Last Minute Things to Know

Driving to the Convention

This Saturday the Rock and Roll half marathon will be causing some road closures around Washington DC. Though these closures will not be in the direct vicinity of the Convention Center, they may cause delays or detours when driving through DC. A map of the road closures can be found here.

MANY SOUTHBOUND ROUTES MAY BE BLOCKED OR CLOSED

Parking

Most of the parking spots around downtown have to be paid for. You can usually do this either in person or through the ParkMobile App. We recommend using the app as it can be used to pay for parking without going back out to the parking meter.

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Food at the Convention

The convention center does not allow outside food or drink to be brought into the convention center. There will be food vendors inside of the building for your convenience. There are also many great dining options around the convention center. Check out these lists from Eater DC and washington.org for some recommendations.

We are also strongly discouraging people from eating inside of the main convention halls due to masking concerns.

Water

You can bring your own water and water bottles as long as they are clear.

LARPS

For anyone interested in running or playing in Live Action Role Playing Games (LARPS) room 102a has been reserved for this purpose after 2:00pm on Saturday and all day on Sunday. If you are looking for players, feel free to post your game here so that people can see what games are available.

2022 RPG and event sign ups!

We’d like to thank everyone for their patience - this convention has been a long time coming and our slate of events is no different! After much furious wrangling and finagling we are pleased to be able to present the slate of events for WashingCon 2022. Our list of RPGs, demos, tournaments, guest events and social games is now live. Click one of the buttons below to take a gander at the schedule and to plan your time when you aren’t enjoying open play in the main hall. Most events have limited slots so make sure to sign up in advance for those you really want to be a part of! Please note that some do not require registering ahead of time, so don’t worry if you don’t see them on the sign up sheet. Want to demo your game, run a RPG or host your own event? There’s still some space available so get in touch with us at contact@washingcon.com. Have a prototype you’re working on? Hit up the nice people over at Break My Game here and they’ll find you a spot to show off your work! Thank you all again for staying with us during this frantic rush to make WashingCon happen during the ongoing public health situation. We hope you like what we have to offer and we’re looking forward to seeing you in less than two weeks!

Volunteers and GMs Wanted!

Are you a games enthusiasts who wants to be more involved with WashingCon? Want to meet some great new people and get free admission to DC’s own tabletop games convention? In the market for a loudly colored shirt?? Well then do we have the opportunity for YOU. Every year we rely on a few dozen very helpful volunteers to make the convention happen. From assisting in the games library and with setup and breakdown, to manning the registration desk and many other jobs we can always use another hand. In return for putting in 2 four hour shifts total, split up over either Friday, Saturday or Sunday (the 25th, 26th or 27th) you will receive free admission to the convention for the entire weekend, a very bright and (questionably) stylish annual volunteer T-shirt and the absolute most appreciation we can provide. In addition, If you are a DM, GM or other sort of M and have a one shot RPG you’ve been hoping to get to the table we would love to host you! Just coming down to our convention and running RPGs counts as volunteering and will entitle you to free admission for the rest of the weekend as well. We will provide you with table space in our RPG room as well as assist in getting people signed up for that adventure that’s been kicking around just waiting for players. We‘ve never been able do this without the help of generous folks willing to donate their time so if you’re available and interested in joining our community please consider clicking below and pitching in!


Reduced Price Ticket Sales End Tonight

We’d like to express our sincerest appreciation for everyone who has already purchased their passes for WashingCon 2022! By picking those up early you help us cover the startup costs for the convention and allow us to get this thing off the ground. It’s incredible that so many of you maintained so much enthusiasm for WashingCon during our hiatus and everything else that has happened in the past two years. We cannot thank you enough.

And for those of you still planing to attend, but have not yet snagged your badges, today is the last day to get them at early bird prices. Starting tomorrow tickets will return their usual cost so we highly recommend buying yours before our sale ends!

