Grab your dice and tell a friend… For the first time ever, a board gaming convention is set to take place in Corbin. The event, which is being called Bluegrass Gaming Con, has been scheduled for March 2026. That may sound like a long time away, but the event organizer is actively encouraging folks to go ahead and reach out if you’d like to be part of the fun.
Michael Ross has a long history with both board games and hosting conventions that celebrate his personal favorite pastime. About 15 years ago, he launched a podcast called The RPG Academy. Those three letters stand for “role playing game,” if you weren’t already aware, and it is this style of game that Ross specializes in. In fact, he published his very own RPG game book, titled Action 12 Cinema, just last year. Look up the story on thenewsjournal.net for more details.
Ross started his podcast with the intention of using it as a means to help new gamers learn the ropes. The endeavor was so successful that he and a few friends launched a gaming convention, called AcadeCon, a couple of years later. The con has continued as an annual event in the Dayton, Ohio area, which is where he is originally from.
Ross said that AcadeCon has developed a sort of niche focus on independent RPGs, as well as some of the more mainstream titles like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder, but his goal with the upcoming Bluegrass Gaming Con in Corbin will be to take a much broader approach in order to appeal to gamers of all backgrounds.
“It will be similar to AcadeCon, but here I am probably going to be a little more board game focused until I can get a better idea about exactly what people are interested in,” Ross said of his intentions with the inaugural Bluegrass Gaming Con. “There will be scheduled events, including some RPGs, but a lot of this first one will be board game focused with a large library of games to choose from.”
“Once I learn more about what people around here are interested in, then I will be able to fine tune it for next year,” Ross added.
Ross does want to make the Bluegrass Gaming Convention a yearly event, but he said that there are a lot of variables that will inevitably factor into whether or not he can make that a reality. For starters, the population in the Dayton area is much larger than in Corbin, but he is hopeful that by getting the word out in advance of the event, he will be able to also pull people in from London, Barbourville and Williamsburg, and perhaps even folks from surrounding counties in the region.
“Part of the concern is getting enough people to attend to make it financially viable,” Ross said. “The first one should give me the information that I need to see if it is going to be financially viable moving forward. I think that it is going to be good for people in the community to have an opportunity to come together and play these games, but it has to make sense fiscally for me. I need to find a way to at least break even, or make at least a small profit with each event.”
The good news is that Ross has already received a solid level of support from a few area businesses that deal in games, and he said that the general level of excitement about the event has been encouraging.
As for exactly when and where the convention will be held, Ross said that gamers should go ahead and mark their calendars for March 13-15 and plan on being at the Corbin Civic Center, located just off of Gordon Hill next to the TCSA football fields and TCYSA soccer fields.
The cost of admission has not yet been set in stone, but that announcement should be coming soon via the Bluegrass Gaming Convention Facebook page, which is up and running now.
Ross did say that anyone willing to help run games at the convention would be admitted at a deep discount, and he is encouraging anyone interested in learning more about that opportunity to e-mail him at therpgacademy@gmail.com.
In addition to lending a hand with the new con, Ross also said that he would be interested in hearing from anyone who might be willing to help with organizing regular local board game meet-ups. The idea would be to foster a sense of community with gaming as the central focus, which would in turn make larger events, like a yearly convention, a much more viable option.
For more information, or to volunteer time and/or resources to these endeavors, send a message to the previously mentioned e-mail address as soon as possible.
