KainCon

KainCon was a gaming oriented meet held in the greater Washington, D.C. area. It last took place September 29th through October 1st, 2007 at the Holiday Inn in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

KainCon is intended as a get away, a place for people to socialize and have fun. KainCon has no formal programming and attendees are encouraged to plan their own activities with others, sometimes in advance via KainCon's own message board and mailing list. Some activities involve, but are not limited to LAN parties, console gaming, sketch parties, room parties, excursions into D.C., food runs, and more.

KainCon is currently run by Sir Kain and Sage Jackal.

History
In 1996, SirKain decided to hold a small get-together at his house as a means to meet several furries whom he'd become acquainted with via MUCKs, art commissions, and other anthropomorphics-related endeavors. The gathering was named KainCon by its attendees, and that name seemed to stay.

KainCon held most of its activities in the basement of Kain’s parents' home. Every KainCon boasted an intimate, friendly atmosphere where attendees could enjoy drawing, computer games (He had the house networked with Ethernet), video games (Like tournaments in Tekken or SoulBlade games and related), a trip to Washington D.C., AD&D campaigns, and more. Despite having no formal programming, the event was praised for its easy-going atmosphere and spontaneity, making it feel like a reunion of friends or a chummy meet-and-greet, despite hosting dozens of attendees through the weekend. Too, Non-furs were welcome to attend KainCon, and its relaxed mood combined with anything goes scheduling allowed the event to be inclusive towards anthro fans and non-fans alike.

KainCon seemed to grow with each passing year. The first KainCon in 1996 hosted roughly ten attendees, KainCon2 in 1997 had 17 in total, and KainCon3 in 1998 had more than 20 persons and a LAN setup consisting of 16 computers through the weekend. KainCon4 in 1999 was the first of these conventions to have an AD&D campaign, and the LAN party boasted over 20 computers.

In its infancy, Kain hosted one KainCon a year. After returning home from college, he decided to try hosting two per year: One in May, the other in November. It worked out well for a time, but soon KainCon grew too large a venue to keep in a single house.

2004 marked the last time KainCon was held in a private residence. Due to a number of issues, 2005 saw no KainCon. In early 2006, KainCon.org was launched and the move to a hotel was announced.

In June 2006, Sir Kain bought a house in Nokesville, VA, where KainCon was held that year. In 2007, KainCon was held at the Holiday Inn in Tyson's Corner, Virginia. Kain has said he prefers to keep the 'con' as a house-party like event, not as an official con.