MOAR GAMES PLZ OM NOM NOM

Intercon already has a bunch of games, but it is going to be the largest Intercon ever, and it needs more games!

From the con chairs:

Three hundred and twenty six LARPers. We always grow after signups
open, and today we already have more people than we have ever had at
an Intercon. Last year we had 320 at the actual con, and we're already
at 326. This is very exciting, but we need more games for all these
LARPers! We still have rooms available in every single slot, and we
want your games!

You can submit a bid here:
http://www.interactiveliterature.org/M/biddingAGame.php

Or email us at conchair@intercon-m.org to talk about what might work!
I am always happy to talk with GMs about their games. If you want to
run a game but don't have a game to run, talk to me! Creative Commons
is our friend!

In case you were on the fence about running something, consider this a friendly shove. :-)

Intercon First-Round Signups Open Today at 7 PM!

Today, Tuesday, November 27 at 7 PM EST, first-round sign-ups for Intercon M (March 1-3, 2013 in Chelmsford, MA) will open! Registered attendees (you have registered, right?) will be able to sign up for one game at that time.

"So You Want to be a GM" slides

At dinner after SLAW, several people expressed interest in the slides from the "So You Want to be a GM" seminar that Ariel Segall and I ran in the MIT Assassin's Guild, and I realized that I hadn't posted them here in a follow-up.

So, here are the "So You Want to be a GM" seminar slides.

One of the people I was talking with pointed out that the slides very much reflect the cultural particulars of LARPing at MIT, and wondered if other LARP-writing groups have similar documents. Does anyone here know of something like this in their own LARP group, or have pointers to similar things which are publicly available?

Intercon Precon Needs Panelists!

(tl;dr You should fill out the Precon Panelist Application survey. Deadline is Thursday, December 20, one week after game sign-ups are fully open.)


Taking off my Northeast LARP News blogger hat for a moment, and putting on my Intercon M Precon Chair hat, and quoting myself from the Precon schedule...

We've got an exciting slate of panels we're working on [in addition to the already-scheduled panels -ed.], and we're soliciting panelists! If you're interested in talking about...

• Writing Blurbs (aka "Your Blurb is Bad and You Should Feel Bad")
• "Boxing" a Game
• Stage & Fashion Makeup for LARP
• Basic LARP Design Tools (plot maps, brainstorming, diagramming, pacing timelines)
• Mechanics: What, When, Why, How to Design Them
• Gender and LARP
• Sexuality and LARP
• Creating a Community LARP Storage Closet and Database
• Kriegspiel: Wargames in LARP
• GMing with a Team and Staying Friends
• Information: How to Make It Flow, Control, and Track It
• High-Immersion LARP: Whately
• How to Run a Game Briefing/Wrap
• LARP in Education
• What Boffer LARP Can Teach Intercon
• Casting Your Game
• Combat/Conflict or Narrative?
• Intercon 101, or, Getting the Most Out of Your Intercon Experience (scheduled for 5p Friday)

...then you should fill out the Precon Panelist Application survey with your interests and availability so we can schedule the panels appropriately!

If you're interested in attending any of these panels, or the events below we've already scheduled, you should make plans to come to Precon!

The deadline is Thursday, December 20, one week after game sign-ups are fully open.

Already scheduled are:

• Jam and the Craft of Larp Manufacture -- Tony Mitton and Aaron Vanek debate whether LARPs are art.
• GMs are Bastards -- Sue Lee presents the sequel to Tony's "Players are Scum".
• Introduction to Nordic Larp -- Lizzie Stark and friends bring us a primer on the larp tradition we've all heard so much about (it's not just Jeepform!).
• Ars Amandi Presentation and Workshop -- Lizzie Stark reprises her workshop covering a technique for mechanicking physical intimacy in larp.
• Intercon 101 -- If it's your first or second year at the con, we'll talk about some strategies for getting the most out of your Intercon experience. (It's more than just 5-2-1!) (Although this is already scheduled, we're still looking for panelists for this.)
• EDIT 2012-11-05 16:56: We're also hosting an "Introductory Dance for LARP" workshop which I inexcusably left off the schedule until now due to an attack of brain-pixies. Come find out what to do in a LARP when the music starts and your partner bats their eyes at you!

We've got a couple other things in the works, including a panel on what Bidcomm is looking for in LARP bids for Intercon.

And, if you're interested in running something not listed here, please e-mail me at precon@intercon-m.org.

It is, I hope, going to be a really good Precon. If you're at all interested in any of these topics, you should plan to attend!

Intercon Schedule and Sign-Up Information Announced

From the Intercon M newsletter:

Schedule of Games

The Intercon schedule of games is now live! Begin planning your weekend now at http://www.interactiveliterature.org/M/Schedule.php

Game Sign-Ups
Game sign-ups this year will be staggered over three weeks as usual, but switching day of the week each time.

• 7pm Tuesday, November 27, registered attendees will be able to sign up for one game.
• 7pm Wednesday, December 5, registered attendees will be able to sign up for a second game.
• 7pm Thursday, December 13, registered attendees will have no limit on sign-ups!

Precon
The preliminary Precon schedule is up on the web site at http://interactiveliterature.org/M/Thursday.php. Lizzie Stark returns with her Ars Amandi workshop and an Introduction to Nordic Larp (it's more than just Jeepform!); Sue Lee continues Tony Mitton's "Players are Scum" with "GMs are Bastards"; and Tony himself brings us a discussion of whether LARPs are art, and why anyone should care.

We're also hosting an Intercon 101 panel on Friday at 5p, so if you're new to the con or have only recently joined our community, even if you can't come for all of Precon, show up a little early and drop in for some pointers on getting the most out of your experience. (Don't worry, you'll still have time to eat and change before your Friday evening game.)

Through discussion with the community and our own fevered imaginings, we've come up with a slate of panels, and we're actively recruiting panelists! If you're interested in talking about what Intercon games can learn from boffer LARPs, the intersection of gender and LARP, or a number of other topics, please fill out the survey at this link with your interests and availability!

Iron GM
Intercon M will be running an Iron GM competition! Up to four GM teams of one to four people will have 24 hours to write a game containing three secret elements. Players will play your game at Intercon on Sunday morning. Games will be judged, and the winning GM team will receive a cash prize! Please see the Iron GM page for more details.

Get a Room!
Have you reserved your hotel room yet? Call the Chelmsford Radisson at (978)256-0800 to reserve a room now. The group code is "Intercon." More information is available on our hotel page.

Game bids still wanted!
While the M game schedule looks awesome, we are still accepting game bids, especially for Saturday and Sunday mornings. Head on over to our bid form to bid a game!

Intercon M is March 1-3, 2013 (with Precon beginning February 28, 2013) at the Radisson Hotel and Suites in Chelmsford, MA.