The Pop-Tart Cafe @ Balticon 2000

Pop-Tart Cafe Scrapbook #2: Balticon 2000

At Balticon 34, we ran the Cafe out of a pair of adjoining rooms in one of the corners of Baltimore's Omni hotel. The entryway to our rooms was in a little alcove, and we used this to our advantage, by setting up our signpost out there. (It blocked the door into the second of our two connected rooms, but that was OK, since we were locking that door anyway.)

It was a great setup. As you came through the first room, you went by our little storefront area, and someone (usually me or Kristin) was always on duty in the Big Chair, ready to sell you one of our games. From there, you proceeded through the connecting door to the larger of the rooms, where the actual cafe was.

The Cafe itself was in a room on the corner that had wonderfully huge windows filling out 2 walls, provided a great view of, well, downtown Baltimore. As you can see in this daytime shot, the beds had been removed (before we arrived, by the hotel staff, thanks to great wrangling by our convention liaison, Hal Haag) and we instead set up 5 gaming tables throughout the room.

...and here we see the cafe after dark, long after the room had exceeded its capacity. Although we'd planned to stop at 2AM, our room was still packed with enthusiastic pop-tart fueled gamers when the 12th hour came, and it wasn't until nearly 3 that we actually closed down. (To beat the traffic, we packed up immediately, rolled in at home around dawn, and went right to sleep.)

I saw a lot of games being played (and even managed to get into a few of them), including Fluxx, Aquarius, Martian Chess, Zarcana, Zendo, Volcano, Super Nova, Falling, Brawl, and in particular, IceTowers. There was almost always at least one game of IceTowers going, and Alison recalls a time when it was the game being played at 4 of the room's 5 tables. And with the new black and clear pieces finally being available, 5 and 6 player Icehouse games were finally possible! Somone (sorry, I don't remember who) downloaded Eeyore's special chessboard on the spot, and after it was all taped together, a group sat down and played several games of six-player Martian Chess.

Alison did a great job as the Pop-Tart chef, turning the second bathroom into a secret kitchen. Here we see a girl named Sonya eating her 13th Pop-Tart. Sonya spent many hours gaming with us and our friends, and when Alison noticed that the sugar high was starting to affect her, she gave Sonya an award for overall achievement in Pop-Tart consumption and then decreed that she not be served any more. (Although she relented when Sonya finally left, and gave her a tart for the road...)

Here we see Kory, as he reveals the secrets of his new game Zendo to a group of students. Kory joined us on this event from initial packing to final breakdown, and it was (obviously) of tremendous help to us. Thanks Kory! We were also greatly assisted by Dan and Becca (who had these great Jedi-style costumes that I somehow totally failed to take any pictures of), and several other members of the WTS (Chort, Ginohn, #12, and Renee). Plus of course, there were the 3 of us: Andy, Alison, and Kristin.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make it such a success!

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At Balticon 34, we ran the Cafe out of a pair of adjoining rooms in one of the corners of Baltimore's Omni hotel. The entryway to our rooms was in a little alcove, and we used this to our advantage, by setting up our signpost out there. (It blocked the door into the second of our two connected rooms, but that was OK, since we were locking that door anyway.)

It was a great setup. As you came through the first room, you went by our little storefront area, and someone (usually me or Kristin) was always on duty in the Big Chair, ready to sell you one of our games. From there, you proceeded through the connecting door to the larger of the rooms, where the actual cafe was.
The Cafe itself was in a room on the corner that had wonderfully huge windows filling out 2 walls, provided a great view of, well, downtown Baltimore. As you can see in this daytime shot, the beds had been removed (before we arrived, by the hotel staff, thanks to great wrangling by our convention liaison, Hal Haag) and we instead set up 5 gaming tables throughout the room.	...and here we see the cafe after dark, long after the room had exceeded its capacity. Although we'd planned to stop at 2AM, our room was still packed with enthusiastic pop-tart fueled gamers when the 12th hour came, and it wasn't until nearly 3 that we actually closed down. (To beat the traffic, we packed up immediately, rolled in at home around dawn, and went right to sleep.)

I saw a lot of games being played (and even managed to get into a few of them), including Fluxx, Aquarius, Martian Chess, Zarcana, Zendo, Volcano, Super Nova, Falling, Brawl, and in particular, IceTowers. There was almost always at least one game of IceTowers going, and Alison recalls a time when it was the game being played at 4 of the room's 5 tables. And with the new black and clear pieces finally being available, 5 and 6 player Icehouse games were finally possible! Somone (sorry, I don't remember who) downloaded Eeyore's special chessboard on the spot, and after it was all taped together, a group sat down and played several games of six-player Martian Chess.
Alison did a great job as the Pop-Tart chef, turning the second bathroom into a secret kitchen. Here we see a girl named Sonya eating her 13th Pop-Tart. Sonya spent many hours gaming with us and our friends, and when Alison noticed that the sugar high was starting to affect her, she gave Sonya an award for overall achievement in Pop-Tart consumption and then decreed that she not be served any more. (Although she relented when Sonya finally left, and gave her a tart for the road...)
Here we see Kory, as he reveals the secrets of his new game Zendo to a group of students. Kory joined us on this event from initial packing to final breakdown, and it was (obviously) of tremendous help to us. Thanks Kory! We were also greatly assisted by Dan and Becca (who had these great Jedi-style costumes that I somehow totally failed to take any pictures of), and several other members of the WTS (Chort, Ginohn, #12, and Renee). Plus of course, there were the 3 of us: Andy, Alison, and Kristin. Thanks again to everyone who helped make it such a success!