Welcome [subject name here], you have been invited to attend HomeCon, the premier home-based gaming event of [current year here] in [subject country here]. In order to prepare for this event, we ask you to read through this informational packet.
A word from your Hosts:
We hope this will be a fun event for everyone—the goal of HomeCon is to relax, socialize with friends, and play boardgames. We’re going through the effort of arranging this with all of you in mind. Everyone attending is either family or close friends (all of which Lucio defines as family), people that we enjoy spending time with. If everything goes well, we hope to be able to make this an annual event.
However, as we plan this event, we realize there are some logistics we need to cover. I write these things with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, but keep in mind that these are serious topics and concerns we have. Since everyone is family, don’t expect to get special treatment or that you won’t have to follow the rules. We’re putting forth the effort to arrange this and opening up our house; by following the rules you make this as easy as possible for us.
Lastly, if you are an ass, I will kick you out. So, don’t be an ass.
Pre-register
We need to know who is coming, which days you are coming, and if you plan on staying the night. We are 100% serious about this—this is some of the most important information we will get to help make this convention work.
If you do not pre-register, we will probably still let you attend, but I will be a giant dick and make you stand “in line” outside my front door for an hour.
Parking
There should be plenty of space to park, but if you arrive and have difficulty, call us and we’ll help you out. Be courteous of our neighbors—we have to live next to them, and don’t need you ruining our relationships with them. We can take care of that ourselves.
Behavior
Don’t be an ass, plain and simple. We’re all here to have fun, there’s no million dollar prize or a trip to Tahiti on the line. Relax, and be polite.
Snacks (and donations?)
We will provide some snacks, but I’m assuming they won’t last for four days. We would appreciate if you brought some bottles of soda, some snacks (oreos, chocolate chip cookies, pretzels, etc.), or simply brought a few dollars to donate. We may put out a snack donation jar—the proceeds, obviously, will go towards buying more snacks.
Forbidden items (aka, stuff I don't want near my games): Cheetos, potato chips of any kind, greasy food, red punch or soda. Use common sense—if it will ruin my games or my house, don’t bring it. If you’re not sure, call Jackie or I.
Gum is also prohibited. No joke, someone who visited left gum in our carpet. They are now dead.
Also, no alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes. I figure I probably don’t need to say this, but “legal” said I have to put it in writing.
Food
We are not feeding everybody, there’s no way we could afford that. As such…
Bring your own food, or bring money to purchase groceries/fast food. We will have room in our fridge to store any perishables you bring, and you will be able to use the microwave/stove so long as you clear it with Jackie first, and clean any dishes you use.
Jackie will probably be cooking every night—I’m saying this now so we don’t have to cover it later—even if there’s some food left over, you’re not getting it. It’s probably going to become my daughter’s lunch (or my own) the next day. And if we do give food to someone, don’t complain or make any comments.
Lastly, we will be providing disposable plates and cups so we don’t have to deal with dishes, and to have the largest negative impact on the environment as possible.
Lodging
Bring a sleeping bag and a pillow—we will not provide one for you, and we don’t want you stinking up our couch or carpet. You are more than welcome to stay the night; we have a guest room that is already spoken for, but there will be plenty of floor space available.
As far as showers are concerned, we’ll arrange some type of schedule, but keep in mind that in our area we are on a really dumb tiered system. Overusing water is ridiculously expensive, and we expect to have a good number of people staying, so your shower time will be limited. Also, if you take a 30 minute shower, you will be murdered.
Gaming and Schedules
HomeCon will be very light on scheduling. We will probably have one schedule with a list of games that will take place at specific times during the day, so people can look at the day’s schedule and sign up for games they want to participate in.
We will also likely have one large event planned a day—ideally everyone will be able to participate in this game at once. Right now I’m thinking we’ll have one night of Werewolf, and another night of Time’s up. Lucio is also planning a group game of his own design.
Beyond that, we will have tables set up and Lucio’s collection will be available for use.
Clean up
Everyone is required to clean up after themselves. I’m not your mom, geeze. This includes throwing your own trash away, wiping up any spills, not peeing on the toilet seat. For reference, I will call you out on the last one.
Also, every night there will be around ten minutes where everything will stop, and everyone will be required to pick up whatever trash is around the house. If everyone has been cleaning up after themselves, this shouldn’t even take ten minutes.
Down Time
My daughters go to sleep between 8 and 9:30 pm. During this time everyone will be required to keep the noise level down. If you are loud, I will murder you in the quietest way possible.
Announcements
Some time during the day we will have a few minutes where we’ll ask for everyone’s attention, and make any important announcements, and open the floor up for any concerns. We’re doing this with the hopes of adjusting to the convention’s needs.
How can you help?
If you are interested in offering help, please let us know. I’m sure we’d appreciate it.
Currently we are in need of folding chairs, so if you have some you could bring along, please let us know.
