Interplanetario 2016, or the triumph of customer care

It’s been a long time since I didn’t enjoy a painting contest in the way I did the past weekend.

As you may very well know already, this past weekend we attended the first edition of ‘Warcrow’, the Infinity painting contest. It has just been born, but it is destined to be the reference event for all hobby stuff related to Infinity, the Corvus Belli game and franchise. The contest was celebrated as part of the ‘Interplanetario’, which is in its third edition this year, consolidating the most important Infinity tournament to date. We have witnessed what happens there, and to be honest, I personally loved it.

The event is fundamentally centered around the game. There is more than 100 game tables, apart from activities such as painting workshops and demos by Ángel Giráldez, sculptors and designers of the game, forums, speed painting, trivia, exhibits and stands from different stores related to Infinity, as well as a Cosplay contest. All of this make it a magnet for all Infinity fans and a nerd event of great magnitude.

Why did I enjoy the event so much if I have hardly played a couple of Infinity games and I cannot distinguish between a Haqqislam hacker and a Nomad medic?

Basically the key lies in the sensation that I have taken from the event, the people and the emotions of the award ceremony. I was reminded of the old days of Golden Demon, when winners were secret to everyone at the time of the ceremony. Those contests in which you participated and if you thought you could result in winning, your heart would beat like crazy while waiting for the Speaker to say your name at any moment. That sensation is something I had not experimented for a long time. The Golden Demon, currently under a transformation process, do not offer that sensation anymore because winners are known beforehand at the ceremony. Apart from this, the rest of the contests in the calendar are Open format. We will have more time to talk about that in the future, but to summarize, Open contests are more like an exam to me rather than pure competition. That to me decreases the thrilling emotion I used to feel on Golden Demons.

The good ambience was constant over the whole weekend. It’s true that for someone who does not play Infinity, the event has still a lot to work on. This is the first edition of Warcrow and until now, ‘Interplanetario’ would be only for gamers, but it looks like Corvus Belli is going to focus also on the rest of the aspects of the hobby and we will see more stuff in the event. Corvus Belli cares a lot about its customers. May that be because the company is still small and does not forget where it comes from, may that be because they see their competitors making huge mistakes along the way: the truth is the feeling you get from Corvus Belli is wonderful.

One of the important parts of the event was at the end, when a guided tour was organized to visit Corvus Belli, and the staff showed in detail the complete process of creation and production of miniatures. There is communion between company and customers, and that is evident when three people went on Friday to get a tatoo of the event mascot, an octopus, together with the letters ‘Interplanetario’. Or how an American guy comes from Hawaii second year in a row not to miss the event in Vigo.

Because one thing we can’t deny is that the location is ideal. Vigo is surrounded by one of the nicest areas to visit in Spain. Personally, we used the chance to enjoy and indulge ourselves in Galicia, and I can’t recommend it enough. Next year we will definitely think of repeating it.

Lastly, something that we did not know or expect during the contest: the quantity and quality of the prizes. Harder&Steenbeck airbrushes, professional lamps, painting sets, Infinity material, merchandising… so it is that I even got to regret at some point being a jury and not being able to participate to have the chance of winning such stash.

To sum up, a wonderful weekend, surrounded by friends of old and new. A very promising event, a unique surrounding and an organization completely devoted to the crowd. I can only recommend that if you like Infinity you should Not Miss what is happening there. We will prepare a list of suggestions for the organization, because we are sure that most of our prayers will be listened, and next year it will be bigger and better!