Greeting and Salutations to you one and all!

Hello Gals and Guys, February is here and it is time to start getting ready for KublaCon, the biggest game convention in the west! So let’s get on to some news and info for your reading pleasure.

Registration's Open! Save oooodles of dough!

Up until February 28th, you can save $15 on your weekend pass to KublaCon. Visit our secure online shopping cart and sign up now! Parents registering with a paid child save even more!

Staff Openings, Volunteering and GM's

We have several Staff positions open for our fun loving KublaCon family, so please drop us a note if you are interested in filling any of the following positions…

• Hospitality Coordinator
• Registration Assistant
• ORLOCK’s (Security)
• Miniature Events Assistant Coordinator
• RPG Events Assistant Coordinator
• Table Top Games Events Assistant Coordinator

It does take a very large amount of time and work to put together our convention so we are already looking for people to put their names in the hat for volunteering for next year.
We now have a new webpage where you can sign up for your volunteer time online. You can visit it here. If you don't already have an online account, you'll need to make one. Then just log into your account, search for various volunteer tasks, and check the ones that you're interested in doing. Angel, our Volunteer Coordinator, will monitor your requests... and assign people to tasks between now and KublaCon. You'll be able to search and view your task requests... and your task assignments. Check it out!

Our website is now open for your game submissions. We can't implore you enough to make sure to get your games in as early as you can to make sure you not only get a good spot for your game, but to make sure you even have a chance to get your game in. We again had to turn away games for KublaCon 08 as both the RPG and Board Game departments had run out of room well before the April deadline. We suspect this year will be no different. So get those games in as soon as you can!!!

Changes We Can Believe In! Boardgames ---

Change is coming to Boardgames at KublaCon.
 
For as long as I can remember, gaming conventions have used the tournament structure to entertain attendees. The reason for this was usually to introduce new games to a public that did not have access to the latest games. While this continues to work well for some gaming events like CCGs and in some miniature games, there has been a paradigm shift when it comes to Boardgames and Boardgame Players.
 
Over the past several years, there has been a noticeable drop-off in attendee signups for Boardgame tournaments. Boardgamers have stated in conversations and by their actions and outside activities, that while they appreciate some scheduled games, they much prefer the open gaming concept when it comes to playing Boardgames.
 
Taking a cue from the operation of the game library at BoardGameGeekCon, KublaCon will be expanding and incorporating the Open Gaming lending library into the Boardgame department. To help in this transition, KublaCon will be limiting the number of scheduled events in the Boardgame area in favor of a more open play environment.

For this year, scheduled boardgame events will be limited to 2 hour time frames with fewer events starting at the same time. GMs will have to run at least three, 2-hour events to qualify for a free pass. This provides a nice opportunity to gather like minded gamers for some friendly play and possibly teaching your favorite new game to others.

There will also be a need for volunteers to help operate the Game Library. Games that historically run longer than 2 hours will be addressed individually.
 
KublaCon attendee favorite events like Kniziathon, Diplomacy and the Settlers Tournament will remain unchanged. Please Note; these changes will not affect the Historical Boardgames schedule, especially Up Front! and B-17:Queen of the Skies.

Getting Ready for KublaCon 2009

With more gaming goodness then you can shake a stick and prizes & surprises every where you turn; it's never too early to start planning your pilgrimage to KublaCon 2009. Whether you're an attendee, GM, or volunteer visit our Getting Ready page on how you can get started now!

Kubla Staff Sightings... Dundracon.. and... Conquest!

For our Bay area readers, DunDraCon is on President’s Day weekend (13^th – 16^th) and several of our local Staff members are attending. They don’t bite much and I am sure they wouldn’t even mind if you offered to buy them a drink, or lunch or let them win at that new game they just got at the Dealer’s room. So don’t be afraid and say hi! You can get more info about DunDraCon by visiting here!  Coming up on March 20^th- 22^nd is ConQuest in Sacramento. You can check out their website at Conquestsac.com. So wherever you are... play some games and have fun!

Meet the man behind the Kubla!
Or..uhh.. the Kubla behind the man.. or.. uh..

You've SEEN him at all the cons... but when you see him at KublaCon... he embodies the spirit, and the costume, of Kubla himself! Meet Misha Wilkinson... our Kubla!

Our 9th Annual Game Design Contest

Our first seven years were an incredible success for the design contest. In fact, several of our past winning contestants have gone on to get their games published. If you want to submit a game... read ALL of the instructions here. Good luck... and have fun!

Flea Market!

OK, let loose the mass of humanity and find those deals! The Flea Market is once again going to run on Friday night and Monday morning. The flea market takes place in the Grand Ballroom... right near the dealer's room and these spacious digs will ensure plenty of buyers, many sellers, and tons of games to choose from! We encourage you to make your weekend plans such that you can enjoy these two popular events. You can go to these to links to get more info Fun Friday Flea Market! Monster Monday Flea Market!

Welcome back Dr. Reiner Knizia!

Reiner's coming all the way from Germany just to hang with the Kublaconians! He'll be bringing some of his own designs that are under development... and KublaCon attendees may get a chance to playtest some of them! We'll also be hosting a special "KniziaThon"... play as many of Reiner's games as you can... with prizes for top players!

For board game fans, Reiner Knizia is synonomous with awesome board games. Reiner is one of the, if not THE, foremost German game designers, with over 100 published games.

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Well Folks, that's it for now. Look for our next exciting issue coming out soon. Until then, take care and happy gaming!

David Gabriel and Japji Khalsa

The Fine Print:

KublaCon does NOT sell, rent or share its mailing list with anyone else! Please feel free to send this email to your friends and help us spread the word on how much fun KublaCon is. Grandma Bost says: "You can grow up, but whatever you do, don't ever grow old." and we can do that by playing more games! OK Japji, let’s sing it like Jimmy Buffet! Wasting away again at Settlers Ville. Searching for my lucky KublaMatic of dice. Some people say that there’s a reason I lost. But I know, that it’s my own darn fault!

Go Kubla! :o)