Marmalade Dog
Encyclopedia
Marmalade Dog is an annual gaming convention
Gaming convention
A gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...

 operated by the Western Michigan Gamers Guild (WMGG) and held on the campus of Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....

 in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 each spring.

Marmalade Dog is traditionally held in The Bernhard Center (WMU's student union). Exceptions to this were in 1999 (Sangren Hall), 2002 (Ellsworth Cafeteria) and 2006 (Student Recreation Center).

Name

The unique name for the convention was given a brief explanation in the 1994 pre-registration book:
The name was actually suggested by John Zimmerman (Guild Librarian around the time of the first Marmalade Dog):
Prior to 1994 the WMGG was known as the "Western Area Role-Players" and the convention called "WARPCon".

Logos

The original Marmalade Dog logo was also created by John Zimmerman. This illustration was used to brand and promote Marmalade Dog up to and including the 1999 convention. It was at this convention (Marmalade Dog 4) that professional fantasy artist Jeff Easley
Jeff Easley
Jeff Easley is an oil painter who creates fantasy artwork in the tradition of Frank Frazetta.-Early life:...

 drew a rendition of Marmalade Dog which he gave to the WMGG.

While the Easley illustration did become the new "official" Marmalade Dog, the classic logo was still used on some convention materials until 2001 and after that on certain WMGG materials. Most recently the Zimmerman dog was used as a repeating pattern on the WMGG photo ID membership cards issued 2005 - present.

A new vision of Marmalade Dog has been created for nearly every convention since Marmalade Dog II, however it was not until Mia Paluzzi's illustration for Marmalade Dog 7 in 2002 that all convention materials (web site, books, badges, t-shirts, etc.) began to exclusively use the annually changing image.

Timeline

1994
  • Marmalade Dog: Gamefest 94, January 15 - 16, Special Guests: Troy Denning
    Troy Denning
    Troy Denning is a fantasy and science fiction author and game designer.-Career:Denning joined TSR as a game designer in 1981, and was promoted a year later to Manager of Designers, before he moved to the book department...

     and Greg Costikyan
    Greg Costikyan
    Greg Costikyan, sometimes known under the pseudonym "Designer X" , is an American game designer and science fiction writer.Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including hex-based wargames, role-playing games, boardgames, card games, computer games, online games and mobile...


1995
  • Marmalade Dog Gamefest II, October 1 - 2, Special Guest: Sam Chupp

1996
  • Marmalade Dog III Gamefest, March 9 - 10

1999
  • Marmalade Dog 4, March 27, Special Guest: Jeff Easley
    Jeff Easley
    Jeff Easley is an oil painter who creates fantasy artwork in the tradition of Frank Frazetta.-Early life:...


2000
  • Marmalade Dog 5 Gamefest, April 1, Special Guest: Tom Wham
    Tom Wham
    Tom Wham is a designer of board games who has also produced artwork, including that for his own games.Wham worked a variety of odd jobs during his early adult life. After serving four years in the U.S. Navy, he worked for the Guidon Games hobby shop in Maine where he got his first game, a variant...


2001
  • Marmalade Dog 6: Gamefest 2001, March 31 - April 1

2002
  • Marmalade Dog 7: Gamefest 2002, March 23 - 24

2003
  • Marmalade Dog 8: Gamefest 2003, March 29 - 30

2004
  • Marmalade Dog 9: Gamefest 2004, April 2 - 4

2005
  • Marmalade Dog 10: Gamefest 2005, March 11 - 13

2006
  • Marmalade Dog 11, March 24 - 26

2007
  • Marmalade Dog 12, March 16 - 18

2008
  • Marmalade Dog 13, March 28 - 30

2009
  • Marmalade Dog 14, January 30 - February 1

2010
  • Marmalade Dog 15, March 26 - 28

2011
  • Marmalade Dog 16, April 15 - 17

External links

  • http://www.marmaladedog.org/ - The Marmalade Dog website.
  • http://www.wmgg.org/ - The Western Michigan Gamers Guild website.
  • http://www.myspace.com/marmaladedog - Marmalade Dog on MySpace.
  • http://wmgg.deviantart.com/ - WMGG DeviantART page where the annual Marmalade Dog mascot art contest is headquartered.
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