Big Bad Con's cardstock currency pits networking against building community

Surprisingly, Big Bad Con’s narrowly-avoided boycott only came up twice in my 2024 convention experience—once when a pro-Israel protestor was asked to leave due to refusal to adhere with COVID guidelines and again when a volunteer bemoaned being shorter staffed than usual. It was by far the largest elephant in the room, but for most attendees it was just that—something large and uncomfortable no one wanted to touch. 

It was something much smaller that proved to be a point of conflict throughout the convention: business cards. From one session to the next, players would enthusiastically exchange cards after a game or audibly groan as soon as they were brought up. Why was something so innocuous proving so contentious, and how does the phenomenon reflect a larger tension regarding the current state of the convention?

2024 was my first time attending Big Bad Con but far from my first interaction with it. I’ve written games for past fundraiser rewards and recommended students of mine for their scholarships. Big Bad Con describes themselves as “a tabletop gaming convention focused on supporting gamers from marginalized backgrounds,” and historically they’ve done a pretty good job of doing so. Beyond scholarships for emerging designers, they also offer POC-specific programming, gender-inclusive spaces, and genuinely welcoming tables in a famously unwelcoming hobby. It’s a convention that straddles the line between a gaming con and a networking mixer, offering as many pick-up games as professional panels.