Dragonmeet! The friendliest gaming con ever?
That’s how it was sold to us, so Robin went along to the Novotel in Hammersmith, London, UK to get his game on.
YES. IT JUST MIGHT BE.
Right then – Dragonmeet Con Survival Guide – This is not a review (it is a little bit), it’s part of the Coaching for Geeks Convention Survival Guide, to help you get the most from any convention. Going to a con? Want to contribute? Email robin@https://www.coachingforgeeks.com
DRAGONMEET TABLETOP GAMING CONVENTION
To give it its full name.
What is it?
Clue’s in the title right?
Alright, Dragonmeet might be kid friendly but we’re talking dungeons, with dragons potentially in them, fighting fantasy, boardgames, roleplaying games, seminars, game tests, and new for 2017 – a whole hall full of stalls.
Dragonmeet got bigger.
Now over two floors at the Novotel Hammersmith, Dragonmeet includes bookable gaming, drop in gaming and we’re getting ahead of ourselves, because teh increased size brought a couple of problems to an otherwise brilliant small convention.
DRAGONMEET SURVIVAL GUIDE
DRAGONMEET SURVIVAL GUIDEWhere is it?
It’s in a big hotel, the Novotel London West which is here on the map.
Very easily accessible by tube.
Food and Drink
I took a sandwich and bottle of water in, no issue at all. There are loads of bars and restaurants on site, there are plenty of places to eat nearby. Take your own, beat the queues. I did experience a problem getting a sandwich which was a language barrier, but that’s a matter for the hotel – a list on the bar instead of the guy running backwards and forwards from a cupboard to tell us what was left might be a better solution.
Money
There are plenty of cashpoints a short walk away, but as always best to stock up with what you’re willing to spend. Lots of vendors with card readers, lots of vendors struggling with the signal and low batteries (standard for cons).
Crowds
This year was sold out and it never got overly busy. There were long queues for the seminars (I don’t know if everyone got in) and the pre-booked tabletop roleplaying games were fully booked by the time I arrived. There was drop in gaming running all day however.
The fully-booked RPG Signup Wall
The fully-booked RPG Signup WallQuiet Space
Being a hotel there was ample space to go have a bit of time away from the gaming. No problem at all.
Cosplay
It’s not really that sort of event, though there was some Fallout cosplayers promoting the forthcoming miniatures game (which was really good fun btw!)
And 
these fine folks from The Cosplay Club were on hand with props, costumes, and ready to chat all things cosplay.
Toilets
Plenty of them, no problem, no queues.
Cloakroom
Ah the second of the two problems – there was no cloakroom and it was a cold day, so people were bundled up warm and struggling a bit.
Phone Charging
As always, take a battery pack. There were plenty of free outlets but ALWAYS TAKE A BATTERY PACK TO A CONVENTION.
Where to get Help
Find someone with a dragon.
They were awesome, were happy have a chat and point out where everything was, knew their stuff, and were friendly and and plenty of them around.
Final Thoughts
What a lovely convention full of lovely gamers having a lovely time! It’s not massive compared to something at a national convention centre, and that works for a 1 dayer.
I chatted with gamers, vendors, playtesters, and it was great.
Dragonmeet, well deserves the title of ‘friendliest convention’. Just get there early to book your games.
More pics!
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Robin Bates – Contastically Charged
There may not be much cosplay at Dragonmeet but were they doing it wrong?
Was I being critical of the convention? Here’s how to handle criticism.
Join the Facebook group, seriously, we give away business coaching, run challenges, do goal setting, play games. It;s pretty awesome.
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