Intercon

LARPA works to encourage the production of several yearly conventions featuring live roleplaying events by experienced and brand-new groups.

Intercon is the trademark of LARPA, and is produced by independent local groups working in close cooperation with LARPA, and has consistently featured some of the best, most innovative, diverse, and exciting LARPs produced. If you enjoy live roleplaying, you won't want to miss Intercon.

There are three primary criteria for bidding an Intercon:

1) Your group must be reasonably representative of your community or area, and must be a general LARP gaming club or similar organization, not a company which sells a specific LARP product.

    The reason for this is simple. We don't want one group presenting Intercon as a high profit “roadshow,” nor do we want Intercon to become a staging ground for one corporation to demonstrate its products. We want companies that sell LARP products to be successful, and we like to work with them through sponsorship of Intercon, but we feel it's important that the community, not the vendors, “hold the keys to the car.” It is fine, and encouraged for Intercons to work with LARP companies to produce Intercon.

2) You must conduct an open bid process, inviting GMs in general to bid games for your con, and accepting a representative cross section of the quality bids you receive.

    Again the reason is simple. While everyone may love the “High Fantasy Live Comabat” Corporation, and enjoy its events, and while a full weekend of them might be a lot of fun, that isn't what Intercon is about. Intercon is a place for a cross section of games, where LARPers learn about other disciplines and events. Intercon should present a diverse menu of games, not the products of one or two groups! This doesn't mean HFLC couldn't have a lot of games at an Intercon, but others have to have a chance to bid games too!

    Important - Specifically you cannot exclude GMs from a specific group or groups that you don't like or have "political issues" with. Since it would be very embarassing to have to revoke an Intercon's license, we hope no-one would put LARPA in this embarassing position.

3) You must adhere, to LARPA's non-discrimination policies. We think most folks in the modern world would want to do this anyway, and have never had any problems with this. LARPA does not discriminate based on Race/Ethnicity, Gender, Religion, or Sexual Orientation.

Some Questions and Answers

Q: What is the Annual Convention?

A: There is always some interest in the Annual Convention of LARPA, which is generally signified by a roman numeral. Groups are welcome to bid for this convention, but you should be aware that running the Annual Convention requires a closer relationship with LARPA than a normal Intercon, because LARPA has greater need for a degree of control over its annual convention. "Closer relationship" tends to mean that LARPA will need more discretion in posting advertising, and will need some specific time set aside at the con for LARPA presentations, announcements, or meetings, at LARPA's discretion. This can be fun and rewarding, but local groups may find it frustrating if they are primarily interested in running a gaming con, and don't want to have to work closely with another group. If you think you might be interested in running the Annual Convention, please contact us through the link below.

Q: What if someone accuses my Convention of Violating LARPA's Policies?

A: LARPA has a very wide variety of GMs who are members.In general LARPA has a "hands off" attitude towards cons. We feel that most cons will be run diplomatically enough to avoid "he said/she said" accusations, but obviously such things happen. Regrettably there are some things we'd have to look into - specifically the open bid process. Between them LARPAs members have a great deal of knowledge and common sense, and are inclined to give successful conventions a wide "benefit of the doubt." We feel we have enough mature members to rather quickly reject any complaints that are badly founded, or are obviously political in nature. However in situations where there are repeated complaints, or complaints from groups that have good reputations with other Intercons and that appear well-founded, LARPA reserves the right to form a Committee to look into the situation, and either propose remedies, or if necessary reccomend termination of the license agreement. This has never been necessary and we don't think it's likely to be.

Q: What is the "Official" numbering/lettering scheme for Intercons?

A: The Annual Convention is "Intercon" followed by a number, usually shown as a Roman Numeral, though there are exceptions. Intercon XII, for example. Other intercons are numbered "anything else." During the 1990s, LARPA (then the ILF) ran fairly regular annual conventions numbered "Intercon 12.5" etc. However there are no official requirements or regulations, and a group which has licensed the Intercon name may come up with any scheme they feel is appropriate other than that used by the "Annual Convention," unless they have bid and been accepted as the hosts of the Annual Convention.

Q: Can a Game bid an Intercon

A: The answer is "yes and no." Often the staff of a local intercon may be largely homogenous with the staff of a given game. However the emphasis is on Convention running. You can't bid an Intercon that is designed to be for, by, and about your game, or group of games. We think that's a great idea it just isn't what Intercon is about. Likewise a company could not bid an Intercon, only for games they published. However, if your local group wants to act as hosts to put on a convention for everyone else, and is a reasonably broad and accessible group, you may have a lot of fun hosting an Intercon. Just remember that you will be hosting an Intercon for everyone and that your group is not the focus.

Q: Can Intercon Accept or Sell Advertising, etc.

A: Yes, every Intercon accepts and sells advertising, and may choose local groups to be its business partners. Again the emphasis is that no group holds a pre-eminent role to the exclusion of all others - though groups may be primary partners in production of the convention. In general Advertising opportunities at Intercon should be made available fairly across the LARP Community. That doesn't mean that you cannot give preferment to a group that has, say, donated $100 to the con, or supplied many prizes or volunteers, merely that the same or similar opportunities should be open to other groups willing to make the same level of commitment.

More Information:

Interested in running an Intercon - you can: contact us.

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