Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsey Carter.
Hi Lindsey, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Meeple-a-thon started in 2016 as a small charity gaming event in someone’s garage with around 50 people. It was really just a group of gamers getting together to play games, raise some money, and do something good for the community.
I became involved not long after that and eventually stepped into a leadership role. Since then, I’ve helped with just about every part of the convention – from planning events and working with exhibitors to recruiting volunteers, building partnerships, solving last-minute problems, and figuring out how to make the next year bigger and better than the one before it.
Over the years, Meeple-a-thon has grown far beyond that original haunted K-Mart gathering. In 2026, we’re celebrating our tenth anniversary at the Kansas City Convention Center. We now offer hundreds of scheduled events across board games, RPGs, card games, miniature wargames, painting, tournaments, and more.
The event has changed a lot, but the heart of it really hasn’t. Meeple-a-thon was built around the idea that there should always be a seat for everyone. Whether someone has been gaming their entire life or has never touched a twenty-sided die, we want them to feel welcome when they walk through the door.
I definitely didn’t start out thinking, “I’m going to help build a major tabletop gaming convention.” I just kept seeing things that needed to be done and volunteering to do them. Somewhere along the way, that turned into a community – and an event – that I’m incredibly proud to be part of.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth road – but I’m not sure you can grow an event from a 100 person raffle into a convention at the Kansas City Convention Center without hitting a few potholes along the way.
One of our biggest challenges has simply been learning how to grow. For a long time, Meeple-a-thon was run by a very small group of people wearing far too many hats. When I joined, our staff numbered 5 people. We were figuring out fundraising, marketing, event scheduling, volunteer management, exhibitor relations, technology, and venue logistics – often for the first time and usually with a very limited budget which meant we had to be exceedingly creative, and ask for a lot of help from businesses in our community in order to do what we do. A lot of McGyver-ing was done to make ends meet year over year.
Beyond that, we’ve dealt with venue changes, rising costs, technology that didn’t always cooperate, volunteer burnout, and the general challenge of convincing people to take a chance on a growing convention. We’ve also had to learn that the systems that work for a small event don’t necessarily work once thousands of people, hundreds of volunteers, and hundreds of scheduled games become involved.
Personally, one of the hardest lessons has been learning that caring deeply about something doesn’t mean you can do everything yourself. Asking for help, trusting other people, and building systems that don’t depend on one person have all been important parts of the process.
There have absolutely been moments when we wondered whether we could pull off the next step. But every challenge has forced us to become more organized, more creative, and clearer about why we’re doing this. The community has continued to show up for us, and that’s what has kept Meeple-a-thon moving forward.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m the person who looks at a big, slightly chaotic idea and starts figuring out how to make it actually happen. Professionally, I’m the Exhibitor Manager for GAMA: The Tabletop Game Association, which means that I assist with running a large Business to Business show (GAMA Expo) in the spring every year, and an extra large Business to Consumer show (Origins Game Fair) in the summer. My work with there and within Meeple-a-thon touches almost every part of the conventions, but I’m especially focused on the bigger picture – building the systems, partnerships, teams, and plans that allow the event to keep growing.
I’m probably best known for being very direct, extremely detail-oriented, and always having a spreadsheet or project board for everything. I’m good at seeing how all the moving pieces connect, spotting problems before they become emergencies, and turning a pile of ideas into an actual plan people can follow. I also tend to be the person asking, “How can we make this better next year?” before we’ve even finished this year.
What I’m most proud of is helping Meeple-a-thon grow without losing what made it special in the first place. We’ve gone from a small event to celebrating our tenth anniversary at the Kansas City Convention Center, but our goal is still to create a place where everyone feels like they have a seat at the table. Growth is exciting, but it only matters if the community still feels welcome, included, and genuinely excited to be there.
I think what sets me apart is the combination of creativity and operations. I can imagine what an experience could become, but I also genuinely enjoy the less glamorous work required to get it there – the timelines, floor plans, processes, emails, and backup plans. I care deeply about the details because those details shape how people experience the event.
More than anything, I want to build something that lasts. I don’t just want Meeple-a-thon to have one successful year; I want it to have the structure, community, and identity it needs to continue growing for many years to come.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I don’t think of myself as a reckless risk-taker, but I’m definitely willing to make a big leap when I believe in where it could lead. I just prefer my risks to come with a spreadsheet, three backup plans, and at least one mildly alarming budget projection.
Meeple-a-thon itself has been a series of risks. Every time we’ve moved to a larger venue, expanded our programming, or raised our attendance goals, we’ve committed to expenses and expectations before knowing for certain whether the community would follow us there. Moving into the Kansas City Convention Center for our tenth anniversary is easily our biggest leap yet. It gives Meeple-a-thon the room and visibility to become something much larger, but it also comes with significantly higher costs, more complicated logistics, and a much greater responsibility to deliver.
There is always a temptation to stay where things feel comfortable, especially when you’re working with a nonprofit budget and an entirely volunteer team. But staying small also carries a risk. You can miss opportunities, exhaust the same small group of people, or never give the event the chance to become what you know it could be.
For me, taking a risk doesn’t mean ignoring what could go wrong. It means being honest about the possibilities, doing as much homework as I can, and deciding whether the potential outcome is worth the uncertainty. Once I make that decision, I commit to it and start building the plan.
Some risks work out exactly as hoped, while others become expensive learning experiences. Either way, I try not to treat an imperfect result as a failure. If we learn something useful, strengthen our systems, or discover a better direction, then the risk still moved us forward.
Pricing:
- Single Day General Admission Badge – $30
- Weekend 3 Day General Admission Badge – $55
- Youth Weekend 3 Day General Admission Badge – $30
- Volunteer with us – get FREE General Admission!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://meepleathon.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meeple_a_thon/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wethemeeple
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/meeple-a-thon-kc
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeepleThon
