x Gauntlet | GeekGirlCon

It’s Gauntlet Time!

For a third year, four intrepid members of the GeekGirlCon staff will be battling it out this Sunday, May 15th at Mox Boarding House for the Gauntlet!

What IS the Gauntlet, you ask?

The winning team also wins a literal gauntlet! Image source: Kristine Hassell

The winning team also gets a literal gauntlet! Image source: Kristine Hassell

The Gauntlet is an invitational charity tabletop game tournament that includes local industry professionals from across all gaming genres. It’s also a marathon, and not a sprint: teams of four play games for nine hours! In addition to being able to play well, each team gets “power ups” throughout the games, which are special abilities to help boost their chance at winning. But, they don’t come cheap! Power ups are based on each team’s fundraising capabilities. The higher-ranked a team is based on its fundraising abilities, the more power ups they get! All fundraising efforts benefit a local charity. Last year, the teams raised an incredible $93,000, and GeekGirlCon also came fourth out of twenty teams! Information about the previous years’ event can be found on our blog here and here.

 

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Image source

This year’s theme is Odyssey, and the charity of choice is YouthCare, a Seattle-area non-profit that works with homeless youth, to help them get off the streets and preparing for life. During the day, Mox will also be hosting other activities, such as face painting, a donation drive and a twitch livestream!

“We’ve been practicing the games as much as we’re able to make the org proud,” says Kristine Hassell, who, along with Hosanna Tolman, Kathryn Storm and Mikey Brant will be flying the GeekGirlCon flag high this weekend. But, that’s not all. In addition to preparing for the games, Team GeekGirlCon has been planning a group cosplay which they will reveal on Sunday!

So, if you’re free this weekend, head to Mox Boarding House and cheer on Team GeekGirlCon! You can also donate for the team’s power up ranking here.

 

JC Lau
“Rock On!”

May Geek About Town!

What’s happening in Seattle in May? Read below to find out!

 

Sunday, May 1: GeekGirlCon ’16 Early Bird Pricing closes!

Hurry! Get your GeekGirlCon tickets at their super-duper low price before early bird pricing closes! It’s a screaming deal!

 

Sunday, May 1: Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration

11:45am-5:00pm, Seattle Center Armory

Free admission!

Explore and experience the cultural roots of the Asian-Pacific Islands through live performances, visual arts, hands-on activities, games, and a lively marketplace. The festival launches Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Seattle with spectacular dances, youth drill teams, drumming, martial arts, and artists from around the state.

Plus our fan-favorite Hum Bow Contest with local celebrities and API Community displays and enjoy children’s activities! This is guaranteed to rock your heritage!

 

Tuesday, May 3: GeekGirlCon’s giveBIG campaign!

On May 3, GeekGirlCon will team up with The Seattle Foundation for an online fundraising extravaganza! Anything donated to our organization will be matched from a pool of stretch funds. If you’re an information enthusiast, we made it easy for you, click here to read more.WebBanner-1200x420_0X-WebBanner

JC Lau
“Rock On!”

Get Ready for…The Gauntlet!

Coming up on May 16, our fearless team of GeekGirlCon staffers will be taking part in the annual Seattle-area challenge: The Gauntlet!

moxtropolis

Image source: The Gauntlet

What is the Gauntlet? It’s a 10-hour competition among teams of 4 people each, and they play tabletop games from start to finish for the honor of hoisting the Gauntlet in victory! Part of each team’s strategy involves their fundraising amounts, and bonuses for gameplay called “powerups”. Think of these as cheats or special abilities that they get to use throughout the various games to help boost their chance at winning. Powerups are based on each team’s fundraising and are earned: one at $500, one at $1000, one at $1500, one at $2500, and then one every $2500 after that. As of April 21, Team GeekGirlCon has just one powerup, but we know more are coming!

Gauntlet team 2014

2014 Team GeekGirlCon: Kristine Hassell, Jex Ballard, Cynthia Rogers, Rose Minier
Image source: Jex Ballard

The 20 participating teams are raising money for Hopelink, a community action agency that has served homeless and low income families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities since 1971. Hopelink has food banks, support services, family development, adult education, and employment training among their many amazing programs. They serve more than 60,000 people in King County every year.

ENGAGE, the charitable giving program within Card Kingdom and Mox Boarding House, is running this contest for the second time, and this year they have doubled their space–allowing for 10 more teams to compete. GeekGirlCon is competing for the second time, with staffers Kristine Hassell, Jex Ballard, Sylvia Monreal, and Rose Minier stepping up to take the challenge.

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2015’s new teammate Sylvia Monreal

Newest team member Sylvia is excited to participate in her first Gauntlet this year. “In a big city like Seattle, it’s important for us to look after our neighbors whenever we can. I’m grateful that The Gauntlet will give me a way to use my hobbies in the service of others. It’s just a wonderful opportunity to showcase a positive, fun side of nerd culture – let’s use our powers for good!”

Exactly how will the money GeekGirlCon is raising for the Gauntlet be used by Hopelink? Here’s an example of what the dollars raised can do for needy people in King County:

  • $25 provides weekend food for FIVE school-aged children
  • $50 provides formula for a newborn child for a month
  • $100 provides hygiene products for FOUR people
  • $150 provides FIFTY meals for a family of FOUR
  • $250 provides financial education classes for a parent
jex

Jex Ballard – with the adorable green hair!

Second-year teammate Jex had this to say about playing for the Gauntlet: “I’ve been involved in GeekGirlCon for 5 years now, and one of my absolute favorite memories was playing on Team GeekGirlCon in the first ever Gauntlet last year. I was shocked when our team was able to rise as the underdogs to take home 4th place! This year, I’m revved and ready to compete again at Moxtropolis! More importantly, I’m ready to hit the streets and raise some money for Hopelink! We’ve already surpassed the amount we earned last year, and I’m interested to see what kind of funds Team GeekGirlCon can bring in for this awesome cause.”

How can you contribute to GeekGirlCon’s Gauntlet team to help them earn more valuable powerups to aid them on game day? You can go to their team page on the Gauntlet website and donate any amount you want to–anonymously or not is completely up to you. To date, Kristine, Jex, Sylvia, and Rose have raised $730, which is 43% of the $1700 they’ve set as their goal! There are 24 days remaining for them to reach that goal and gain more powerups, and with the help of our strong, generous GeekGirlCon community, we KNOW they can do it.

There will also be spectator space available for the competition at Mox Boarding House in Bellevue; stop by for an hour, or stay from start to finish to support GeekGirlCon and the other teams competing for the Gauntlet! Go to the Gauntlet’s homepage for more information. We can’t wait to see you there!

Written by GeekGirlCon Copywriter Sarah “SG-1” Grant

GeekGirlCon
“Rock On!”

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