Mar 17, 20233 min read

HUBBITS ADVENTURE TO AIRECON

Convention season is here, making for the perfect opportunity to meet a Hub Creator in the wild!

Recently, a collection of our partnered brands made their way to AireCon in Harrogate, UK to bring their handcrafted wares to fellow nerds. I had the joy of being one of those members, and I wanted to take a look back at the weekend, and what it meant for the Hub.

Every March, the quaint town of Harrogate, located in picturesque West Yorkshire, fills with the sounds of rolling dice and cheers of victory as AireCon opens its doors to nerds from up and down the country. The focus is on analogue gaming (TTRPGs and board games) which makes it a haven for Hub creators. With a vast lending library of board games, bookable one-shots and honestly some exceptional food choices, it’s always worthy of a visit.

Of course for us creators, we call the trading hall home for three days. A total of thirteen Hub brands took the trip down (and up) to AireCon this year, which gave con-goers the chance to pick up sweetly scented candles, cute candy treats, jewellery, RPG accessories, 3D prints and gorgeous handmade dice, just to name a few. In attendance this year were ChaosCurios, Little Lion’s Lair, Emmanuel’s Collective, RuneFable, Gelatinous Cute, Trayed and Tested, Misty Moon Illustrations, Harps Corp, Fights and Fancy, Born in the Barn, Honeybadger Games, Kasasagi Jewellery and Tabletop Crafter. What a line-up!

Three-day events can be gruelling as a trader. Three days of talking, selling, grinning and doing maths can take its toll, but seeing our customers’ faces light up when they spy their new trinket they “just have to have”, makes it all worthwhile. We love hearing about your D&D character and campaigns, about the new games you’ve discovered at the event, or your favourite lesser-known TTRPG! So if you see a Hub brand at an event near you, never be afraid to come and have a chat.

The best thing about our collective is that when many of us come together, we’re able to offer so much support and motivation. When Ryan and I get to be there, we make it a priority to regularly check in with creators, to make sure they get relief from their stall and take breaks, and to be their point of contact if they need anything at all. It may or may not come with the perks of getting the first pick of their amazing stock… I promise I left some of RuneFable’s Bowl of Misfortune dice for everyone else…

As Friday drew to a close, the organisers of the event put on a little afterparty for exhibitors, and this was such a lovely moment for Hub creators to gather together, to properly meet each other without a table between them and have a few drinks - which were very kindly on the house, thanks, AireCon! We also made sure everyone was able to get home safely at the end and checked in with each other the whole time over Discord.

AireCon is just the first of many conventions happening this year. Here in the UK, the biggy to keep on your radar is UK Games Expo, where a whopping 34 (and counting) Hub brands will be attending! We are working on a booklet that will include vouchers and offers that can be used at each Hub brand’s stall, along with a little article inside, just another way we support our partnered Creators. We’re also putting together a little survival kit for each creator (no spoilers here) to help them get through the weekend. We will release the full list of creators you can find at UK Games Expo later on, here as an article!

Hub creators aren’t limited to the UK, you will also find them exhibiting at events like PAX East and PAX Unplugged, Emerald City Comicon, and even Essen Spiel! There may not be quite as big of a group this year, but as the Hub grows, more creators will be in those event ranks.

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to meet us this past weekend, we hope to see more of you at future events soon!