As many of you know, NOVAG held its annual NOVAGCON on September 12th the 130, at the Westpark Hotel in Tyson's Corner. This was the same location as last year, but a month later. Many of the vendors from last year returned, including Outland Games, Editions Brokaw, Actual Size, Ltd., Game Parlor, and Gainers Emporium (formerly Gaining Realm). We had some other vendors in attendance for the first time, and hope to be seeing them at next year's show also.

Games this year were some of the best looking I have ever seen. We may not have as big a convention as HMGS's, but I think our average game is presented much better. Some of the impressive games we had were Hal Dyson's Aerodrome, Richard Hale's Warhammer Siege, HMGS Fall-In honcho Bob Giglio's Soldier's Companion event, Richard Hasenauer's WWII in 15mm games, and several games from different time periods run by Haily Wynn, a new member of NOVAG. There were many others that I didn't name, most of which I didn't get an opportunity to see much of, but I want to thank all of the people who took the time and effort to make NOVAG an enjoyable event for the other attendees. THANK YOU!

Despite the great games, fine vendors, and keeping the convention at the same location and price, our attendance was less than we had hoped for, and fell short by about 50 people from last year. Due to this, we (once again!) didn't make a profit from the event, but instead lost some money.

Regardless, we WILL be having a NOVAGCON '99, and should be having it at the same place and around the same dates. I know I will be making a greater effort next year in pre-convention publicity in order to bring in more gainers than ever before. We will be sending out information earlier, will have a website up for registration and game listing, and will be contacting both current members and past members well in advance about both attending and running games.

I believe that this event is really the heart of NOVAG (No, it's NOT the discounts!) and I hope that all of you feel the same way. Please do what you can to be there next year. I think that everyone that was there felt it was worth it, and had a good time to boot! We really do need your support if we are to continue to hold these local gaming events. While the big cons are nice, they require driving time and the cost of hotel rooms, meals, gas for your car and usually have a higher admissions cost than NOVAGCON. At NOVAGCON, if you sponsor a game, you get in free! You can bring your lunch, eat dinner at home, sleep in your own bed, and come back on Sunday if you want! There is no better gaming deal out there!

The future of NOVAGCON is in your hands. You have to be there for it to work. Bring your non-gaining friends, your kids, and yourself to the next convention. Due to keeping all other costs at a minimum, NOVAG can afford to run NOVAGCONs, even at a loss, for the foreseeable future, BUT if we don't have the attendees, the vendors will stop coming, and then it will soon become cost-prohibitive to run them. NOVAGCON is YOUR convention. We need your help to make it successful. I am hoping for your support, so that NOVAGCON '99 will be our best one (and most profitable one) ever!