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Michael and Kate Jordal, co-owners of the southeastern Minnesota marketing and event planning company Jordal Ventures, LLC, will host a weekend of tabletop gaming convention, known as Austi-Con,  Oct. 18-20 at the Austin DoubleTree by Hilton and Convention Center, located at 1701 4th Street NW. 

There will be a variety of scheduled games throughout the weekend, as well as open gaming tables.  Everyone is welcome to attend. 

Admission is just $25 per person at the door for the entire weekend, or $20 if registered in advance. Attendees will also receive a swag bag on a first come, first serve basis.  The event will begin at 10 a.m. daily.  

“It is a lot of fun for people from all over to get together and play these games” Michael Jordal said. “We are so happy to be in a great location at the DoubleTree and to have the opportunity to run the convention again this year.”  

Past events have attracted more than 350 attendees who primarily hailed from Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

The event also has a charity focus. Weirdcards Charitable Club will return to run Magic the Gathering charity tournaments throughout the weekend, and there will be a silent auction throughout the weekend with proceeds going to the Autism Day Camp programs in Austin, which are run through the Hormel Historic Home.  

There are four camps held throughout the summer, and Kate Jordal is the founder and former director of one of the camps, called Camp Just for Me. Events run by Dork Den, a hobby store out of Mankato, will also raise money for the camps.

Over the past seven years, Austi-Con’s charity events have raised more than $21,000 for the camps.

“We’re very fortunate to have these camps in Austin and they are an important cause to my wife,” Michael said. “I thought it would be a really nice way to give back to the community.”

Popular returners to Austi-Con this year include Family Fun Day Sunday, in which a family of up to four can attend Austi-Con on Sunday only for a fee of just ten dollars per family, as well as a miniature painting competition.  There will be t-shirts and hats with this year’s Austi-Con logo available to purchase.

Many board game companies have provided donations to the event and there will be play to win events (in which participants can win the copy of the game they are playing), a board game library, and door prizes.

For more information about the event, visit the Austi-Con event page on Facebook, visit https://tabletop.events/conventions/austi-con-2024 or contact Michael or Kate Jordal at jordalventuresllc@gmail.com.