CONversations: Interview with Greg Franseth of Lexicon Gaming Convention

Lexington is getting a brand new convention, y'all, and this one happens to fall right within my interests. Lexicon Gaming Convention will be held May 2-4 at Clarion Hotel and Conference Center near Newtown Pike and I-64. The fellas have been putting together a plethora of fun activities for the weekend, but have also taken to community outreach in the form of bi-monthly board game meetups at West Sixth Brewing Company.

Greg Franseth, one of the founders of Lexicon, took the time to have a CONversation with me about the upcoming event, but you can also hear him on the latest episode of The Rad Ass Bitches podcast.



KGG: What is your relationship to Lexicon?
Greg Franseth: I am co-owner with Chris Grzywacz and Philip Holland.

KGG: Why did you want to get involved with the convention?
GF: It was Chris' idea and he and Philip asked me if I'd be interested in running it with them because of my extensive gaming library and past convention experience.  I was sold on the idea because the vision they proposed was an exciting, big event.  not just a bunch of people playing games, but a true convention with tournaments, a large vendor hall and tons of activities.

KGG: What do you think that your show offers that makes it unique?
GF: Well, we have a game library of over 1000 games, as far as I know the only conventions in the country with larger libraries are Origins, GenCon and BoardGameGeek.Con.  For persepective on that GenCon has 50,000 attendees each year.

KGG: What do you have planned that is special for 2014?
GF: Well we have over $3000 in prizes lined up for the convention which you can only have a chance at winning if you come to the Con.  We're also really proud of having a Settlers of Catan World Pre-Qualifier and a special set of Magic the Gathering events.  However, what is really exciting is our partnership to support Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Bluegrass which includes free passes for their kids as well as a super fun fundraiser in the form of a word game called ... get this ... Lexicon.

KGG: Any details for the future of the con?
GF: Right now we're in that stage where we are wondering if we will survive this year!  However, we want to see Lexicon become the basis of an ongoing experience with events the year round.  We're already planning for next year to expand the Con based on our pre-registration, but I can't disclose yet the ways we are going to do that.

KGG: What conventions do you enjoy attending conventions as fan?
GF: GenCon is my go to Con.  But I also enjoy the DragonCon parade.

KGG: What is your favorite board game?
GF: Betrayal at House on the Hill if we are talking strictly board games.  I'd choose Avalon Hill's Advanced Civilization if I could ever get 12 hours to play it.  That said, my favorite game over all is Time's Up.  And my favorite game of 2013 is probably BattleLore 2nd Edition or Russian Railroads.

KGG: How did you originally become a gamer?
GF: My dad had a collection of a dozen 3M bookshelf games from the 1960s so I played Acquire, Feudal and World of Wall Street from a young age.  But I loved history so sometime in the 80s I got into War games and that's what really started me down the road as a serious gamer.

Lexicon Gaming Convention

Clarion Hotel and Conference Center

1950 Newtown Pike
Lexington, KY 40511

Friday, May 2, 2014 - opening at 12pm

Saturday, March 3, 2014
*cosplay contest at 6pm*

Sunday, March 30, 2014 - Grand Finale at 5pm

3 Day Pass - $30

Facebook | Website | Event List | Registration

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