Introduction
As usual, Origins 2003 (Columbus Convention Center, Columbus OH, June 26-29, 2003) catered to the sci-fi and fantasy folks, sprinkled with enough historical aspects to keep us history-minded folks happy. As I've mentioned before, you can spend all four jam-packed days in the historical section without trouble, but it's also fun to just walk around. Attendance was over 12,000 says the GAMA sponsors, but I would peg the historical crowd at about 5-10% of this number. About 200 folks attended at least one lecture in the Origins War College by MagWeb.com. The WC is a lecture series devoted to a wide variety of historical topics, from ancients to modern.
Dealer Area
The dealer area was its usual bustling self, crammed with the latest card games, RPGs, and other sci-fi/fantasy wares. A small Historicals section up at the front featured about a half-dozen historical companies, including: Clash of Arms, Decision Games, Critical Hit Magazine, Omega Games, HMGS (numerous companies sharing one space), and MagWeb.com. I also saw and visited Avalanche Games, Eagle Games, Last Square, Belle and Blade videos, and Shrapnel Games scattered through the hall. Don't confuse this with Historicon! The bigger companies include Wizards of the Coast, WizKids, Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG), Mayfair Games, Kenzer, and Games Workshop.
I ended up buying a little of this and that--some custom mapping software, a few speciality miniatures, a sampling of sci-fi buildings from JR Miniatures, and so on. I collected some other bric-a-brac of handouts--most of which I can't remember six months after the event...nor place. Sadly, I cannot even locate my notes from the convention and from some of the War College lectures.
The War College That Almost Wasn't
There almost wasn't a War College this year. GAMA cut the budget to about a fifth of what it was the year before. As days dragged on, the previous co-ordinator declined to try and put on a show with such limited funds which restricted compensating travel and lodging costs. Two days before the pre-registration booklet, he bowed out, Pete Panzeri stepped in, and tracked me down on a weeknight to see what could be done to salvage this. Pete and I had worked together before, when MagWeb.com helped sponsor the lecture series of Pete's Borodino convention in 2002.
In lightning mode, we made calls and e-mails, and pulled together a program in under a week and just in time for Jodie Panzeri to process and submit to the pre-registration program. It was a mix of military personnel, professors, historians, and wargame designers giving 1 hour lectures (some 2 hour lectures) from 8am to 11pm-midnight Thursday through Saturday, and 8 am through noon on Sunday. Of course, in between patching together the pre-reg program and actually introducing the first speaker, the US took out Iraq, which pulled some of our speakers away and forced us to call in more favors. We ended up double booking the 8am slots, but had access to the adjacent room, so moved folks in there.
On top of that, I did some guest appearances on local TV news shows (NBC News and Fox News) promoting Origins and especially the WC. You get 2-3 minutes to make a pitch and sound enlightened. I've done these before and they come out well because 1) you really can't screw up in only three minutes, and 2) as a journalist for decades, I know exactly what these folks are looking for and I make sure I give it to them.
Janelle Couts
At this point, Janelle Couts enters the picture. What does she have to do with any of this? Well, while waiting for my spot on NBC, there are other guests in the room. We end up talking a bit about who they are and what they're doing and so on. So she asked me, and I gave the two-minute intro, and then I asked her back. She's Janelle Couts. And what does she do? Well, she's Miss Ohio. Hey, if you're not from Ohio, who knew?
In any case, to answer some common questions: Yes, she's attractive. Yes, she's articulate at 6:45 am, and this was her third appearance of the day. No, she didn't know what wargaming was (but has a better idea now). Yes, I got to hold the Miss Ohio crown, but no, I didn't put it on. No, I didn't have my digital camera, and thus couldn't get a shot of the two of us, but yes, I did get an autographed B & W photo (see at right).
And wouldn't you know it, we were booked on the same Fox news at noon show, so we talked some more.
As a postscript, I'm afraid I did not meet the future Miss America. I can't recall who actually won a few months after I met Couts, but I recall it wasn't Miss Ohio.
An amusing incident occurred while we were waiting. Some young guy showed up in shorts looking like he just rolled out of the shower, grabbed something out of the vending machine, and was pouring himself a cup of coffee when Couts' assistant/handler/chaparone asked for a cup so she could get some coffee too. Well, Mr. Wet Hair became just slightly less agitated than a wet hen, and grumpily stalked over and got here a cup from some box and thrust it in her general direction. So there are "us guests" watching him strut on out as if he had something better to do. Anyway, we all had a chuckle, and went on chatting.
Inside this waiting room, there's a TV showing the station's programming. Well, guess who slides in for the news show but Mr. Wet Hair. This guy is the anchor of the show, all prettied up, make-up on, working the blow dry look, and as pleasant a fellow as you could ever want to meet. I betcha he overslept, ran late, and decided to take it out on someone in the waiting area. It's a good thing she didn't ask for sugar and cream. Later, on set, whenever there's a cut to commercial or taped report, Mr. Wet Hair is fussing about like some primadonna. I don't know. Maybe his Q rating was down that quarter.
Prices
I believe admission was $40 pre-reg, and $50 at the door. I don't recall whether there was a buy 1 admission get 1 admission free deal in 2003 as there is for 2004. Unlike most wargame conventions, Origins hits you with per-event fees of $1.50 or $3, sometimes $6 for every event you participate in. The War College was $19.50 for a full four-day pass, but for the first time, you could buy one lecture as an event. I collected a number of event tickets (and generic tickets), which are turned into GAMA as a record of who came. It is possible that some folks bought tickets and did not attend, but I wouldn't know.
The show had a special $30 pass for all the lectures, all the miniatures events, and all the boardgaming events. So, if you preregistered ($40) and bought this pass ($30), your total would be $70, which is steep in terms of the average wargame convention, but you're in a first-class facility with access to a spacious and extensive food court in the same building. Hotels are the biggest cost, about $100-$150 a night for the ones downtown in walking distance, which makes the $70 seem quite small.
The usual concession stand pricing, which is about double or more any other pricing, never ceases to amaze me. Fortunately, you could take a two-minute walk to the food court and cut your costs by a 1/3.
Get Out of Jail
Ferkin of Columbia Games was arrested by some sci-fi guards (remotely from Star Wars?) during the show and imprisoned in the cage outside the dealer area. It was cruel punishment, and quite deserved I might add, for a lifetime of transgressions at various Origins. His 5-minute sentence served, he could start anew...
Ah, that would be Ferkin on the right.
All in all, Origins is a great show for your sci-fi and fantasy gamers, and an improving show for historicals. The lecture series has always been a giant plus, there's plenty of space for miniature and boardgame enthusiasts, and being in the middle of the country means it's relatively equidistant for all.
Origins 2003
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