Grant Garvin, Convention Director

(Cue epic music.)

"Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was a convention undreamed of.  And unto this, Grant, destined to bear the jeweled crown of Templeonia, upon a troubled brow.  It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga.  Let me tell you... of the days of TempleCon.

He was born in the East.  From a young age he honed his bladed tongue and deftly wielded design sense, and in time he would lead other strong and worthy men and women.  Soon, he also came to know the dark, forbidden pleasures of game store ownership.  There, at The Temple Games, he chose only to carry the finest stock.  But always, there remained the discipline of community building.

"Grant, what is best in life?"

"Crush lines of waiting attendees, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of them having to go home at the end of an unparalleled weekend.  That is good."

Many events did Grant organize.  Honor and fear were heaped upon his name and, in time, he became a king by his own hand...

...and this story shall also be told.”

Madame Ximon, Creative Director

In the darkness under ruined cities, beneath the flickering hum of ancient fixtures and old tech that has outlived its makers, a thread of sound is being spun...  beckoning to the myriad denizens of the retro-futurist wasteland.  Performing artist, fortune-teller, and mad scientist mixologist Madame Ximon is the logistical matrix, progenitive source, and oracle of TempleCon all rolled into one.  Heed her, or beware...

Dan Miceli

Dan Miceli may be an accountant by day but by night he is a gaming machine & a sub par guitarist.  You can usually find him playing The Spoils, Magic, Madden, any RPG & most recently Rocksmith in an attempt to be able to make a guitar not sound like a small animal being used in a ritual sacrifice.  Speaking of The Spoils you will be able to find Dan running demos, drafts, & a constructed event during TempleCon.  He's even created a deck for The Spoils that was picked as the best deck for new players to construct and use.  If you see him around the Con don't be shy...go up to him and say hello and tell him that Denzato sent you.

Muse en Lystrala

Muse en Lystrala is a classically trained musician, composer, and writer.  As TempleCon Arts Coordinator, she assists TempleCon directors Madame Ximon and Grant with artist booking, organization, scheduling, and promotion.

Since TC 2010, Muse has served at TempleCon in various capacities, including as a general volunteer, model, performer, and panelist, as well as reading cards for TempleCon's noble patrons at The Ball at the End of the World.  In addition, she can usually be found running around all over the convention, assisting other panelists and artists, and organizing events, all while attempting not to lose her marbles.

An avid gamer, Muse is deeply fond of Magic: the Gathering, Vampire: the Masquerade, Dungeons and Dragons, and a plethora of videogame RPGs.  In her spare time, she writes modern fantasy and horror.  Muse plays shows regularly in the New England area, and provides web, social media, and community management consulting to the tech and creative professional communities.  She is the founder of Brightest World, an artist community dedicated to promoting and supporting humanitarian causes.

Jim Owens

Master of machines, Jim joined the staff in TempleCon 2012 as Director of Operations.  Jim has a history of fighting pirates around the world, constructing robotic overlords, protecting everything you hold dear, and building a better Jurassic Park.  When's he's not busy being doing awesome stuff in a professional capacity you can usually find him slinging spells at The Temple Games.  Some have said that he's just using TempleCon to gather information for his own mechanized apocalypse in 2035 - and they're dead right.

Jim began building combat robots at the age of 13 and has competed at BattleBots.  His love for engineering propelled him into several anti-terrorism, anti-piracy projects including one of the largest maritime surveillance networks in the world.

Hey You!

Dear Comrades,

I regret that I will not be able to make it to your event due to unforeseen travel restrictions. I am sending one of our more talented (and bizarre) operatives to you instead.

At first, we thought she was a spy as we kept spotting her in a box of kittens, in Cairo, in Dusseldorf, and St. Petersburg, amongst other places, but when our common enemy put a hit out on her, we decided to help her - initially as an insult to them, but later because she's got an amazing talent for finding informations. She's a good worker - would make a terrible enforcer though.

We aren't entirely sure of her name, although she answers to "Hey You!" Хеј ти! and Киттен лица! and sometimes, for undisclosed reasons, Meg.

If it is possible, keep an eye out for the common enemy; I have enclosed a dossier on their activities. We don't know why they want her dead yet, but we must find out.

For the Motherland!

Vladimir Farnos
Minister of Informations

Ben Peal

Gamer, traveler, and whisky and wine connoisseur Ben Peal has hosted scotch whisky seminars at TempleCon since TempleCon 2010. More than just tastings, these seminars provide an in-depth and informative look into the regions and landscapes, chemistry and alchemy, and industry and craft of scotch whiskey. The whiskies Ben seeks out range from traditional to unique and unusual, but are always flavorful, accessible, and affordable.

