There and Back Again: The Tale of the CTGA Express
One of our most exciting new programs this year has been the CTGA Express! Spearheaded by Sean Rawly and captained by Lindsay Keildeen and Marcus Robertson.
Our maiden voyage brought 19 intrepid gamers from Merchandise Mart down to Indianapolis on Wednesday, July 29th, 2026, and then back again on Sunday, Aug 2nd.
Join us for a behind-the-scenes look as the CTGA ventures the farthest away from home we’ve ever been.
Concerning the CTGA
When people think about barriers to tabletop gaming, they often think about finding a group or learning a new game. At the Chicago Tabletop Gaming Association, we talk about removing barriers as making tabletop gaming more welcoming.
We run beginner events. We think about cost, representation, and creating spaces where people feel comfortable showing up for the first time. Those are all real barriers, and they're worth paying attention to. But every so often, another question presents itself: How does someone actually get there?
For many people in Chicago, Gen Con is tantalizingly close. Indianapolis is only a few hours away: close enough that it feels accessible, far enough that getting there becomes its own project. You need a car, or a friend with a car. You need to figure out parking, or rental costs, or train schedules that don't quite line up. None of these problems are insurmountable. They just accumulate, until attending a convention starts to feel like something for people with slightly more time, slightly more money, or slightly fewer logistical headaches than you.
This spring, our board found itself talking less about Gen Con itself than about the trip.
A Shortcut to Gen Con 2026
What if the CTGA rented a charter bus? Not because buses are especially glamorous. They're not. But because they solve a surprisingly specific problem. They eliminate uncertainty. They turn half a dozen individual travel plans into one shared one.
It was, in many ways, an experiment. We didn't know whether enough people would sign up to make it viable. We weren't interested in running a program that put the organization at financial risk. So we set a minimum, crossed our fingers, and waited to see whether the community thought the idea made sense.
It did.
The Crew of the CTGA Express hanging out before the trip starts. Video Courtesy of Dash Gearheart.
Nine…teen companions. So be it.
Nineteen riders made the trip with us this year, along with two volunteers. Financially, the program came within a few hundred dollars of breaking even, an encouraging result for something we'd never attempted before. More importantly, people enjoyed it. The bus became the first chapter of the convention rather than the commute before it.
That's the part that interests us. Community doesn't start when you walk into a convention hall. It begins somewhere earlier: while you're waiting outside with your luggage, introducing yourself to someone you've only known through Discord, comparing schedules, recommending games, wondering whether you'll actually have time to see everything you circled in the program book.
The Fellowship of the CTGA Express
That's increasingly how we think about CTGA's work. Sometimes expanding access means teaching someone to play Dungeons & Dragons for the first time. Sometimes it means creating spaces where underrepresented gamers feel like they belong. Sometimes it means helping creators find an audience. And sometimes it means asking whether getting to one of the largest gaming conventions in the country from one of the largest cities in the country could be made just a little easier.
We'd like to keep asking those kinds of questions.
Some of the answers will look like a bus. Others won't. But they all require the same thing: a willingness to experiment, volunteers willing to do the work, and a community willing to believe that the effort is worthwhile.
Bummed to have missed the Gen Con Bus? Have no fear! CTGA is organizing a bus to Gamehole Con (Oct 15th - 18th at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI) that we are currently seeking riders for! For more details, check out:
This blog was written by CTGA board members. If you want to get involved in the conversation and influence future events like the CTGA Express, use the button below to join our free Discord server!
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