Ludophilia and craft beers/homebrewing

Last year, our Founder (Tempus42) only partly joked when he said our con was half gaming, and half beer exposition. In particular, two of our gamers brought fantastic home-brewed beers that I would stack up against many commercially produced products. Not simply content to dazzle with home made...many a high quality commercially made craft beer was provided (especially by one of our two home-brew masters) Firestone Walker, Avery, Dog Fish Head and many others.

In the comments to this section, I would like to gauge interest in either formalizing this beer exposition, so to speak (award for best home brew?), keeping it informal, or even making a catalog like we have for the games, but for beverages.

UPDATE:

The labels are in!

Please add your updates to the Game Library

The Game Library spreadsheet is up at www.tinyurl.com/ludo5lib.

You can help everyone by making a few simple updates:

1) On the "Data Entry: Attendees" tab, enter your name and mark the days that you're planning on attending.

2) On the "Data Entry: Bringing" tab, add any games that you can bring to share.

3) On the "Data Entry: Requests" tab, add any games that you would like to ask someone else to bring.

If you have any questions, ask here!

I went to Ludophilia 5 and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.....

Ok, hopefully not a *lousy* t-shirt.  But since I've finally gotten an artist (my son, Alex) to draft us up a logo and some art, I'm strongly considering getting some t-shirt printed for Ludophilia this year, if enough of you are interested in getting one.  I'm looking at customink.com, which can do them for around $10-15 (depending on colors and how many we order), or else I still need to check out the prices at a local place my wife has worked with.

The art will look look something like below.  Colors and font are not necessarily final yet.  But I dig the hip '50s Parker Brothers vibe of the drawing Alex came up with.

If you'd be interested in a shirt, comment here or email me to let me know.  I'm just taking a straw poll at this point.

UPDATE: An Aside from LTC John... anyone else interested (as I am) in a shirt with this on it?

We have a date and a location!

WHAT IS LUDOPHILIA? 
For any of you who have missed it until now, Ludophilia is the name we've given to our annual 4-day boardgaming extravaganza in the northwest suburbs of Chicago!  It's much too friendly and informal to be called a "convention".  It's just an excuse for friends and friends-of-friends to get together in a large-ish hotel conference room with a couple hundred board games and have the chance to strategize, socialize, and relax uninterrupted.  I bring a select library of games (and other people bring their favorites, too, of course), and then it's open house at the hotel Thursday through Sunday!  Set up your own lodging plans if you want to stay overnight, and everyone is responsible for their own food and drink. 

SAVE THE DATE 
The weekend for Ludophilia V will be Thursday, May 28th (8:00am) through Sunday, May 31st (2:00pm), 2015.  Please mark your calendars!  I'll be sending out a number of reminders and additional information as the time draws nearer. 

SAME GREAT LOCATION AS LAST YEAR 
Ludophilia V will again be held at the Country Inn and Suites in Crystal Lake, 600 Tracy Trail, Crystal Lake, IL, 60014.  Phone: 815-477-3500. http://www.countryinns.com/crystal-lake-hotel-il-60014/ilcryst   This hotel is right off the main drag in Crystal Lake, basically right next door to a Culver's and very near a number of other places to eat as well.  We have the exact same deal as last year, the same room that I think was plenty large to hold us; same cost; and we can again bring in our own food and drink as we wish. 

We have a small block of rooms held for us, so if you're planning on staying for one or more nights, call and make your reservation right away.  Be sure to ask for our special group rate. 

ADMISSION COST 
As I say, the room cost is staying the same ($175/day) and we do still have a small buffer in the bank ($361.84), so I'm leaving the admission cost for everyone the same as it's been as well:  $10 per person per day, with a "buy 3 days get the 4th day free" bonus for those who pay in advance.  This is strictly to cover our costs.  If we collect the same amount as we have the last 2 years, we should be able to cover the cost of the room within our buffer. 

You can start registering now by sending check or cash to me at : 
Brad Johnson 
1517 Driftwood Lane 
Crystal Lake, IL  60014 

Remember, the early registration bonus of "buy 3 days get the 4th day free" is good until April 15th (tax day!)  Send just $30 now for full access to the entire 4-day weekend! 

Ludophilia V - "its not a disease!"

Date and location - TBD.