Get to know your 2017 U-Con Staff – Fred

What I do IRL:

I write grants for a consulting firm, specializing in grants for local governments and non-profits

My history with U-Con:

This is my fifth or so U-Con, and my first year on the Convention Committee. In the past, I’ve volunteered and helped with prize support and event running. I’ve also played a lot of games

Hobbies

Other than games, I read, buy books, and I love to cook. The precision in baking lets me channel my frustrated inner chemist, only you can eat the results of your experiment. That was always a no-no in chemistry…. I also watch a fair number of bad movies.

Favorite game

Favorites are hard because I always feel like I’m going to forget something. The games I’ve logged the most time playing lately are Trivial Pursuit Master Game/Genus Edition (the original one from the early 1980s) and Sentinels of the Multiverse. (On Steam, I’ve also logged a ridiculous number of hours in FTL. On my PS4, I’m a fan of BioWare RPGs and Final Fantasy X and XII.)

Favorite past U-Con moment

The 2015 U-Con on Friday night. We were playing Titansgrave with a GoH, Nicole Lindroos who also helped create the game. We were all having so much fun—and laughing so hard—that the GM gave us some random surprise encounters because we were too distracted to notice. That was one of the most fun and most memorable experiences I’ve ever had while gaming. I still laugh when I think back on how we solved some of those encounters.

Advice for U-Con newbs

Aside from the usual con-going advice (eat, sleep, and shower), volunteer. It’s a great way to meet folks and make friends. Clones are also great for U-Con. I always find there are more games in any given time slot than I can play. Clones (or some sort of hivemind) would solve the problem….