...come play with us
by Stephanie Olmstead-Dean

October 4-6, 2002, at the Days Hotel of Timonium, Maryland, Intercon XVII brings the best of LARP to the Baltimore area! The first lineup of games will be announced shortly before Intercon-B [March 8th-10th, 2001 - ed], but so far the concom has received a number of great bids. There is room for more, so if you'd like to run a LARP at Intercon, by all means take advantage of the online form and bid today! Of course, if you just want to play, there's plenty of room for you, too - and early registrants (at or before Intercon-B) get a deep discount, at just $25 registration per person ($20 for LARPA members).

In lieu of discussion panels, Intercon XVII will be presenting workshops and roundtables. Tentatively scheduled for two hours in the mornings, the workshops will cover topics important to making a live action roleplaying game more realistic and believable - such as fantasy makeup, desktop publishing, padded weapons and improvisational acting. Roundtables will be open discussions, with a moderator to keep things on track, instead of a panel presenting its opinions to an audience, since in general any LARPer can learn from another, no matter how experienced.

Both Friday and Saturday evenings will feature parties, with themes to be determined by sponsors - sponsorship is still available for both parties, so contact intercon17@larpa.org if you would like more information! Each registrant for Intercon XVII can request two song titles to be played at some point during the parties. The Master of Ceremonies at each party will combine these songs with important reminders and announcements throughout each evening, creating an exciting personalized dance party for everyone!

But Intercon XVII isn't just about the LARPs running that weekend. It's about all LARP. Any GM who wants to promote an upcoming event or LARP-related product should take advantage of the opportunities available at Intercon XVII. Vendor tables are available in the expanded Con Suite, advertising in the program book is available for just $25 (or an equal value merchandise or registration), and sponsorship gets prominent placement in the Con Suite, Parties, and the Program Book. Players remember what they see and hear at Intercon, so make sure they hear about your event!

Intercon XVII is being organized by Intercon of the Baltimore-Washington Area (INTERCON-BWA) in association with LARPA. Meetings are held at the Tastee Diner in Silver Spring, Maryland, and are open to anyone who wants to lend a hand! The Co-Chairs are Stephanie Olmstead-Dean and Adrienne Amerman. Stephanie, who has run or assisted with about ten Intercons so far, is being joined this year by Adrienne, who was Con Suite coordinator at Intercon XVII and is the co-creator of the 1936:Horror Campaign. With the able assistance of concom members Deb Davis, Scott Mohnkern, Shelly Mohnkern, Gordon Olmstead-Dean, Dave Coleman, Dave Clarkson, Laura Quimby, Earl Miller, Kate Bunting, Ben Llewellyn, David Lichtenstein, Eric Smith, Ken Brown, Kreg Segall, Tom Lotze, Eve Jones, and others, they hope to organize a weekend that is fun-filled and exciting to both new and experienced roleplayers.

Intercon XVII is dedicated to finding some of the best, most innovative, diverse, and exciting LARPs produced. If you enjoy live roleplaying, you'll want to be part of Intercon XVII. Register today! http://www.larpa.org/intercon/xvii