I've returned from the most recent filming expedition, the Gathering of Friends, which I attended Saturday night through Tuesday morning (and by that I mean like 4:30 AM Tuesday morning, which is when I went to bed...for an hour and a half, before getting up again.)
I saw and heard many interesting and wonderful things, and met many interesting and wonderful people. There were board game designers and industry notables as far as the eye could see, making it a pivotal few days for the documentary, and an opportunity I was not going to squander. It was hard, because there were so many games I'd never seen before, even many prototypes, and I really needed to NOT play them. I made 2 brief exceptions, for The Resistance, and Fits. It was probably a valuable little break, I rationalize. :) All work and no play..., as they say. But for the most part, I stayed focused.
At this event, you need to check your sleep needs at the door. These guys are here to game, and they do not stop gaming. I never found the main room completely empty during my entire stay. The closest it came was once around 7 AM, when less than a dozen people were to be seen, but that lull didn't last long. This made it much easier to amass interviews than in most traditional settings. I think I wrapped up one interview around 10:30 PM, then went downstairs to a packed gaming floor to continue filming.
The interviews included designers Alan R. Moon (Ticket to Ride), Friedemann Friese (Power Grid), Stephen Glenn (Balloon Cup), Kory Heath (Zendo), Peter Hawes (Heads of State), and Jay Tummelson, founder of Rio Grande Games, to name a few. And I do mean a few, there were many other people I talked to, though not ALL the ones I would have liked. It's time to start a page listing all of the interviews I've done, and I'll be doing that soon, so keep an eye out!
Sincere thanks to everyone at the Gathering who took the time to talk to me, and help out with advice and additional introductions (and food, thank you for the FOOD invites). You were the greatest bunch of people one could hope to meet!
Great to meet you there, and hope you got great footage. I think you nailed the take-away message for me with your final sentence. The hobby may be board games, but what makes it so rewarding is the greatest bunch of people one could hope to meet. Best of luck, and stop up into Vermont some time.
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