A New Quest

In 2019 I launched The Crafty Gamer and set out to do local events in Central Florida to help promote our candles. Soon after, we discovered that there wasn't a lot of tabletop focused conventions in Florida. We ventured far into the Midwest to do shows that catered to our specific audience.

By the end of the year, I felt that perhaps if I could gather enough like-minded individuals, I could create a small 100-person convention here in town for the local community. I designed a logo, came up with a proposed strategy and looked for a venue. I ended up paying the $1,000 deposit to hold the location at the Holiday Inn near Universal Studios. I printed some flyers, designed a website and started networking with local groups and companies. Everything was coming together in a short span of time and then we got hit with COVID.

Most of the marketing I did was put on hold for all of 2020, which would have been such a fantastic year for branding a TTRPG focused convention. Even when the world opened back up, conventions were still suffering in attendance and being hit with a lot of restrictions for large gatherings. I decided I did not understand enough about these regulations to host a proper show so in 2021, so I put the convention on another hold.

2022 was an easier year for events, we started up our convention circuit again and I learned a lot of the shows I attended in the beginning of the year that I felt comfortable hosting my own small gathering. I was still a one man show at the time, but the location was just over 12,000 sqft so I was confident I could fill the venue. I finalized my floorplan and started finding vendors and volunteers.

By July 2022 I had hit my goal of 100 badges sold, sold out my vendor spaces and had over 10 volunteers to help host games. It wasn't a convention to rival any of the huge shows in Florida, but it was a great starting point for our community. Quest Con Orlando was finally forming as an affordable and accessible show for all tabletop enthusiasts.

When I opened my doors that Saturday morning, I was not prepared for the support that this little convention drummed up. We had sold an additional 75+ badges the nights before the event with nearly 200 people ready to go. Over the course of a few hours, we had over 350 people purchase a day badge just to come shop and check out the event for themselves.

So many individuals had come out to see Quest Con that we actually ended up freezing the air-conditioning unit and heating up the venue. It was jokingly dubbed "The Hottest Show of the Year".

By the end, we saw over 650 individuals and made many fantastic friends and partners along the way. I was soon having discussions with another local event about doing a joint show and expanding Quest Con to 3 days in 2023.