Connonball Run Experience

Where do I start? They say the beginning is always good, so I’ll give a little background about myself. I went to my first games convention in 1990 (Gaelcon) with a group of friends from Sligo. Little was I to know how much of an impact these conventions were to have in my life (and pocket ). I have since gone to at least one convention a year and usually more. So how did I get into the Cononball Run you may ask?

Well it all happened last October at Gaelcon during the charity auction. Three conventions had gotten together to include a lot in the auction. The idea was simple whoever bid the most for the Connonball Pillow got free entry to the three conventions, they were Warpcon/Leprecon and Itzacon. Simple really, or so you’d think (WRONG!). This was the Gaelcon charity auction after all and it’s never simple. The lot went up for bidding and after a slow start (I’m sorry to say) Colm Lundberg (M.C. for the auction) put it to the floor if any other con’s would like to add their con to the lot. Needless to say this led to a chorus of add this con, add that con, etc. etc… you get the idea. That is where the bidding took off all of a sudden, instead of entry into three con’s you now had free entry in any con in Ireland then Gav (formerly of 4th Dimension) said he would cover entry into GenCon U.S.A. the next thing you know the international con’s started adding their con’s to the mix first Scotland then Isreal then Spain the next thing you know the pillow now covers entry into any con in the world! Yes, I said the world. On the night Gav said he would cover entry into any con that wasn’t covered. (Good Man, crazy but good). Now, for the record, even though all con’s were covered I had no intention of bidding for the pillow as I normally only go to maybe two con’s apart from the one (Confess) which I help run. The bidding was getting quite high, near the 1500 euro mark, when this guy stands up and declares that if the pillow fetches 2000 euro or more he will specifically set up a con in Clonmel. Now you should know that I have lived for eight years in Tipperary with Clonmel being the closest town to me and until recently I knew no gamers from that neck of the woods. If I wanted a CCG or role-playing fix I either went back to Sligo or up to Dublin and this didn’t happen very often. So a con in Clonmel was very enticing but still I didn’t bid as 1500 euro is a lot of money! The bidding was still going up as I sat there thinking a con in Clonmel would be cool. At this stage the bidding was at 1685 euro and I said to myself “to hell with it €2000″! (I really wanted that con in Clonmel. Thanks Feathard Lady). That ended the bidding, I got a Pillow, free entry into Con’s and a lot of explaining to do when I got home!

So what has the Cannonball Run meant to me since then? Well I’ve gone to more con’s then I ever have before in one year 4 so far (Sorry Vaticon but personal reasons got in the way of me attending sorry) and I’ll be at at least three more before the year of the pillow comes to a close. Unfortunately I won’t get to any of the overseas con’s mainly due to work and other commitments. The other thing that the pillow has done for me is allow me to meet more people in the last 7 months at con’s then I had in the previous 18 years. The reason for this I believe is that the story of this pillow helps break the ice so to speak. People come up to you asking about it and telling you how crazy you are (thanks I think) and from there you get talking.

That in itself is worth the cost (lets not forget that the money is going to kids charities which is also a big factor). I have to say thank you to all the con committees I’ve met since getting it. They have really made me feel welcome and gone out of their way to ensure I had a good time, thanks to all it meant a lot. All I can say apart from that is, I intend to keep going to more con’s from now on and keep meeting those people I have come to know over the last few months. So when you’re at a con and an offer like this comes up, I say grab it because it has been one of the best experiences of my life buying that pillow I’m only sorry it didn’t happen years ago. So now I sign off and hope to see you at the next stop on the Cannonball Run.