ROTHSCHILD, WI (WSAU) — The Wausau area’s largest gaming convention has made some big changes, but the goal still remains the same.
What began as not much more than a gathering in a cafeteria at D.C. Everest Junior High in 2000 has grown into a full-on convention, featuring guest speakers, Badger State Games tournaments, and nearly any type of game to explore.
The D.C. Everest Gaming Club has turned over operations of Evercon to a group of five directors under the name Evercon, LLC. Chad Knight is a member of the group, and he says while more money was spent on advertising at other conventions this year, the con’s reputation is still their main selling point.
“We have vendors from Minnesota and Wisconsin… Illinois, too, we have a gentleman here from Chicago,” said Knight. “Advertising and marketing can get expensive really fast, so you really have to rely on word of mouth.”
Evercon has consistently drawn more than 1,000 attendees for more than five years, so the move was made to the Central Wisconsin Convention and Expo Center, where Knight says they plan to return to next year.
Knight maintains that the D.C. Everest Gaming Club is still a part of the convention, and your admission fee still goes towards the community.
“We understand that it was their only fundraiser and by us stepping in and taking over the con, that would suffer unless we did something to help with that,” he said.
“Once all the numbers are crunched, Evercon, LLC will give back to the student organization… They have a history of giving back to the community, and they will still be able to do that through Evercon.”
For the first time, the convention continues through Sunday at 7pm. As of Saturday afternoon, over 850 people had passed through the doors of Evercon.
