Campus Connection

A local convention aims to connect the Coulee Region’s gaming culture while raising funds for children’s hospitals. The gaming convention, Coulee Con, organized through UWL Continuing Education and Extension, runs Friday-Sunday, Aug. 26-28, at the La Crosse Center. Gamers and anyone with an inkling to learn games is invited to attend. At Coulee Con, people gather to play and learn board games, collectible card games, roleplaying games, tabletop miniatures, live-action roleplaying and video games. New this year, Coulee Con will partner with Extra Life, an organization that unites people in 24-hour gaming marathons to support Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. The last day of the convention, Sunday, gamers are encouraged to ask for financial pledges to play a game for a certain amount of time. Proceeds will be donated to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. “Our primary goal this year is to get people interested in Extra Life. If we keep the partnership up, we can start raising funds for them through Coulee Con,” says Josh Hertel, a UWL faculty member and primary volunteer coordinator of the event. “It’s an exciting partnership. It’s an awesome organization.” By partnering with Coulee Con, Extra Life aims to reach more people who will ultimately help the organization raise funds for sick and injured children in the community, says Rena Cash, who heads Extra Life at Gundersen. "This partnership could not have come at a more perfect time as we are gearing up for our national game day of Nov. 5 for Extra Life and we are in heavy recruitment mode for gamers across all platforms," says Cash. In addition to regular activities and fundraising on the last day of Coulee Con, the day will also include family-focused events and vendors. Hertel organized the convention for the first time at UWL in 2015 in collaboration with another faculty member, Michael Haupert, and UWL Continuing Education and Extension. The convention moved to the La Crosse Center this year to accommodate an anticipated larger crowd, estimated at about 400, says Melissa Webster, outreach specialist for Continuing Education and Extension. Hertel says the main goal of the event is to help people connect around gaming. “People think of gamers as one unified group, but it is actually small pockets of people who get together to play a particular game or series of games,” he says. “At a convention like this, you bring together all these groups of people and it becomes this cool, incredible experience where you can see what people are doing, meet new people and learn about games that you want to play.” The North Hall of the La Crosse Center will host tournaments, preplanned gaming, vendors, special events and an artist alley. Several local gaming stores including Apex Hobby Shop, Deaf Ear Records, and Gaming Generations will host rooms with a variety of events. Additionally, attendees are encouraged to bring their own games to play at open tables. Participants do not need to know how to play a particular game to attend. They can learn from “gamemasters” who volunteer to run games at the event. Early-bird registration runs through Friday, July 29, and preregistration runs Saturday, July 30-Aug. 19. Weekend passes are available for $25 (early bird), $30 (preregistration), $35 (on-site). One-day passes for Friday and Saturday are available for $15 (early bird & preregistration), and $18 on-site. A Sunday Pass is available on-site for $5 per family (two adults and up to four children). For complete event details and registration, visit couleecon.com or http://www.extra-life.org/. National Game Day Learn more about Extra Life National Game Day Nov. 5  and sign up at http://www.extra-life.org/. Select Gundersen Health System, the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, to keep funds local.