This weekend marked a crucial event for the UW-Platteville ecosystem. After endless sports games and Greek Life events, it was due time for an event catering to the foundation of campuses everywhere: nerds.
PlatteCon, the convention hosted by the Platteville Gaming Association and the Society of Platteville’s Anime and Manga Maniacs, encompasses one full weekend of anime, games and events for the area’s various RPG fans, “weebs” and nerds.
This event was open to the public and some event goers reported driving over three hours to this event.
PlatteCon began in 1988 by the members of the PGA. It has since developed with the help of SPAMM to a three-day weekend event within two floors of Ullsvik Hall. This year’s events featured miniature paintings, a silent auction, game tournaments, tabletop-game strategy meetings, a cosplay competition and a Family Feud-style game.
Velzy Commons hosted the main convention area and multiple other conference rooms and classrooms were used for events. Vendors across southwestern Wisconsin sold handmade goods, art prints, games, dice and more. UWP’s own Clay Club also appeared to sell some pottery. Tables were full of Table-Top RPGs, Magic the Gathering games and game consoles. An ample amount of Mountain Dew and Monster Energy drinks were sold to fuel congoers late into the night.
“Please shower” was noted at the bottom of a PlatteCon chalk advert. Nerds and weebs alike bear an unfair reputation. PlatteCon “exceeded expectations” to first-time visitors and left many people excitedly anticipating next year’s event.
The wide variety of interests that PlatteCon caters to guarantees scores of different people, from anime fans, arcade aficionados, RPG experts, vintage game fans and board game strategists to those who just like a little bit of everything. The age range was a wide span of people, though most congoers were under 35. No matter what age or interest, PlatteCon was a welcoming event.
For a con experience, PlatteCon reflects a dual nature. There’s a plethora of congoers, dressed in a variety of clothes from sweatpants to cosplay. But even in the sea of strangers, there’s a friendly feeling across the convention not often seen on campus.
Everyone was eager to share their interests and bond over new games, anime episodes or some excellent catering from UWP. An event like PlatteCon reminds people that games are meant to be played together.
