SaltCon has become a regular event for many gamers and game developers, not only along the Wasatch Front, or even the Rocky Mountain area. People are traveling to SaltCon from across the United States and from other countries. They are coming because of the work that has been put into SaltCon, making it one of the top 10 tabletop gaming conventions in the country.The work the founding members of SaltCon have done since it began in 2008 shows their dedication and love for what they are doing, not only as convention owners, but as enthusiasts for the hobby as players and developers.
Dale Gifford is one of the founding members of SaltCon and I was able to discuss with him the journey SaltCon has taken.
Guild Master Gaming (GMG): What sparked the concept of SaltCon and what was the driving force that got it started?
Dale Gifford (DG): It was in a BGDG (Board Game Designers' Guild) meeting that someone mentioned that the local game day, A Gathering of Strangers (AGoS), was not going to happen. People did not like that idea and so Steve Poelzing said he would run it instead and asked who wanted to help. David Bailey, Phil Kilcrease and myself offered to help. After running the event we decided that we liked the experience and wanted to do it again. The owner of A Gathering of Strangers didn't want to sell so we decided to create our own event and offset from AGoS by about 6 months. The four of us sat in a restaurant late one night and came up with a name, the ion award etc... Thus SaltCON was born.
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| 2015 |
GMG: When you first started SaltCon what was your vision of where you wanted to take your event?
DG: We just wanted to run an event so that people could play games. The AGoS was the only event back then. After a few years we decided that we wanted to be a destination convention that people from all across the country would attend.
GMG: Over the 11 years what was one of your biggest achievements with SaltCon?
DG: Not quitting. It is a huge amount of work and always stressful. In 2014 we could not find a venue and we almost canceled the show. Another event cancelled and a spot opened at the Davis Conference Center and we have been there ever since.
GMG: Have there been any "left turns" that occurred for better or worse that you didn't have planned for?
DG: In 2013 we had two of the four owners move out of state and then we only had two of us left to run everything. At that time the owners were Steven Poelzing, Dave Bailey, Sean MacDonald and myself. We had bought out Phil Kilcrease the year before so that he could focus on his 5th Street Games production company. Sean and I were the only two left standing. It was good and bad. We found Dan Naylor wanted to do more that year and so he became more involved, but the other people who had expressed interest all fell through. Other than that we have not had any huge issues. We try different things and some work and some do not, but it doesn't really affect much.
GMG: Is there something you would like to add to the convention? If so, what?
DG: At this point in time there is nothing I am looking to add or want to add. We are out of space. Now I am looking to see if anything isn't working well and if we should cut it.
GMG: What plans can you share about the future of SaltCon?
DG: We have no plans except to keep things going. We are essentially at our max attendance for the venue, so will shop out all the other venues to see if any make sense. We have added two events and if things go well, we may look at adding another event.
I would like to thank Dale for granting this interview. I would also like to thank him and the rest of the staff and volunteers that make SaltCon a convention I keep going to.
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| 2018 |
There is a lot going on at SaltCon every year. Now with the additional events taking place, gamers and developers have more time to get together. SaltCon's web page (link) has information about upcoming events and information about how to enter a game to the Ion Awards (direct link to the Ion Awards page).
You can read the review of events I have done about SaltCon, which also show how the convention has gone over the years.
SaltCon 2019 Post Convention Recovery (link)
SaltCon: Tabletop Gaming Convention, 10 Years and Growing (link)
SaltCon 2017, Tabletop Gaming—High Action in a Chair at a Table (link)
SaltCon, Looking Back on Three Days of Gaming (link)
Upcoming SaltCon 2015 (link)
SaltCon 2013, Looking Back at a Gamer's Weekend (link)
Summary of 2012 (link)
If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.
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