Go Play's origin story
In 2008, our founder, Andrew Smith, decided to start Go Play Brisbane with three simple goals:
- To connect local gamers to each other
- To invite new people to the hobby
- To have fun.
In that regard, nothing’s changed. But this year we are bigger and better than ever – a claim we can make every year because each year we have evolved to bring together more gamers than before to play more games than ever.
Since we began a decade ago, we’ve run games in the big systems like Dungeons & Dragons and Vampire. We’ve run games in indie systems like Fiasco and FATE. And we’ve even run playtests at Go Play for locally designed game systems that have gone on to become published games.
At Go Play, we bring together some of the best GMs in Brisbane … and they always bring their A game. The variety and creativity of the games on offer humbles us every year.
Go Play brings together players who love to roleplay and puts them in the one room to create some incredible adventures. The happy, creative vibe in the room is palpable. We’re proud to say that many a weekly gaming group has been born at Go Play!
We create opportunities for first timers and for people who’ve roleplayed all their lives. And we mix these groups together so they can learn from each other, collaborate and have fun.
We’re committed to running this convention free of charge. Regardless of your financial situation, we want Go Play to be accessible to you.
And we always remember to have fun!
Our conventions are filled with laughter and cheers. And we always go to the pub afterwards to share war stories and hear about the games we didn’t get a chance to play.
Meet the team
Andrew Smith
Andrew is the Allfather and creator of Go Play: our founder and current organiser.
He's also the friendly face (and typing hands) at the end of the Go Play emails and newsletters.
Nadia Bagley
Nadia is a driving force of innovation in the Go Play team.
Beyond running our social media and coordinating our hearth warden volunteers, she also contributes her skills to project & relationship management, events coordination and safety & inclusion initiatives. In her ongoing commitment to improving our event, Nadia has worked hard to create our GM cheat sheet, which helps explain the responsibilities of our GMs and supports them running the best games they can.
Nadia is deeply passionate about social change and community building, and sees Go Play as so much more than just a gaming convention.
John Reid
Sly Gryphon
Sly is our Master of the Schedule.
As the keeper of spreadsheets, he defends us from chaos by artfully linking up players with GMs.
Mark Higgins
Along with an immense passion for all things RPG, Mark brings project management, coordination, and stakeholder engagement skills to the Go Play team.
He helps Go Play with community engagement, organisation, planning, and scheduling – working to keep things running smoothly.
Mark also runs Brisbane Social RPG, and, with that team, he delivers several smaller RPG conventions across the year in Brisbane.
Allan Carey
Allan is an experienced event organiser and community ambassador who helps us by reaching out the gaming community.
He is an invaluable support for our many administrative tasks, jumping in to lend Go Play a hand wherever needed.
Leith Reid
Leith is a creative / storyteller who uses her powers for good to design, write, build and maintain the Go Play website ... our portal to communicate with our players.
She's helped secretly in the background since 2012, but now is visible.