| Get to know your organizers! Ten questions with Becky Thomas | ||||
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1. Tell us a little about yourself... Hi! I’m Becky Thomas, the Young Players room Coordinator. My day job is being the Director/Owner of The Roleplay Workshop, a program for youth that uses a role playing game for after school, holiday and summer programs. I’ve been running RPGs for youth and adults as a profession since 1989. Before that I was a school teacher, and before THAT I was a biologist who studied mammals, in particular dolphins and whales. I even spent a year in the Philippines studying bats! 2. What do you do at KublaCon? Like I said, I’m the Young Player’s Room Coordinator. Pre-Con, I scrabble around trying to find people smart enough, cool enough and brave enough to run games of all types for youth. At the convention, I pretty much live in the YP room, directing traffic and keeping the kids safe and having a good time. I sometimes get to ‘put out fires’ and SOMETIMES even get in a little gaming of my own.
3. How did you get involved with KublaCon and how long have you been here? Whew... memory’s getting a bit foggy, but I believe it’s been since 1997... first with Game Con at the Oakland Airport Hilton, or maybe first was at the ConQuest at the Clarion Hotel by SF Airport... can't remember, it’s been a long time! 4. What motivates you and what rewards do you get out of being involved with KublaCon? Well, hanging out with other gamers is always fun! But running the YP room has tons of rewards too. Such as getting to be the person who helps ‘shepherd’ our next generation into the world of gaming; seeing kids find a game they love; and watching them launch themselves out into the big, scary world of the Con, ready to go and eager, confident in their gaming skills. That’s all pretty rewarding if you ask me! 5. What is your earliest gaming or game convention memory? I came to gaming late in my life. My first gaming convention was DunDraCon 1993. I helped run the dealer table for Dr Comics and Mr Games... if my memory serves me right, we carried FASA and West End Games! (How many of you out there remember them!?) Coincidentally, I ran a demo of the RPG I use at the Roleplay Workshop (Abantey), AND met Steve Kani, my auxiliary brain and life companion. (Cute, huh?) 6. What is your favorite gaming or game convention memory? Hmmmmm.... running a huge Cyberpunk tourney at DunDraCon a few years ago, and having 12 players show up at each of the 5 games! We had to turn players away, and have every year since. 7. What is your least favorite gaming or game convention memory? ... a serious episode of ‘cranky pants’ after too many hours of working the kids room, during a 3 am attempt to play some Cyberpunk... ‘nuff said.... 8. Give us a top 3 list of your favorite games and tell us your least favorite game. Cyberpunk, Lunch Money, Serenity.... Least favorite??? Sorry guys... Magic and other CCGs9. Where do you currently play games and what do you play when you are there? Uhhh.... let’s see... I RUN games for a living, 20-45 hours a week... I DO get to play a little though! Once a week I play in a d20 campaign, and twice a month I play in a Swashbuckling Pirate game! 10. If you could tell all of the KublaCon attendees something, what would it be? Play Hard! Play Fair! Have Fun! P.S. The Roleplay Workshop is always looking for a few good men and women! We need adult GMs who able to endure a strenuous unpaid Internship to work for us. The game system has a steep learning curve and learning tricks to work with youth is not easy! I’m particularly looking for people with web design, advertising and general business training. The plus side: you can say you make your living as a GM! Please contact me directly if you are interested. I'll need a 'GM resume' and a standard resume!
***************** Becky Thomas Director (510) 654-3582 The Roleplay Workshop |
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