Editing Gen Con (section)

=== Early years ===
[[File:Gen-Con Show Floor, 2010.JPG|thumb|left|Part of the exhibit hall space during Gen Con Indy 2010.]]

The [[International Federation of Wargaming]] (IFW) hosted a number of small regional conventions in the months following its foundation in 1967, including the first annual club convention in [[Malvern, Pennsylvania]], in August.{{sfn|Peterson|2012|p=10}} Some IFW gamers in the Chicago area could not make the journey to Malvern, so they had an informal gathering that same weekend at the [[Lake Geneva, Wisconsin]] home of [[Gary Gygax]].<ref name="gen-con-2007-program-book-timeline" />{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=3}} Later this gathering would come to be referred to as "Gen Con 0". In 1968, Gygax rented Lake Geneva's [[Horticultural Hall (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin)|Horticultural Hall]] to hold a follow-up IFW convention, the Lake Geneva Wargames Convention, later known as the Gen Con [[gaming convention]].{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=5}}<ref name="Wired" /> The IFW, which Gygax co-founded, put up $35 of the $50 Horticultural Hall fee to sponsor this first Gen Con.{{sfn|Peterson|2012|p=5}}{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=5}} Almost 100 people attended. At the second Gen Con in August 1969, Gygax met [[Robert J. Kuntz|Rob Kuntz]]{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=8}} and [[Dave Arneson]].<ref name="Wired" /><ref name="King &amp; Borland"/><ref name="believer" /> During these early conventions, the events centered around [[board game]]s and miniature wargames.{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=5}}

Gen Con's name is a derivation of "Geneva Convention", due to the convention's origins in Lake Geneva. It is also a play on words, as the "[[Geneva Conventions]]" are a set of important international [[treaty|treaties]] regarding war, the subject of many of the early games.{{sfn|Laws|2007|p=4}} Starting in 1971, Gen Con was cosponsored by the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association.<ref name="keeper-lore-history" />