Originally shared by Rob Masters
Last year one of the Perth gaming and SF Fan community's greats, Michael O'Brien, lost his battle with a brain tumour. He was a fantastic gamer - not because of an overpowering drive to win (although he always did his best), but because of his commitment to making sure everyone enjoyed the game.
He was influential in the founding of the Western Australian Boardgaming Association, and was always ready to teach games to newcomers.
He is greatly missed.
This year, Swancon (the Western Australian State Speculative Fiction Convention) decided to create a memorial award - "The Mikey" - for a player in the Swancon gaming steam who contributes to the enjoyment of play of others, thus embodying his memory.
The award was presented by his wife at the closing ceremony, along with one of the Meeple Vests that the gaming room hosts wore while on duty.
The winner of the inaugural Mikey was Alicia Smith, who very much embodies Mikey's nature in gaming, going out of her way to welcome, teach, and introduce people to gaming. Even if it means teaching over 70 people Tsuro. :)
hank you for the lovely words!
ReplyDelete