If you’ve been following my Instagram or checking out this website, you’ll know that my attention for the past month has been focused on planning TavCon, my Sonoma County-based TTRPG con inspired by that most epic of opening lines, “You all meet in a tavern…” So far, the work of planning a game convention hasn’t been glamorous or exciting. However, I’m learning a lot as I go, and it occurs to me that other gamers seeking to start a con may want to learn about that, too. So I’m going to write a few blog posts under the heading “Brewing TavCon” to share what I’m experiencing and learning.
For this first post, I want to talk about that most important resource for any successful con: Game masters! A con’s size and success is limited by a lot of factors; but the number of GMs you have must be at the top of that list. So, from the beginning, one of my core planning goals has been to attract enough GMs to pull off a successful con. It’s like an initiative roll; rolling low doesn’t mean you’ll lose the fight, but getting to act first gives you a competitive advantage!
My Initial Hypotheses
Here are the technical details of my GM game submission process:
- Games were submitted to a Google Form that I created and linked from this website, on the TavCon page.
- The submission window was from March 12, 2026 to March 30, 2026.
- If GMs signed up to run a game in one session, they were offered a free seat at a game in the other session. If GMs signed up to run a game in both sessions, I offered to host a GMs-only game for them after the con.
The first factor I considered was, how many game tables can my venue actually accommodate? Cuver Belgian Brewers, the location of the inaugural TavCon, has a maximum indoor capacity of 44 people. Early on, I decided to plan for 7 six-person tables (one GM and five players) per session, which adds up to 14 total GMs (7 per session). So my target from the beginning has been to fill 14 GM slots. If I could do that, not only would I be able to sell more badges, but I would have an early indicator of real demand for a local con.
TavCon is a pretty small con, as far as I can tell, so I believed (and still do) that I could fill that many GM slots via my personal connections and word-of-mouth. I didn’t I expected that I’d get around 75% of my GMs via personal connections and the rest via word-of-mouth. To that end, I took the following steps:
- Direct email to a group of core friends with GMing experience, asking them to submit a game, starting March 1
- Email newsletter to my (small) mailing list, inviting people to submit a game. Initial email sent on 3/12, followup on 3/17.
- Posts on local gamer Discords on 3/12 and 3/13, announcing the GM call
- Paper flyers that I posted and distributed at Sonoma County game stores and book stores on 3/15, with a QR code linking to the application form
- Posts on the Riddle & Rook Instagram and Facebook on 3/12 and 3/18. R&R only had 5 Instagram followers at the beginning, but the posts each got over 300 views; so someone saw them, even if I don’t know who.
I classify the first two as “personal connections” and the latter three as “word of mouth.”
My Actual Results
My results surprised me; the proportions were almost completely reversed from my hypothesis. Of the 11 applicants, I only knew 4. The remaining 7, roughly 64% of the total, were strangers to me. I also gained 7 Instagram followers as a result of the con posts. This suggests that my work promoting the con on Discord, via flyers in game stores, and on Instagram were the most impactful steps that I took in recruiting GMs. (I plan to ask them more about that when I meet them in person at the con, and will provide more detail at that time.)
Applications came in bursts. I had two in the first two days, both via my personal network. The panic that my personal network hadn’t converted more quickly is what led me to make and distribute flyers. (Yes, in hindsight, I’m a little embarrassed to say that I didn’t lead with that tactic!) Six trickled in over the week following that, including four word-of-mouth GMs. The last burst came in the last three days before submissions closed, and all were word-of-mouth GMs. So personal connections tended to submit games earlier (maybe because I saw them regularly and could cast Cone of Shame on them every time I did?), while word-of-mouth GMs tended to submit later.
The variety of games has been amazing! I expected to get at least 50% 5e, and a smattering of other systems. I actually only received two 5e game submissions. More importantly, I received submissions for 15 different RPG systems! That’s with only 11 applicants! (Many GMs submitted 2-3 game proposals.) So I’m really excited by the variety of games that TavCon players will have to choose from.
And to be clear, even though I’ve only had 11 applicants, I have filled all 14 available GM slots! Many GMs offered to run a game in both the morning and afternoon sessions. In fact, I have so many interested GMs that I currently expect demand for the con is sufficient to sell out every seat. (We’ll see if I’m right about that; that will be one of the blog posts in this series.)
The Takeaway
So, my first lesson for anyone planning a con is: Don’t forget the footwork! Especially for a local event like TavCon, I needed to go out and engage with the community that I wanted to participate, instead of just leveraging my existing network. Now, my next step (right after today’s D&D session where we chase down the last piece of the Rod of Seven Parts at a casino in Avernus!) is to post the games online and start selling badges! Want to get alerted as soon as badges go on sale? Join the R&R mailing list and you’ll be the first to know!