Thank you all again and we look forward to seeing you soon!

WashingCon 2022: Return of the Con

Wow, there was no tabletop gaming convention in DC last year! That’s weird... it’s like something totally crazy, super horrible, and completely unpredictable happened that prevented large groups of people from gathering and playing games together. We’d love to delve into whatever THOSE circumstances might have been, but we have to assume everyone is probably aware of them... whatever they were.

But terrible, horrible, no good, very bad recent situations notwithstanding, WashingCon has not gone away! We have secured a venue but, due to concerns over safety and the availability of space this year, we have opted to move the next convention to March 26-27, 2022 at an exciting new location: the Walter E. Washington Convention Center right in downtown DC, steps from the Mt. Vernon Square Metro station. 

We’d like to apologize to everyone who asked if/when we would ever be able to hold another event but did not receive a response to their inquiries. We’re just now able to provide information to everyone and we’ll be releasing the dates for ticket sales within the next few weeks, followed soon after by announcements regarding events, volunteering, RPGs, and special guests.

We hope everyone in the WashingCon community is safe and healthy and we’re looking forward to seeing all of you in person in 2022!

Our Statement Regarding the BLM Movement

We at WashingCon would like to express our unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement, the calls to end police brutality, to break down the racist power structures in America and the passage of H.R. 40 to examine persistent effects of the transatlantic slave trade in America as well as the possibilities for reparations. This announcement may be arriving later than it could have been expected, but at this time silence is not an option and all members of our community need to be vocal about where they stand. 

 We are not a large organization and we are aware that our voice is not the most essential one in the conversation. But as a gathering that is managed entirely by white people, we hope to demonstrate as clearly as possible our desire for our event and our community to be open and welcoming to black people, to make space for creators of color and to stand by them where we are needed. 

Racism and hatred will undoubtedly not be abolished in our lifetimes but the systems and structures that perpetuate them must be dismantled wherever they are found. It is essential that these messages be kept in the public eye to prevent complaisance. We hope moving forward to maintain whatever support we can for equality.

-The Staff of WashingCon

Big News from WashingCon

Hello everyone! It’s been a long time since you have heard anything from us and we apologize for that but we are back with big news (Don’t worry, this is good news about an event not another unfortunate cancellation).

WashingCon is moving! While the Georgetown Convention Center has served us well for the past 4 years there were plenty of ways in which our venue could be better.

It has always been a dream of WashingCon to make our home at the premier event space in the city and we have finally achieved that dream because, effectively immediately, WashingCon is moving to The Washington Convention Center in the heart of DC.

There is, however, a bit of a grey lining to this silver cloud. It means that our next WashingCon will not be held in September. Instead, the next WashingCon will be one year from now on March 20th and 21st 2021. We know that this is a bummer because it will mean 18 months between events but this was a necessary evil in order to make the move to the Convention Center and we have no doubt that it will be the right move in the long run.

Expect to receive more info from us in the coming months with regards to badge sales and other mini-WashingCons as well as more updates as they come in.

Thank you again for all of your support, WashingCon would not be what it is without the wonderful gaming community of the DC region (I mean, literally, it would just be a big empty room).

See WMGSO Live At WashingCon!

 
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A little gaming music with your gaming? Don't mind if you do! WashingCon is extremely excited to announce that the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra (WMGSO), the DMV's only orchestra and choir exclusively dedicated to the performance of video game music, will discuss their work and give two performances. WMGSO will be available for the duration of the convention at their table in the main hall for folks to meet them and hear samples of their performances. WMGSO's small ensembles will perform on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 5:30 p.m., both in the panel room located in the West Lobby.


Now in its sixth year, WMGSO performs regularly for hundreds of gaming and music enthusiasts. Space for their performance at WashingCon will be limited, so be sure to arrive early to hear them live! The transportational effect of music adds much to the gaming experience and we're lucky to have WMGSO in attendance this year.year.