I had a good time at GenCon 2009 this past weekend. Played some Star Wars Saga Edition with the guys from d20radio and the Order 66 podcast. Ran around the dealers hall, talked with old friends and new, and checked out potential freelance work for future projects.

Order 66 won a silver ENnie for best podcast (after All Games Considered), so a big congratulations to them, especially as some other nominees had larger followings. The Clone Wars Campaign Guide won a silver for best supplement and Scum and Villainy won a silver for best cartography (both Star Wars Saga Editon RPG products).

However, the biggest highlight for me was participating in the benefit breakfast for Aaron Allston, hosted by the Indy Knights Star Wars fan club at the Ram. Aaron has authored Star Wars novels for some time, including several in the current Fate of the Jedi series. He suffered a heart attack with a quadruple bypass earlier this year and needs help with medical costs. A variety of Star Wars authors turned out as special guests, as well as Aaron himself. There was a good fan turnout, and everyone had a good time.

The guests included:
Aaron Allston (Fate of the Jedi: Outcast, etc.)
Troy Denning (Fate of the Jedi: Abyss, etc.),
Michael Stackpole (I, Jedi, etc.),
Ann Margaret Lews & Helen Keier (New Essential Guide to Alien Species)
Jason T Eberl (Philosophy and Star Wars)
Sterling Hershey (Star Wars RPG and Miniatures products)

Just to be clear, this was event was not officially affiliated with GenCon, but held off-site at the Ram, a restaurant popular with convention attendees. However, most of the guests and many attendees were also convention participants.