and the weather hadn't eased up at all.  The major roads were pretty clear, but the side streets were precarious.  Despite this, when we got to the venue at 8am, the place was bustling with activity.  We finished up setting up the stand and Dave headed off for the customary bacon buttie.



The majority of the traders were in the main hall with us, which is a high roofed sports hall.  Up a corridor was another smaller room, with some more traders and display games:



The Bring and Buy was in a smaller room off to one side, manned by Middlesbrough Gamers Club members:



Unfortunately as it approached opening time, it became apparent that a few traders had been derailed by the weather and hadn't been able to make it.  A few of the empty tables were taken down, and the others were quickly snapped up by their neighbouring traders, so by the time the show opened, everything looked great.  With the entrance being on the other side of the B&B and the other trader hall, it took a while for people to filter down into our room, but once they did, the show was steady.  

Obviously the numbers were slightly reduced by the conditions outside, but I was thoroughly impressed by the dedication of wargamers, some of whom had come quite some distance to the show.  Even Marco from RifRaf managed to get there from Falkirk, albeit after the show had opened!  Also, credit has to go to the display/participation gamers, who managed to get there, put the games together, and still maintain a smile.

On a personal note, I would like to introduce 'Minibits'!  This is my new business, which made it's debut at Smoggycon:



For more info on this: http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=1800.0

The show was fairly steady for most of the day, with people popping between the two halls.  With it being our local show, I'd brought the missus and the 6 year old, who spent the first half hour running round the hall with Grandad, playing tag.  Dave seemed to be enjoying this more than Jamie...  It also meant that we could take a lot more time to look about, and chat with customers.  Several familiar faces came by, some we hadn't seen for many years, so it was good to see them.

The snow continued into the afternoon, and down the road at the Riverside, Boro were even playing in it, against a Hull team inexplicably wearing a white strip?!



With a lot of people's minds on navigating the trip back home, the show started to close up just after 2pm, which was a shame, as last years debut was a fantastic first attempt.  Hopefully next year the weather will be nicer, as Middlesbrough Gamers Club, and our very own Gandalf, put a lot of effort into this one.  I know Gandalf managed about an hours sleep on the Friday night!

Next year we'll be back, but it'll be at Smoggycon, not Snowycon!



So for the games (apologies for the yellow tint to some of them, the lighting in the sports hall was like that!):

A 10mm Pendraken skirmish game:

[Gandalf]

Excellent report and pictures Leon
More at http://www.m-gc.co.uk/cms/e107_plugins/autogallery/autogallery.php?show=Smoggycon_2010