During the closing ceremonies of GaymerX2 yesterday at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown San Francisco, GaymerX creator Matt Conn joined alongside other core team members and Bosses of Honor including con president Toni Rocca and WWE Superstar Darren Young (whom Kevin Schaller will post an exclusive interview soon) cleared the air on the future of the convention.
To the collective concern among the 2,000+ attendees at GaymerX2, rumors and articles had already circulated that this would be the last GaymerX or that the convention would go biannual. While Matt Conn shared that the former is true, it's only for the name "GaymerX." There are events planned for 2015, some under the GaymerX banner and some under an entirely new one. (Nothing's set in stone yet but maybe a game jam of some kind.)
The future name still remains uncertain, but one guess would be "EveryoneGames," the hashtagged word that has been paired with GaymerX ever since its inception last year. Matt Conn articulated that though "GaymerX got us to the dance," so to speak, it's not the best word to describe everyone who attended and who should feel comfortable going to GaymerX2 which includes straight, lesbian, transgender, and queer people.
I believe "EveryoneGames" would be a strong candidate not only for its longstanding association with the convention, but because it would position it better in the eyes of possible sponsors for the future. 2K, Ubisoft, NIS America, and Riot Games were just a few of the headlining sponsors at GaymerX2, so the potential for growth is high. Beyond that, it would diminish the criticism that the LGBT community specifically needs a gaming convention of its own.
With two years' worth of convention experience, Matt admits that the team has made several mistakes but he hopes to bring what he and his staff has learned to the convention's future events.
