conFUSEcon

Four years ago, I started conFUSEcon as an excuse to test out a convention organization software I’d been tooling around with for the previous six months; it worked, but not entirely in the way I’d expected.

Being an introvert, I needed to find a way for a bunch of people to hang out for a day and not necessarily have to talk to me. A boardgame convention made sense: I like board games, there’s virtually no small talk, and the span that you have to sit around people is finite.

About forty people showed up. I’d never hosted anything that 40 people wanted to attend, but this one worked out. I allied myself with Tri-City Area Gaming, and they did a great job supplementing the boardgame library and getting word out. They also did awesome, unexpected things, like providing snacks and teaching people how to play some of the games.

The next year, we had about 80 people. Last year, 142 people showed up and we were bursting at the seams. The Richland Public Library could no longer contain our awesome (for the record, we adore RPL; they’ve always been wonderful).

This year has seen the biggest change to Tri-City Area Gaming (TAG), and as a result, to conFUSEcon. conFUSEcon has been rolled into TAG and we’ve formalized into a non-profit (501c3 paperwork filed as of this writing). Our organization is hovering at around 800 Tri-Cities gamers. I’m currently serving as TAG’s president. We’ve shifted focus from just managing gaming events (250-ish annual events at the moment) to focusing primarily on the use of boardgames as a tool for promoting STEM/STEAM education and working to create events that welcome the underserved in our community.

We’ve moved into the Red Lion in Pasco, and we’ll be running games for 48 hours (instead of our previous single day stretch). We’re using conFUSEcon as our membership drive: $25 ($11 for teens, kiddos under 13 are free) gets you in the door for the entire weekend, and gives you access to the many games and events available.

Buying an annual membership also means you are a member in good standing with TAG, so you can keep up with the things we’re doing and help out behind the scenes if you’d like.

We’ve allied with local charities, and this year, 100% of proceeds from conFUSEcon will go to Safe Harbor: My Friend’s Place—the only local teen shelter serving homeless youth between the ages of 13 and 17.