This weekend, any type of game you can imagine – board games, video games, card games, roleplay games – will be set up for anyone to play as part of the 27th annual CODcon.
This event is the college’s yearly gaming convention and will run all day, except Friday, from April 12 to April 14. CODcon is hosted and run by members of both the Sci-Fi Fantasy & Gaming Club as well as the Anime & Cosplay Club. In recent years, CODcon has seen around 300 to 350 attendees throughout the weekend.
The Convention hosts various activities and events across the Student Resource Center and the Health Sciences Building. This includes Dungeon & Dragons games, tabletop games, RPG events, a video game room organized by the COD Esports team, panel presentations, an AMTGARD live-action game, and a masquerade competition. A national qualifying competition for Settlers of Catan will also be present.
There will also be a section for various local artists, authors and business owners to showcase and sell goods. In addition, they will have a silent auction to benefit the COD Fuel Pantry.
CODcon has existed for almost three decades, making this year its 27th anniversary after 2 years of COVID-related cancellations in 2020 and 2021. James Allen, professor of English, is the faculty sponsor for SFGC and has been involved in CODcon since its creation in 1995.
“At the time, our club was only one to two years old. We had organized an event with a Star Trek group, but they canceled one month out. I was sitting with the club president in my office, and one of us suggested a CODcon,” said Allen. “We spent a month planning it, and seven people showed, but we got to thinking that it could be something really big if we put in a lot of effort. It probably took us five years, and that is when we started partnering with other groups that could bring events to us. But it is still primarily student-run.”
CODcon has always brought community to those interested in the gaming world. In 2019, pre-pandemic attendance reached around 500 people. It is an event for anyone, not just for students from COD.
“We open up the website to anyone if you want to run a game. I am sometimes contacted by people who are developing a game, some of whom are students, who want to run it,” said Allen. “We see this as an event for the community, even though this is the main fundraiser. We’ve had people show up from Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana. We even had one guy from France one year.”
CODcon is organized by both the SFGC and ACC clubs. Club members are responsible for running the registration, merchandise, hospitality and CODcon set-up. The club also sees a fair number of alumni and former club members.
“One of the things that I really love about CODcon is that it’s like the club’s homecoming,” said Allen. “We see a lot of alumni come back, some of them who were in the club 25 years ago. Many of the alumni will set up events. So, it helps to maintain that sense of community.”
Nick Grogan, president of the Anime & Cosplay Club, speaks to the impact of CODcon on the club. He has been involved in ACC since January 2019 and has helped organize CODcon since his presidency in the fall of 2023.
“CODCON is very important to me and our club,” said Grogan. “Not only does the convention allow the Anime and Cosplay Club and the Sci-Fi Fantasy and Gaming Club to raise funds to provide fun outings and club experiences to our members – but it provides a setting where anybody that goes to the convention can have fun, be themselves, and find people who share similar interests with them. CODCON is a mixture of a sci-fi, anime, and gaming convention, there’s something for everyone here!”
Grogan has also been working to organize the FantaSea café, which serves snacks and drinks to CODcon patrons.
“Our team of dedicated volunteers have trained for weeks in anticipation for this event, and we’re working hard to decorate our Café to look like a fantasy tavern to fit in with the theme of CODCON: Magical Mashup,” said Grogan. “It’s a fun and unique experience, and it helps the Anime and Cosplay Club to raise funds to allow us to give back to our members!”
More information about CODcon can be found on their website here, including when different events will take place and where to sign up for them. Registration fees cost $7 for one day, $10 for two days, and $15 for a weekend pass. Merchandise will also be sold, including dice, lanyards, handmade dice bags and drawstring bags. The event runs from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on April 12, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on April 13, and from 9 a.m. to 6 a.m. on April 14. Registration will be located by the Turner Conference Center, SRC 2000.
