See, you're not the only one putting your hobby down

Reading reviews, emails and comments that have built up since I started writing this blog and for BoLS it had made me (more) grateful that or hobby community is so vast and to find that there are times when we all feel the stretch of knowing whether to focus on family or the hobby.


My schedule in September has proven challenging for me, even with all my tips and advice on how to juggle time and family. With one child at school full time and two still at home we have contended with my intermittent work schedule, the commencement of school (grade 1), start up of a preschool like program called Strong Start (parents must attend with their children), sickness, my husband's work schedule, a 
Warhammmer convention I am running and all the day to day challenges of running a household. Thankfully I have a pretty good grip on the schedule now but I have find myself without a laptop (it blew up thanks to some moron who decided to connect a worm and a trojan virus to something somewhere-you have my eternal enmity) and working on an iPad or my Android phone is proving rediculous for dealing with photos so tonight I have dredged a desktop computer out of a closet and will reacquaint myself with the use of a mouse and keyboard. Thank goodness I had the foresight to upload all my pictures to Google Drive.

I've decided that running a convention is a lot more work than I expected though. That's probably the biggest project on my table right now. Kippers' Melee was just a baby of an event last year compared to what it is
this year. Maxed at 18 Fantasy players it was, and now this year I have taken on expanding the Fantasy event to 30 players (possibly more because we might have tables open up) and added 40K, Warmachine, X-Wing, Malifaux, Magic the Gathering, open gaming and demos and venders....


It's a ton of work. I don't think any players who attend events truly understand or appreciate what it takes for a Tournament Organizer unless they have actually done it, but my intention is not to unload on here what about that.

The tournament scene in Canada, especially on the west coast, has been sparse. There were only really two big events, with most events single day, but suddenly in 2013 there has been an influx of events in the west coast.

2013 Events included:
Gottacon - Victoria, Februrary 2013
Wet Coast GT - Vancouver (specifically Burnaby), July 2013
Attack-X - Kamloops, September 2013
Kippers' Melee - Nanaimo, October 25-27
TSHFT - Vancouver (Richmond), November 2013
Foodhammer - Vancouver (Langley), November/December 2013

This does not include the additional events in driving distance into the States:
Black Sheep Brawl - Salem, OR, February 2013
OFCC - Vancouver, WA, June 2013
TSHFT - Portland, OR, September 2013

And it does not include GenCon, Astronomicon, Adepticon or any of the other more international events that occur that many of the BC crowd try to go to. It is a major change for us here.

With kids the influx of tournaments becomes a bigger challenge because of course on top of the typical expense of travel and lodging, food and alcohol (for those of you who drink), there is the added challenge of childcare. I have been extremely blessed to have family and friends willing and able to take my kids for the events that I have been able to attend, not everyone is so lucky.

As a TO it is hard for me to hear friends say they can't attend the events I am running but at the same time I completely understand that soemtimes you have to forego events that you want to attend because the care of your children are more important. To those parents who miss out on events because you put your kids or your spouse first, thank you for being good parents and for realizing that your kids need you more than you need to play Warhammer (as much as I know that grates on you sometimes). Know that you are not alone and that we TOs understand that commitment.

I should get going for tonight I still need to finish off my next acticle for BoLS and I have to get some serious work done for to create my program and get a few things organized for Kippers' Melee.

For those of you who don't mind the travel I suggest you go the the website, get your ticket and come out to the event. It is shaping up to be an awesome event and I would love to see you there!