His gaming credentials include co-authoring the Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Player's Guide, designing the starter decks for the Heirs To The Blood expansion for V:TES, and winning three V:TES North American Championships. In addition to hosting scotch seminars at TempleCon, Ben can be found playing V:TES, perusing the art show and dealer rooms, and mingling and swapping stories of fun and adventure at TempleCon's parties.

Jess Myers

Jess Myers spent most of her childhood as the only girl among the geeks, surrounded constantly by Golden Eye, Mortal Combat, and Pokemon everything as far as the eye could see. She occupied most of her high school Friday nights in her DMs attic playing a D&D game that lasted until she ran off to new realms of college nerdiness. Combine this with an extensive and ruthlessly competitive family of card sharks and board game lovers and somehow volunteering at TempleCon just seems the logical place to have ended up.

Jess has taught several of her favorite board games at TempleCons past, and is most likely be found sneaking in even more games with friends new and old while managing the massive library of games compiled in the board game room.

Jeromy Foberg

Jeromy Foberg is a gamer, a reenactor, a rennie, a cosplayer, an alcohol enthusiast, and much more. He will also sing you a random sea shantie or two when he feels in the mood. He went to his first convention in 2007 when he was invited to come to TempleCon, and has been volunteering for TempleCon since 2008. He has also been an active member of The Rhode Island Pirate Players since 2007 and has now been promoted to the rank of Able Bodied Seaman Second Class as well as acting as Master-At-Arms. In addition, he frequently works for a company that runs games of skill at renaissance festivals throughout the United States.

A love of good alcohol and attendance at one of the scotch seminars at TempleCon 2010 initiated the talks for Jeromy to run 3 mulled beverage appreciation seminars at TempleCon 2011. Being a member of a reenactment group dedicated to piracy has instilled in Jeromy an appreciation for fine rums as well, inspiring him to impart his knowledge and opinions of specific types of rum in addition to mulled beverages at TempleCon 2012.

Ameena

Ameena is a performer, producer, and teacher, with a passion for dance in all its myriad forms. Her performances have entertained audiences at conventions, parties, fundraisers, and educational events. She has graced the TempleCon stage for the past four campaigns and will make another appearance this year. In 2011, Ameena also served as Variete show director. Apparently her efforts pleased Madame Ximon, as Ameena was asked back as show director for the "Bombshell: Visions of the Apocalypse!" show at TempleCon 2012, and is returning to direct "Helix:  An Evening of BioPunk Entertainments" at TempleCon 2013. In her 'spare' time she produces "Danse Salmagundi," a monthly dance show in Warwick, RI, and also produces the occasional fundraiser; in addition, she is an advocate for pit bulls and pit bull type dogs. Say hello when you see her at TempleCon and she'll be very happy to bend your ear about anything dance- or dog-related. You can find out about her upcoming New England shows on her Facebook Page or drop her a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Tony Lee

Tony Lee joined the TempleCon staff in its second year as a representative of The Faceless God. He is one of the organizers of the boardgaming room, luring unsuspecting patrons into his accursed domain. Once snared, he assaults all the known and unknown senses with senseless rules and non-euclidean math, turning them into shriveled masses of muttering, quivering flesh. There is no escape for the worthless human meatsacks as they cannot resist the temptations that lie within. All of those games... Who doesn't want to play games for free... But is the price of your soul enough to satiate his master?

Beyond the duty of star aligner, Tony works on the TempleCon website by making it pretty and consistent, hacking the php/css modules/plugins to bend them to his will, and handling user/event registrations.  He also answers your registration/tech questions. Now you have a face. If you want to throw rotten tomatoes at him, please do so when he's outside the room so you don't get juice all over the games. Good luck as he practically lives in that room the entire weekend.

Fhtagn!

Dan Livant

Dan Livant - TempleCon's Vendor Liaison - has been gaming for decades, starting with the old D&D Basic blue box in the early 1980s. Dan is now a semi-competitive Magic: The Gathering player (as time and finances allow), having participated in the recent Providence Legacy Grand Prix and multiple SCG Open events in addition to his regular FNM and Sunday Legacy. He writes match reports for The Temple Games and posts them on MTG Salvation and MTG The Source along with his blog MTG Musings.

Dan is a fan especially of Dieselpunk and Raygun Gothic retro-futurism – the result of growing up with a WWII era father into HAM radio and a thick book of the original Buck Rogers newspaper comic strips.

Dan has many artistic interests, which include writing (with a story published in the retro online magazine Ray Gun Revival issue #57, Photography, and artwork in various media, including altered art Magic The Gathering cards.