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2007 Media coverage
- Australian Games Expo 2007 (Boardgame News, 12 June 2007)
- Firefighter survives heat of Diplomacy (Border Mail, 12 June 2007)
- City centre of games world (Border Mail, 11 June 2007)
- To die for (Border Mail, 9 June 2007)
- Players tense before games (Border Mail, 9 June 2007)
- Game getting serious (Border Mail, 8 June 2007)
- Launch is part of Creator's Strategy (Border Mail, 6 June 2007)
- Games enthusiast and one of the founders of Games Australia, Melissa Rogerson interviewed by Richard Stubbs (ABC Radio, Melbourne, 5 June 2007)
- Climbing on board for a new tourism drawcard (Border Mail editorial, 5 June 2007)
- It's all just fun and games
- Champions to play games (Border Mail, 30 May 2007)
- Games people play (Border Mail, 26 May 2007)
- The Games People Play ... (North East Tourist News, May 2007)
Australian Games Expo 2007 media coverage:
June 2007
May 2007
Australian Games Expo 2007
(Boardgame News, 12 June 2007)
"I've spent two wonderful days in Albury at the Australian Games Expo over the long weekend. By nearly all measures it was bigger and better than last year's inaugural event. Exhibitor numbers were up 70%, attendance was up 60%, tournament numbers were up."
Read the full article (Link points to article at Boardgame News)
Firefighter survives heat of Diplomacy
(Border Mail, 12 June 2007)
"Poker machines were not the only games being played at Albury's SS and A club yesterday.
Upstairs, away from the lights and noise of the one-armed bandits, the Australian Diplomacy Championship was being decided with a trip to the world title in Canada on offer for the winner."
Read the full article (JPEG image, 334 KB)
City centre of games world
(Border Mail, 11 June 2007)
"Albury's Australian Games Expo attracted more than 1000 people at the weekend with a married couple and a mother-to-be the stars of the main tournaments."
Read the full article (JPEG image, 2.25MB)
To die for
(Border Mail, 9 June 2007)
"There are a number of visitors who will be in attendance this weekend, including some "heavies" from some of the world's biggest board game manufacturers"
Read the full article (JPEG image, 315 KB)
Players tense before games
(Border Mail, 9 June 2007)
"The pressure is starting to build for the youngest competitors at this weekend's Games Expo."
Read the full article (JPEG image, 273 KB)
Game getting serious
(Border Mail, 8 June 2007)
"Sibling rivalry could erupt into war this weekend for a Wodonga family at the Australian Games Expo.
For brother and sister board game players Heather and Dennis Bodman, there will be no holds barred if they come face-to-face in the competition."
Read the full article (JPEG image, 178 KB)
Launch is part of Creator's Strategy
(Border Mail, 6 June 2007)
"Designing games is becoming more than a hobby for Bellbridge retiree Michael Fenton, as he launches his first creation at the Australian Games Expo this weekend."
Read the full article (JPEG image, 685 KB)
ABC Radio Interview
(ABC Radio, Melbourne, 5 June 2007)
Games enthusiast and one of the founders of Games Australia, Melissa Rogerson was interviewed by Richard Stubbs
Listen to the interview (6 minute MP3 file, 1.76 MB)
Climbing on board for a new tourism drawcard
(Border Mail editorial, 5 June 2007)
"This year the expo has doubled its number of exhibitors, more than 120 competitors are expected to register for four national championships, in different board games ... This year's expo is an example of how a council can help the organisers of an event ... without having to pour in buckets of cash."
Read the full article (JPEG image, 326 KB)
It's all just fun and games
"The Knights, of Corryong, have laid their cards on the table and next weekend will take on the nation in their favourite game - Carcassonne."
Read the full article (JPEG image, 1.03 MB)
Champions to play games
(Border Mail, 30 May 2007)
"Game buffs from across the region are set to descend upon Albury next weekend for the second annual Australian Games Expo."
Read the full article (JPEG image, 544 KB) or see it online at the Border Mail website
Games people play
(Border Mail, 26 May 2007)
"Full stop is always on the lookout for events that can shape Albury's tourism industry and there's a beauty in the shape of the Australian Games Expo"
Read the full article (JPEG image, 96.6 KB)
The Games People Play ...
(North East Tourist News, May 2007)
They're fun, social, educational, and they're all the rage in Europe! Now you can play them here. Albury's Australian Games Expo is opening people's minds to a whole new world - the wonderful world of Eurogames.
As well as having hundreds of different card and board games on display, the Expo, at the Albury Convention Centre on June 9 and 10, will host three national championships in Carcassonne, The Settlers of Catan and Diplomacy and the winners will go on to represent Australia in Europe and Canada in their respective world titles.
And the players come from all walks of life. Last year's Carcassonne Australian champion, Dennis Bodman works at a Wodonga abattoir and his trip to the world finals in Germany was his first time on a plane, while The Settlers of Catan champion, Simon Plummer, is a banker from Sydney.
Event organiser Phil Davies, of Mind Games Albury & Canberra, said more than 31 exhibitors will be displaying their wares, including some of the world's largest games manufacturers such as US firm Hasbro which produces Monopoly.
"There will also be game designers and plenty of volunteers to provide advice and guidance on how to play," he says. "We're really excited by this event. In its second year it has experienced more than 100 per cent growth and is on track to becoming an iconic educational and cultural event for the region."
Wodonga Diplomacy enthusiast Bruce Cook, has been playing for 30 years. He says the game is based on pre-World War I Europe and on expanding and defending territories through negotiation, strategy and backstabbing.
"It's great - simple to play but hard to master - but really anyone can do it," he says.
Bruce's partner, Pip de Wit, who is also entered in the tournament, played in the Victorian Championships in 2005. "It's all about strategy and manipulation, and there's not many women who play so in the beginning it gave me an edge" she says.
Not surprisingly, Diplomacy was a favourite game of US heavyweights John F. Kennedy, Henry Kissinger and Walter Cronkite.
Apart from watching the nation's masters at work, people visiting the Expo will also have the chance to try more than 150 different board and card games with experts on hand to give advice and help first-time players.
The Expo runs from 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday and costs $10/day or $15 for a weekend pass. Family passes are $20/day or $30 for the weekend. School groups are half price (organised in advance) and teachers with ID, and children under eight are free.
The Diplomacy Championships will be held in the evenings, concluding on Monday morning, at the SS&A Club which is only five minutes walk from Albury's Convention Centre.
For more information visit www.austgamesexpo.com or phone Meredith Ashton of Ashton Productions on (02) 6026 2606 or Phil Davies, of Mind Games, on (02) 6041 2448.