About

Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Public Charity 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)

Nerdvana G&C Events is an organization of tabletop gamers by tabletop gamers organized in response to the multitude of clubs and hobby groups that suffered or failed during the Covid shutdowns. The unfortunate aftermath of the stay-in-place orders was that many clubs either moved exclusively online or failed during the Covid-19 pandemic. And, Nerdvana was organized, in part, to expedite the return of gaming and hobby clubs on the Central Coast.

Tabletop gaming, like Dungeons & Dragons, builds strong community bonds across all ages, cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, beliefs, and lifestyles. Nerdvana's purpose is to foster community engagement, provide educational opportunities, and teach valuable social skills through tabletop gaming to build stronger and healthier communities

Nerdvana General Membership is free and open to individuals interested in supporting our mission and activities. Members are invited to discuss organizational decisions, join and lead committees, bring up issues at monthly board meetings, and vote on select matters.

Board of Directors

Chay Comas Chairperson

Cameron Cleveland Secretary

Joel David Reed Party Wizard

History

In August of 2022, Chay Comas created the Central Coast DnD newsletter, now known as the Central Coast Game Community Newsletter, to help create a Dungeons & Dragons club in Santa Maria California. The newsletter was an overnight success attracting hundreds of local gaming enthusiasts and was almost immediately adopted by the greater gaming community to include not only Dungeons & Dragons players and hobbyists, but also players and hobbyists for Warhammer, Batteletech, Magic the Gathering, Miniature painting, and game store owners and event organizers alike. By April of 2023, MimicCon had been organized as a game convention for the Santa Maria Valley which brought in more than 350 guests and featured live-streamed game tournaments, tutorials, expos, demonstrations, vendors, and guest panels. The events and newsletters were used to help promote various related clubs all across the Central Coast of CA, aiming to help connect gamers to clubs that matched their interests and locale from Ventura County to Monterey County and centered in Northern Santa Barbara County.

We supported the PolyCon game convention in San Luis Obispo in 2023 and 2024, as PolyCon had lost a lot of its internal organizational structure over COVID shutdowns. Being a CalPoly student organization, it relied on the relay of information and techniques year after year to keep the annual event alive, and Nerdvana is very proud to have been able to help support its reignition.

In September of 2023, we formed the Santa Maria Valley Adventurers League in partnership with the Santa Maria Public Library, and have since been hosting multiple events in the Shepherds Hall, as a place for locals to not only enjoy tabletop games but learn how to play them as well. In June of 2024, the club absorbed the D&D Youth Program started by Chay Comas in January of 2021 and began inviting board gamers and wargamers to share their space in the library.

In December of 2023, Nerdvana was officially formed as a Non-Profit Public Charity with the mission to cultivate and enhance the gaming and cosplay communities of the Central Coast of California by organizing and hosting in-person social events, promoting events and organizations that benefit these communities through community outreach to foster local connections and relationships, engaging with local charities to promote community involvement, and offering educational opportunities that teach valuable social skills through gaming.

Media Coverage

MimicCon

MimicCon 2023 was our first game convention in the Santa Maria Valley. It was a proof of concept for our partners, sponsors, and the community in general. We couldn't have done it alone, and owe much of our success to the businesses and organizations that sponsor and believe in us. Thank you