LTN Con 2022 | The Complete Resource List

What an event!

Love Thy Nerd exists to show the love of Jesus to nerds and nerd culture. We started LTN Con to bring our community together while providing the tools needed to help you love and serve your nerdy neighbors better, like Jesus would. LTN Con 2022 featured keynote speaker Jaclyn Parrish (Southwestern Seminary), breakout sessions focusing on specific areas of nerdom, open gaming, events, giveaways, and more! The theme of LTN Con 2022 was “Get Out of Your Comfort Zone” as we encouraged nerds to explore different fandoms, learn new games, play with new people, and participate in a breakout on a topic that isn’t familiar to them in order to understand another area of nerd culture they may not know much about.

Even if you missed the event itself, there are still plenty of opportunities to get out of your comfort zone! Check out the videos and audio from the event, and check out the sponsors and games featured at the event.

Photo courtesy of @JRoyPhotos on Instagram.

Keynote Speaker | Jaclyn Parrish

Jaclyn is the Director of Marketing at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. She holds a B.A. in English and Christian Studies from Dallas Baptist University and an M.A. in Religion from the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute. She has written for The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, and Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies. She loves eating kouign amann, reading Terry Pratchett, watching Psych, and playing Dungeons and Dragons.

• Why Nerds Make the Best Friends (and how you can, too!) | What it means to be a nerd and  how nerdiness facilitates friendship.

• Why Geeking Out is Essential to Life | God made us for FUN.

Breakouts | Amazing Speakers from All Over Nerd Culture 

• Making great Christian games: How I made over $425k on Kickstarter with Deliverance (and how I almost ruined it) | Andrew Lowen (Next Level Web, Deliverance) | Have you ever noticed that there are not many interesting Christian games out there? I did, and I got salty about it. I challenged God to make a great game, and he responded by sending me on a journey that changed my life, my company’s direction, and more. What does it take to make a great Christian board game? I’ll tell you, I’ll answer questions, and I won’t hold anything back.
• Home LAN | Steven VanMeter & Joe Clarke (Forge Gaming) | The LAN Party. Thing of the past? Or could this still be a relationally exciting way to gather and reach your friends? If you’ve ever wanted to put on your very own LAN party at home, we’d love to help you get started! We’ll provide you with some wisdom and thoughts on running an intentional home LAN along with what gear and logistics it takes to pull it off.
• Real Life Online | Asia Filipiak (Asia The Girl, Moviga) | Real life is a shared experience because of our most precious longing: connection. This longing for connection breaks through all physical barriers, creating a beautiful opportunity for real life online.
• RPG Panel | Jaclyn Parrish (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), Tieranie Albright & Curtis Comstock (Saving Throw Saturday) | Tabletop RPGs – What are they? How do I get started? Why they are beneficial even to Christians?

Photo courtesy of @JRoyPhotos on Instagram.

Interviews | LTN Con in Your Own Words

• LTNcon In Your Own Words: Staff | Radio Matt of “The Back Row Morning Show” interviews all of the Love Thy Nerd staff throughout the event (and challenges them each to a standard Morning Show game).

• LTNcon In Your Own Words: Sponsors | Radio Matt of “The Back Row Morning Show” interviews some of our awesome friends who sponsored LTNcon this year (and challenges many of them to a standard Morning Show game).

• LTNcon In Your Own Words: Attendees | Radio Matt of “The Back Row Morning Show” interviews several LTNcon attendees throughout the event (and challenges most to a standard Morning Show game).

• A Chat with Josh Wagner of Animo | Radio Matt from “The Back Row Morning Show” sits down with Josh Wagner of Animo Games – Platinum Sponsor of LTNcon 2022 – to learn all about how Animo came to be and where it’s going.

• A Chat with Andrew Lowen of Deliverance | Radio Matt of “The Back Row Morning Show” sits down with Andrew Lowen from one of the most popular Christian projects on Kickstarter – Deliverance, the tabletop roleplaying game set to release in early 2023.

Sponsors | We couldn’t have done it without them 

• Sojourn Church New Albany | Our fabulous event host
• Animo | Platinum Sponsor | The Living Deck Bible Verse Game
• Deliverance | Platinum Sponsor | A game about Angels, Demons & the Saints caught between
• The Little Bean of Mine | The official coffee of LTN Con
• Bible X | Discover the Events that Changed the World Forever
• Mosaic Fan Art | Beautiful nerd culture-inspired, hand-crafted glass mosaics
• Sunday School Answers | The Original Christian Knock-Off of C.A.H.
• MiniMaples Studio | Original, handmade dioramas, sculptures, and gaming elements
• The Guilded Grayland | Building Community Through Games
• The Word for Word Bible Comic | Historically accurate, unabridged and untamed graphic novel of the Bible with a high view of scripture
• Forge Gaming | Play. Compete. Equip.
• Allies of Majesty | Spiritual Warfare Fantasy Roleplaying at its Best
• TableTop Makers | Handcrafted hardwood furniture and gaming accessories

Photo courtesy of @JRoyPhotos on Instagram.

Story Time | Memories from the Event

• LTNcon In Your Own Words (Part 1) / (Part 2) | Back Row Morning Show | Radio Matt comes back from LTNcon with a few stories and 21 interviews from staff, sponsors, and attendees of this awesome event meeting in person for the first time since before COVID. Nerds from all over North American came together for an awesome event with tabletop gaming, awesome speakers, and exciting events! Hear how it went in these live interviews from the event itself.

• LTN Con 2022 Recap | Free Play Podcast | Bubba and Kate were at LTN Con earlier this month, had an absolute blast, and wanted to recap the weekend with all of you.