Friday Night Dinners

So, I promised more information on the Friday Night Dinners.

For the lovers of sushi, the lovely and talented “Sushi goddess”, Betsy Marks Delaney, will be leading the charge to descend on Asahi Japanese Restaurant for sushi (which, I am told, is rather good).

For those who “prefer meat”, I will be be leading the march down the hall to the Outback Steakhouse attached to the hotel.  MMMMmmmm… Mighty Cholesterol Onions Bloomin’ Onions…

Both ventures will leave the gaming areas between 7:30 pm & 8 pm. We will have sign-up sheets in the gaming area so we don’t forget anyone.

Please feel free to RSVP to us at info@barkingmad.org, especially if you think you might get there a little late. We’ll hold a seat for you. We promise.

More event notes!

So, as the once and future Game Room Czar, I thought I’d take a moment to talk about the few planned events that we have during the weekend.

I’ve mentioned before that we used to have a lineup of “social” events, most of which have fallen by the wayside. However, we have kept one of these alive: The Friday Night Sushi/Meat Fest! We end up breaking into two camps: Those who eat bait sushi and those who eat meat (you can guess which one I fall into). The sushi lovers head off to a local establishment while the rest of us head down the hall to the Outback. I’ll have more info on these, including timing, in the next 24 hours.

Gamingwise, we don’t have a lot of planned events. Mainly because most of the participants have indicated that they prefer this. I’ll be running a few demos (including new SJG releases Revolution and The Stars Are Right), as well as the 2nd Annual Arneson/Gygax Memorial Dungeon Crawl (more on this in a bit). We also have the 4th annual Charity poker tournament again this year.

So let me talk about those last two.

The 2nd Annual Arneson/Gygax Memorial Dungeon Crawl consists of me selecting some “old school” Dungeon adventure and running it. Bring your dice, bring your wits, bring your finely honed bloodshot instincts and forget “skills” and “feats! This is gaming at it’s finest! While last year, it was simply labeled the Gygax memorial crawl, we also lost Dave this year, and it seems only right to include him. In years to come, I’ll be switching around who gets “top billing”.

The 4th Annual Charity Poker Tournament. 4 years ago, the staff of Barking Mad went through a year that brought far too much tragedy and sorrow into our lives. Refusing to take this lying down, we set up this yearly tournament in memory of the people we lost. The charities that benefit from this event are the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, The Center for Basic Cancer Research at Kansas State University and the Mazzy Kaya Foundation. We hope that you will participate in our effort to raise money for these three groups.

New event announced for TCEP 16!

Yes, ladies and gents, we here at Barking Mad have just confirmed that we will be playing host to a Live Action Murder Mystery event at TCEP 16: Craig & Tad against the World Crime League!

For as long as there’s been a New Orleans, there have been rumors about what lurks in it’s shadows. Is that the baying of a werewolf? Did I see a glint of fang in that woman’s smile? Come and be a part of our Murder Mystery and find out for yourself!

This event is for 20 players; signups will be in the game room at TCEP.

A little bit about TCEP

Hi There!

I’m Grayhawk, the most recent conscript to the Barking Mad Board of Directors, and the once and future Game Room Czar. I’d like to take a few minutes to give you an overview of who we are and what we’re about.

Tad & Craig’s Excellent Party (TCEP) began many moons ago when Tad & Craig lived in the same place (called the Mad House) and decided to have people over for a weekend of gaming. While the weekend was very popular and successful, they found that they had to clean bothe before and after the weekend, and this, they did not like. So they decided to start holding it in a hotel.

And here we are, 16 years later.

For years, we billed ourselves as “A Relaxicon chock full of gaming”. And that was a pretty good description – in addition to the Friday night dinners, there were other social activities – an ice cream social, Saturday night dinner, etc. Over the years, these have unfortunately fallen by the wayside, and don’t look to be picked up anytime soon.

What has persisted is the gaming. And believe me, we do a lot of it. But, I think it could best be described as “casual gaming”. And what I mean by that we game in a very relaxed atmosphere. We have a few scheduled events, sure (and more on that in a few days), but for the most part, we provide the tables and chairs, and our guests provide the games and players. Whether it’s an old favorite that you can’t get enough of, a new game you’ve picked up at Origins or GenCon, or something that you found at a yard sale, you can always find people to play. Hardcore and casual gamers alike find suitable opponents aplenty at TCEP.

We also bill ourselves as “Family Friendly”. Many of us have grown up in or around the conventions in the greater DC area, or have watched others do so. A number of our attendees have chosen to have children, and find that this becomes an excellent place to introduce their children to new games and old classics alike. We also recognize that some of our attendees mioght enjoy some gaming, but wish to relax in pursuits of a crafty nature. And for them, we have space set aside as well.

I suppose it would be a stretch to say that we have something for everybody – but we do cover quite a bit of ground.

I would remind you that our early bird special expires at the end of the month. Until July 31, Adult registration is $30, Youth (12-17) is $15, and children under 12 are free with an accompanying parent or guardian. After the 31st, the prices jump to $40 for adults and $20 for youths.

So come on out to Laurel for the best 4 days of gaming and relaxation in the DC area! We look forward to seeing you there!

Announcing TCEP 16: Craig and Tad Against the World Crime League

Hi there!

Where has the time gone?  Another year has passed and it is once again time for thoughts to turn to summer — fireworks, barbeques, baseball, beaches — and TCEP!

We keep growing and changing, but our mission remains the same: put on the best Labor Day Weekend convention in the world!  The heck with DragonCon, I say!  We’re more fun, and a heck of a lot cheaper too!

We’ll be back at the Holiday Inn Laurel West again this year, and are working on the usual fantastic lineup of events and fun for everyone to enjoy.  From gaming and crafts to the fantastic, fresh-bread laden con-suite, and all the good stuff you”ve come to know, love, and expect is being planned and readied for your pleasure!

And you can still get the Mighty Cholesterol Onion Bloomin’ Onion delivered to your room!  Tad is still flyin’ high from the concept!

Sign up now, right now, before you forget!  $30 is very reasonable!  You can mail us a check or use our website to pay online!  Operators are standing by!  Don’t make us come find you…

Seriously, we will have much gaming, much relaxing and hopefully, even a larp or two for people to enjoy.  We are looking forward to seeing all of our friends again!