GOG Interview: Creators of Oz-Con talking about the convention and its charity input

This weekend, The Ozarks are set to come alive with a three-day celebration of gaming, cosplay, and anime at Oz-Con. The annual convention promises a little something for everyone, including cosplay events, card games such as Magic or Warhammer 40k, role playing games, and much, much more. But Oz-Con isn't just about fun and games; all proceeds from the event go towards supporting AFK – Always a Future for Kids, a non-profit organization that’s hosting the convention.
So, what goes into creating such an exciting event, and how exactly did their mission to support children form? What does a charity of that kind look like? To find out, we sat down with the organizers of Oz-Con, who shared their insights on the topic!
How did your mission form, and how did the idea of creating a convention come about?
From the very beginning, we knew we wanted to help children that have unmet needs in our area. There are so many kids that are facing extremely tough situations; sometimes being abused, neglected, or even just in need of basic things that would make a big impact on them and help them move towards a successful path for the future. Creating a gaming convention was an out of the box idea for our area at the time, but our team always wanted to try something like this.
Why convention exactly, and not a different source of gathering funds?
We started this to add a unique event that wasn’t offered around our area. The closest gaming convention is over 4 hours away and the closest comic con was 2 hours away. We wanted people to feel something new and magical. Most of our team were gamers, student game developers or fans of such. We started off by hosting a single game of D&D for our community, just to see how many people would come to that single game. Over 70 individuals showed up to that event and that let us know that people in our town really wanted something new. Since then, we really have branched off trying to plan more and more unique events throughout the community. We work with local artists hosting crafting events, help with disc golf tournaments, work with the local esports team at the University, and are even in the very early stages of hosting a renaissance festival. Each of these events has some type of gaming aspect to it, even if it is a few board games or consoles setup in a room that kids can play.
What kind of planning goes into preparation of an event from which all proceeds go to charity? What challenges do you face along the way?
Planning an event like this takes many volunteer hours. Currently we have 15 people on our planning committee and over 100 volunteers that come in for the weekend. No one in our group is paid and all our proceeds go to kids in the community. We normally take 1 month off after the convention and then start planning for the next year almost immediately. Each year is a leap of faith in the donors, attendees, and volunteers because without them, we would not be successful.
Did you initially consider any other themes for the convention than gaming? Why did you decide on gaming exactly, and the gaming community?
Our entire group grew up gaming in some way, whether it was computer gaming, board games or roll playing games. It was very easy for us to theme our convention in that manner. We have had people come in and try to influence us into being a more conventional or "Comic Con '' style of event and while we adapt to trends, we also try and stay very faithful to our original theme. At our heart we will never change from being a gamer convention.
Do you think the aspect of meeting with the community in person makes a difference, in comparison to, for example, charity streams?
Although we love participating in charity streams, meeting in person makes a huge difference. Most of our attendees do not have a place that fits their social needs, and this event gives them a place to fit in and belong no matter who they are.
What is a measure of success for you? Did you ever have a moment when you thought “yes, this is why we’re doing this”?
If we can continue to offer a safe and fun place for kids and families along with raising money for our kids in need, I believe us to be successful. As for the “YES” moment, it is seeing the faces of the families we are impacting. Being able to help provide a safe place for kids and their families that may be homeless, kids getting care after being abused, helping foster families, and so much more. Every single one of those needs fulfilled is a success story and worth every hour that we put into our service. Some people say, "I am here to work with the kids", or "I am here to work at the event". For Our team, it is not “Work”, we are here to serve our community and our future.
Can you share any memorable story from OzCon, regarding your charity work, that stands out for you?
I don’t know if I can name even one moment that wasn’t special. Our first year we were able to help provide games to children that couldn’t leave the hospital. Years after that we were able to help homeless teenagers get shelter, clothing, and shoes. We were able to provide support for the local battered persons shelter, a homeless shelter and Child Advocacy Centers. We may be only able to provide support for a small percentage of needs our children have each year, but helping even one child makes all of the effort worth it.
We’d like to thank the people of Oz-Con for answering our lingering question – their charity work is truly remarkable! Don’t forget to check out what the convention has in stock; and until the next one!
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