We had the good fortune of connecting with Japji Khalsa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Japji, what matters most to you?
Fun.

Having fun myself, and bringing fun to others, has long been a personal value. Fun ultimately serves as the kingpin for much of my creativity, innovation.

My ideas for innovation, whether with software design, product design, or event production, usually stem from a thought such as “What would make this fun for me? How can that be fun for others?”

Bringining joy – delight – to others has practically been a life’s mission for me. And thankfully, it sometimes – though not always – can turn into financial gain.

What should our readers know about your business?
The value of ‘fun’ has fueled my creativity in such a way that the various business I run are not only quite diverse, but also, each in their own way, might be considered succesful.

My ‘first’ career started in high school as I was passionate about video production. My mentor, Larry Sturgess, introduced me to the world of freelance work versus getting a 40hr a week ‘job’ at a station or studio. Freelance gave me time flexibility, typically higher pay, more diverse projects a lifelong sense of business independance.

It wasn’t always easy… especially when the ‘dry’ times rolled in and selling palm trees out of truck became a stopgap income generator. But, as a freelancer, I found that diversifying helped broaden my client base. I’d work as a sound engineer, lighting director, generic grip, stage manager or teleprompter operator. Ultimately, teleprompter becoming my ‘thing’ as I realized the SF Bay Area had no freelance prompter operators with prompting gear – and have parlayed that insight into creating Magic Teleprompting, Inc., the first prompting service in Northern California.

They say that luck is the convergence of preparation and opportunity. Magic is clearly a result of ‘luck’ in this sense, as I had done the work for years as a freelance op, and realized that there was an opportunity to turn this niche work into a thriving business. 40 years later, and it’s still going strong.

My work in production prepared me to bring a professional’s focus to my next business, KublaCon Game convention. Founded in 1994 originally as ManaFest, this annual event started because I thought it would be fun to bring people together for a day of gaming and tournaments. Over time this became a 4 day event over Memorial Day weekend, bringing about 4000 people together each year. Again, fun is the key here… but also.. preparation and experience with production. For the most part, these sort of events are organized by a band of friends who love gaming, but really have no idea how to professionally produce an event. The attention to detail, the desire to bring a great experience to the fans, and a willingness to invest both time and money to do that brought a professional edge to each year’s production. An edge that the fans could feel, and would bring them back each year. Ultimately, KublaCon was a LOT of fun to do… but also a LOT of work each year to pull it off. After nearly 25 years, I was ready to take a break, and have sold the event to a new group of passionate organizers.

And finally, my third business, was also born of fun. I would often play Magic The Gathering at a local coffee shop… a couple of times a week… shortly after Magic was released. Everything was new and exciting! But sticky coffee tables required some creative thinking to keep our cards safe. I decided to create a ‘play mat’ in partnership with an artist, Jeff Brain. Our original SpellGround play mat from 1995 is now a rare collector’s item even while Khalsa Brain games continues to create new – fun – mats for our nearly 9000 Facebook following fans.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
San Francisco is FULL of fun places and things to do. The best ‘touristy’ attractions are the tour of Alcatraz and a walk across the Golden Gate bridge. I’ve personally done the Alcatraz tour several times when friends come to visit, and it’s fun each time.

Other attractions would be Golden Gate park, including the Conservatory of Flowers. A brief tour of the neighborhoods that make up the diversity San Francisco would also be on the itinerary. For that matter, dining in these various neighborhoods would not only highlight the diversity, but would provide delicious food unique to each ‘hood. From Asian, to seafood, to Greek… so many great restaurants would require more than a week’s visit to truly get a ‘taste’ of it all.

Music venues abound: The Great American Music hall, SF Jazz, The Chapel, Chase Center, Slim’s, Club Deluxe Warfield, and more. A different music experience each night might be on the itinerary.

And finally, for my gaming friends, we’d have to take a trip to GameScape of San Francisco. It’s one of the finest game stores in the country with a great selection and passionate staff. The Game Parlour in the inner Sunset would also be a stopping point – a well run ‘venue’ for gaming with friends and having affordable eats and beer.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Thanks to Larry Sturgess for helping guide my carreer into video and stage production. A huge shoutout to all the staff and team at KublaCon Game Convention, and GobbleCon game convention for sharing the value of “Fun” by helping to bring thousands of people together to celebrate their hobby. And finally, thanks to all the fans of SpellGround play mats/Khalsa Brain Games who consistently surprise me with their passion and dedication to our brand.

Website: www.magicscroll.com AND www.kbgames.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/spellgrounds

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/JmanInSF

Image Credits
Kyle Talbert

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.