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Council of Five Nations - General Information Overview

Council of Five Nations XXXI

October 10-12, 2008

General Information Overview


Last Update: July 22, 2008


Council of Five Nations is our annual gaming convention, held every year on Columbus Day Weekend in October. It is one of the longest-running adventure gaming conventions in the world. We'll be sponsoring our 31st Council on October 10-12, 2008.

Please use the links below to get the most up-to-date info on the status of the convention. If you have specific questions or requests, please email us at council@swa-gaming.org.


The Council of Five Nations Philosophy

Council strives toward the goal of "quality over quantity". We're a relatively small con, but we try to have top-notch events. We predict an attendance of about 250 this year. As with all the Councils over the years, our goal is a nice balance between role-play games, miniatures, board games and other stuff.

The facility: Proctor's Theatre & Conference Center

Council will once again be held at at the brand new Proctor's Theatre and Conference Center, in the heart of downtown Schenectady, New York. You can learn more about Proctor's, a classic Vaudeville theatre, at their web site (please click here).

Schenectady, New York is:
  • About 3 hours north of New York City
  • About 4 hours south of Montreal, Quebec
  • About 4 hours east of Buffalo, New York
  • About 3 hours west of Boston, Massachusetts.
We had a very good experience at Proctor's last year.  So much so that we've made a three-year commitment to stay there through 2010.  We also learned a lot in our first year there, so if you joined us in 2007, please expect things to be even better.  The Registration Area will be on the main floor, much easier to find.  We will have fewer games down in the basement, so noise and crowding will be less of an issue.  We might be a little dumb about some things, but we learn from our experiences.

If you want to get a jump-start on your planning, or if you just want to look around...

You can click here to get directions to Proctors, including MapQuest maps.

You can click here to view and download maps and directions for your most convenient parking options.


Running games at Council

We're currently looking for volunteers to run games at this years Council.

We have a very generous Game Master incentive program: if you run at least one game that appears in our pre-registration material, you get your entire weekend entry fee waived.  That's a $25 value!  You pay only for the event tickets for games that you play (which are typically $2 each).

Please click here for more details, and to submit an event using our online form.


Star Fleet Battles

Council of Five Nations is the home of the largest SFB Rated Ace tournament in the country. Many of the best players in the world will be there this year. We're also always willing to teach the game to new people. There will be a coupon in your registration packet good for a free game of Star Fleet Battles. Guaranteed to be redeemable any time before 1:00pm on Saturday, and we can probably find someone to train you later in the weekend too.

More on the SFB tournament soon.  Check back here often!


Hotels

We are finalizing arrangements with our hotels now. Full details will be in the pre-registration booklet, or check back here soon.


The Council Discount Auction

Please click here to download the Council Auction Seller's materials in PDF format  (140 Kb)


Why do you call it Council of Five Nations?

Council of Five Nations Iroquois Warrior Logo
The Native American Iroquois tribes called the Upstate New York area their home. Each autumn, there would be a great gathering of the five tribes, or nations.  You can click here for the Wikipedia page that gives a lot more information, and related links.

We call our annual convention The Council of Five Nations in homage to the Iroquois autumn gatherings from long before most of us had ancestors here. This is also the source of the official Council logo, the Iroquois warrior.

Planning way ahead

If you'd like to mark your calendar now, here are the dates for Councils beyond 2008:
  • October 9-11, 2009
  • October 8-10, 2010
Here's an easy way to remember: Council of Five Nations is always Columbus Day weekend.  When you see that national holiday on your calendar, block it off and make sure you're here with us, sharing in our gaming goodness.


Questions or Comments?

You can contact us directly at council@swa-gaming.org.
You can also call Dave at (518) 464-1977, any day until about 11pm Eastern time.




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