BASHCon 30: Celebrating 30 years of the gaming convention at the University of Toledo

Brace yourselves — games are coming. BASHCon will be celebrating its 30th anniversary Feb. 20-22 in the University of Toledo Student Union by continuing to bring gaming to the masses.

BASHCon is entirely student-run by members of UT-BASH, which is short for the Benevolent Adventurer’s Strategic Headquarters. UT-BASH is one of the oldest organizations on campus, founded in 1984.

The convention is “certainly worth a visit,” according to Kelson Craigs, vice president of UT-BASH and staff coordinator for BASHCon 30.

What is BASHCon?

“[BASHCon] is a 1,000-person gaming convention where we will play any type of game,” said Laura Zielinski, assistant treasurer of UT-BASH and BASHCon. “We have board games, card games, videogames, RPGs [role-playing games] — we’ll play it all, and it’s just a fun time. Everyone shows up, we all game for three days and hopefully nothing gets broken.”

The convention is entirely self-sufficient, Zielinski said.

“This year, instead of trying to introduce new events, we tried to take what we had and make it stronger. This is BASHCon 30…we really wanted to take what we had and build a strong groundwork so the Con can keep continuing to grow from here on out,” Craigs said.

Jared Hightower, a copy editor for The Independent Collegian, has been involved with planning the convention his whole collegiate career. He served as exhibitor’s department coordinator for two semesters, and then for the past three years he has served as executive coordinator.

“Everyone plays games, even on their smartphone or on their video game console or a computer or on Facebook,” Hightower said. “You ask anybody and they’ve played a game…[even] when they’re 7 years old sitting at the diner with the little paper on the table with their father playing tic-tac-toe.”

For the volunteer members of UT-BASH who staff the event, it’s more than a typical gaming convention or a job.

“When everything is taken care of you kind of just get to walk around and see it all happen at once and it stops being something you organized; it’s something that’s happening around you,” Craigs said. “We always joke that BASHCon happens whether we do anything or not, it’s just how good the Con is. So really you just try to give it the best push you can and watch it roll.”

Hightower has served on planning committees for several other gaming conventions, and takes great pride in his work.

“It really is exciting to see how we can make 1,000 people excited and happy for a weekend,” Hightower said. “It’s such a change from the drudgery of the work life. That’s why I like BASHCon the most.”

Why should students go to BASHCon?

Craigs said that for students, this is the best time to experience and try new things.

“There’s all kinds of things to do, so there’s just such a breadth that I think a lot of people hear ‘gaming’ and they just think it’s just guys sitting in a dark room,” Craigs said, “But there’s so many different kinds of things that are so exciting…I recommend people come to BASHCon so they can find and try something new because new things are what makes life exciting.”

Zielinski believes that, “for the most part, everyone’s a gamer, so it’s easy to mix.” She said that games are something you have to experience to form an opinion about for yourself.

“You hear ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ and you’re like ‘oh, no,’ but you have a chance to use your imagination and you can make up anything that you want to do. You can interact with your environment 100 percent,” Zielinski said.

Hightower said that coming out to BASHCon is “all about forgetting the stress of daily life for three days and just having fun.”

What can I do at BASHCon?

For just $1, attendees can participate in Santa’s Toy Box throughout the weekend, according to Zielinski. The Toy Box is an event run by Tom and Sue Pellitieri, honorary members of UT-BASH. The Pellitieris bring their personal collection of over 150 board games to the Con for attendees to learn and play.

Craigs said it’s the best dollar that someone can spend at BASHCon.

“Some of the games are super old too. They’re from the 60s and 70s — weird, old board games that you just can’t find anymore,” Craigs said.

There will also be a games bazaar at the convention, run by Craigs and Clayton Notestine, president of Student Government. Here, people can come in with games they want to sell and BASHCon attendees can bid on them.

According to Hightower, there will be a variety of tournaments that attendees can participate in throughout the weekend. There will be a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament, a full-scale Magic: The Gathering tournament (modern-constructed format) and an Android: Netrunner tournament.

Hightower also said that there will be a large miniatures-game presence at the convention.

“Those are games where they’re played on a larger table. We get stage pieces and actually raise them up and they play on the stage pieces, so to speak,” Hightower said. “Then they’re standing around the stage moving around these little, tiny plastic figurines around the board and they figure out how far they can go with measuring tape, and they play a game.”

Our House Games, a local game store based out of Monroe, Mich. will be hosting collectible card game events at the convention, according to BASHCon 30’s Facebook page.

BASHCon 30 is free to all UT students, faculty and staff with presentation of a valid Rocket Card. Students from other universities or high schools can attend at a discounted price with presentation of a valid student ID for $5 for a single day or $10 for a weekend pass. For the general public, admission is $10 for a single day or $15 for a weekend pass. Most events will have a $1 cover charge.

According to Hightower BASHCon is going to be giving away board games to attendees. About 100 copies of City of Remnants and about 300 copies of BioShock Infinite: The Siege of Columbia will be given out.

BASHCon 30 will run from 5 p.m. to midnight on Friday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. to midnight on Saturday, Feb. 21 and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22.

For more information or to pre-register for the event, visit their website at bashcon.com, email [email protected] or go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/BASHCon.

“BASHCon is primarily about bringing people together and games are the medium,” Hightower said.

Disclosure: General Manager Danielle Gamble is also an executive coordinator for BASHCon 30.