What is SAGA?
SAGA is a 501(c)3 federal non-profit organization whose mission is to:
1) foster an inclusive and welcoming tabletop gaming community in southern AZ,
2) develop relationships between industry, players, and game designers, especially members of underrepresented minorities, and
3) promote the educational, cognitive, and developmental benefits of games at an annual regional convention (RinCon).
Who is involved in RinCon?
RinCon is a completely community-based, volunteer-run annual convention. Our board members give their time, expertise, and hard work to serve the greater gaming community and present excellent programming. Our amazing volunteers help with tasks during RinCon and throughout the year, in return for discounted or free badges, a variety of special perks onsite, and our undying gratitude. Click here if you’re interested! We are also actively seeking to fill several board-level positions (see below), which have additional benefits, including free hotel room at the convention. Fill out the interest form if you think you’d be a good fit.
Board Members
Karen – SAGA President & RinCon Chair
Role: Oversee all aspects of convention planning and production. Interface with other community organizations to promote tabletop gaming. Schedule special programming and events, and coordinate with special guests and convention site. Quartermistress for RinCon materials and con suite. Manage monetary donations and partnerships. All other unfilled roles.
When she’s not sitting across the table from friends and slingin’ dice and cardboard, Karen loves cooking, hiking, singing, learning, and solving cryptic crosswords. She is passionate about equity and inclusion, building community and interpersonal understanding, and lifting up the voices of underrepresented minorities.
Tony – Technology Champion
Role: Manage hardware for registration desk, connectivity, Artemis, and special programming. Manage communications, financial, ticketing, and scheduling programs. Create technical and physical site diagrams.
Tony would like to state for the record that yes, he does need all these board games.
Aston Maslanka – Volunteer Champion
Role: Recruit, train, and schedule volunteers. Coordinate with other champions to determine and fill staffing needs.
Aston: Man of many helping hands. His favorite style of board games are co-op adventure games like Lord of the Rings, Forgotten Water or Mice and Mystics. So please join his party and help out with our SAGA program. Be you a dower dwarven cleric or a chipper Syvian sorcerer all are welcome and belong. Catch him volunteering at many other Tucson Events!
Kara – Giveaways Champion
Role: Coordinate with Double Exposure/Envoy to run state or regional championships. Present Play-to-Win game selection at events, teach PtW games, and run game giveaways. Work with individuals and industry entities to offer a range of raffle prizes, and coordinate the onsite raffle schedules.
Kara had her own collection of games from the big box stores. Then she married a self-proclaimed game collector. They merged their games and families into one happy clan. Next thing you know she was designing a 14ft built-in for the game collection that multiplied. Thankfully, the children didn’t.
John – CodeMonkey
Role: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Faucibus nisl tincidunt eget nullam. Neque aliquam vestibulum morbi blandit cursus risus at ultrices. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames.
John has loved games since childhood. As a tween, he tried creating games by mashing together aspects of different games. As an adult, he published the game “Treasure Fleet”. Now as an older adult, he just loves finding ways to help willing people join the gaming community.
Mari – Women’s Space Champion
Role: Create a welcoming gaming and relaxation space at RinCon for all cis and trans women, as well as non-binary people who are comfortable in a space that centers the experiences of women. Coordinate with BG and RPG Champions to present woman-led game sessions in the Womens’ Space. Give opinions and make faces even if not invited to do so.
Mari Bucholz is a disabled woman who moved to the Tucson area from Chicago in 2017. She has spent over 20 years volunteering in various capacities and organizations helping humans and animals. Mari is a part-time caregiver to her niblings when she’s not helping shape RinCon. She’s also a member of two book clubs and is certain she’ll finish all of her embroidery and cross-stitch projects one day.
Dori – Website Champion
Role: Design/implement structure and function of SAGA/RinCon website, and update content as relevant. Coordinate with other champions to highlight appropriate information.
Dori is a dwarf, not a…nope lost it.
Marty – Role Playing Game Champion
Role: Receive and process submissions for RPGs to be run at the convention. Coordinate with other Champions to schedule game sessions to tables and timeslots. Run the onsite muster system to match players to games during RinCon.
Marty has been playing and running RPG’s for over 30 years now. From table top to larp he enjoys RPGs of all types especially SciFi and Horror games. He is always looking forward to trying new games and meeting new people.
Becky – Tournament/Board Game Champion
Role: Receive and process submissions for BGs to be run at the convention. Coordinate with other Champions to schedule game sessions to tables and timeslots. Coordinate with Games HQ and registration during RinCon to assign pop-up game sessions to available tables.
Becky has enjoyed playing a wide variety of card and board games as far back as she can remember – from Clue and Mousetrap to poker, Sheepshead, Pandemic and more. She also loves teaching games and Tucson, so it wasn’t hard to rope her onto the SAGA Board. She’s tricky too — she’s been slowly drawing her family (blood and chosen) onto the Board with her, only a few more to go!
Kaya – Youth Champion
Role: Bring the perspective of young gamers to the board when deciding on programming and theme. Work with other Champions to provide excellent kids’ programming.
Kaya has been surrounded by games since before she was born and now she’s leveled up from mini-gamer to RinCon Youth Champion. Her favorite games include Splendor, Quacks and Lost Cities. This year she’s looking forward to running games in Kids Track and playing GIANT games.
James – Sponsor Champion
Role: Receive and process applications for sponsor/vendor status. Complete layout of the exhibitor space. Coordinate with sponsors before RinCon and on site. Work with RPG and BG Champions to schedule events presented by sponsors.
The first board game James Robertson ever played was Clue, back in the early 2000s. Ever since then, his love of gaming grew like a wildfire. When James isn’t rolling dice, you might find him in the kitchen baking something delicious, listening to an audiobook, or planning a TTRPG campaign. James Is excited to be a part of the RinCon team.
Samantha And Daniel – Registration and Accessibility Champion Team
Role: Develop processes for ticketing, badge creation, and logistics at the convention registration desk. Supervise registration desk and Games HQ volunteers onsite. Create an inclusive and accessible environment for attendees of RinCon.
Samantha is an autistic person who loves to blend play and self-exploration. Her passion lies in making gaming spaces accessible and enjoyable for all. When she isn’t tapping Plains in a game of Magic, she can be found questing in Azeroth.
Daniel is an autistic person who loves storytelling and creating immersive gaming environments. Known for his ability to craft engaging narratives, he ensures that every gaming experience is welcoming, inclusive, and unforgettable. He spends his spare time tapping Swamps and tanking for his mate, Samantha.
Open Positions – interest form
Your Name Here – Social Media Champion
Role: Create and post engaging content, coordinate dissemination of information across platforms, respond to posts from the public.
Bio blurb: I am a digital native, and love to keep people informed and engaged. I have good written communication skills and am interested in helping create an inclusive, welcoming tabletop gaming community on social media.
Your Name Here – Graphics/Promotion Champion
Role: Create promotional materials with a unified look based on the annual theme of the convention, maintain the calendar of gaming events throughout southern AZ, promote RinCon through community channels, curate photo library from events.
Bio blurb: I enjoy creating graphic arts presentations and layouts (posters, logos, photo and video montages, informational sheets, etc.) that draw the eye and entertain and inform the viewer.