Date: 2009-03-23 18:32 Subject: Intercon Mid-Atlantic Bids open - $500 LARPA Contest Opens Security: Public

http://ima.larpaweb.net

The annual LARPA Small Games Contest is also open. To bid a contest game, please fill out the submission information and deadlines here:

http://www.ima.larpaweb.net/imawiki/index.php?title=Contest_Introduction

Two Top Prizes $200 and $300

Overall best will win $300, $200 for best in Category, Additional $100 top prize

Two category winners will receive $200 and the be eligible for best overall.

Categories

Games compete either in the 5-12 player category or the 12-24+ player category. Each category will have one $200 winner, and one of the winners will receive "best overall" for a total prize of $300. Games must have a flexibility of at least 6 players. So for example a game could be for 12-18 players, or 18-24 players. Games may be written with more characters than 24 available, provided all other criteria are also met. Games can be run privately for playtest purposes

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Date: 2009-01-29 01:27 Subject: John Updike is Dead Security: Public

This isn't news to the world.  John Updike died on Tuesday.  Many of my friends do not know this, or do not know what it means, but I am saddened.  So I will tell them a little.

Around 2002 I had a bitter argument online with a player and author about the use of non-genre media in LARP.  I made the point that my influences are not limited to the universe of action-adventure or genre SF, Fantasy, etc.  Many of my stories come from "mainstream" fiction.  I was inroduced to the concept of LARP through John Fowles novel The Magus where it takes the form of "Godgaming."

If you had asked me on monday to name the greatest living American author I would probably have named John Updike.  Of the men who formed the constellation of great names when I grew up, he is the last among the living.  Updike's name I associate with the like of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Norman Mailer, Bernard Malamud, John Steinbeck, Sinclair Lewis, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.  Mailer died two years ago, and I drank. 

Even his lesser contemporaries are mostly in the grave.  There are novelists who reached his ability but only in one or two books.  Ken Kesey, Joseph Heller, Hunter S. Thompson.

Philip Roth alone remains alive and I mean him no disrespect.  But I never warmed to Nathan Zuckerman the way I did.  J. D. Salinger is miraculously still alive (as far as we know).  His literary career ended the year I was born.  There is hope however.  Margaret Salinger says much of Salinger's unpublished work is marked for publication when he dies so...he may yet emerge as the true literary giant of our era.  I think not though.  Relevance is more important to a novelist now than in the year of my birth and I fear he will be an echo for academics a museum of his own past.  Salinger is a narcissist and to me it is narcissistic enough to be a novelist...he has compounded the sin.  Sad that, but his choice.  I think it's a shame he broke up with Joyce Maynard, but it gives me something to look forward to.

But...all that aside...

I came to Updike through Bech: A Book, and its sequels.  I had a Jewish girlfriend and was fascinated by all things Jewish, particularly Updike's alter ego Henry Bech.  I saw myself in him.  I saw mortality in him and most of all I learned a sense of proportion about ambition from him.  Updike will get a funeral...he was a Christian of sorts...but someone should sit shiva for Henry Bech.  I later pursued him through Couples, which taught me what to really expect from polyamory.  All the truths Heinlein glossed in Stranger in a Strange Land and Time Enough for Love.  My readings in Updike were eclectic.  If my friends know of him it is almost always through Witches of Eastwick (considered one of his lesser works).  Of all of his works I think the one which I most admire is The Coup which is probably much like admiring Shakespeare for Coriolanus.  I admit I never read the Rabbit  novels.  Someday maybe I will. 

Occasionally someone comes along that I honestly am a bit stricken by...there have been a lot of losses to the literary world lately.  I do not think they will be replaced.  I truly mean this.

There will be new and great artists.  But the novel is dying or dead.  The day when it is mostly a matter of desperation sales, adventure, and Oprah Winfrey is upon us.  I am not saying writing is dead.  But there will not be another John Updike just as the survival of John Williams and the existence of Orchestras or the importance of John Lennon or does not suggest there will ever be another Igor Stravinsky...there will be no new great classical composers...

There will be no new great American Novelists in the mold of the 20th century.  Updike was the last of the real titans.  I liked him.  He was unassuming, wrote prose spare enough to die for, and was comfortable with sex.

We shall not see his like again.

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Date: 2009-01-18 16:27 Subject: Repo - the Genetic Opera Security: Public

So I spent the weekend with Stephanie and she suggested a Saturday night entertainment.  She said REPO  was in town, and we should go see it.  I said "sure." 

I'd heard of Repo.  It had been brought to my attention because it concerned a dystopian future where they repossessed people’s personal organs, and that happened to vaguely match a plot I’d been writing for Threads of Damocles.   But Repo was a musical and I’m not that fond of musicals.  Also a number of people ranted and raved about it, and I’m not a big joiner.  Finally a friend who saw it wasn’t impressed by the “personal sell” element of the Road Tour.

But I didn’t have anything against it either, figured it would be amusing. 

So for people who don’t know the background, here’s the quick rundown.  Repo was an indie arts project playing in black box theatres, that managed to get a budget and a theatrical release as a project of Director Darren Lynn Bousman, best known for the  Saw franchise.  It’s a very SFX and squip heavy satire.  It’s impossible to really say what genre it is.  You could say roughly it fits into the dark musical genre associated with Assassins or Sweeny Todd.  But theatrically it shows more like Frank Miller’s Sin City, or other dark anime rendered into live action.  You might through Guillermo's Pan's Labyrinth in there too...but it's not serious, so that's a very weird divergence. 

I can understand why it's a marketing nightmare.  It's "Springtime for Hitler" level fucked up...like "Hey what if we made Pan's Labyrinth into a musical comedy."  It's the sort of thing that does well on stage but has a very fucking hard time getting in front of a film audience.

One paralell that has been invoked is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the roadshow adapts this framework, encouraging people to come out in costume.  Since the costumes include pretty hot looks for the girls, I’m generally okay with that.   For actual thematic similarity the closest thing I’ve ever seen to it was Brian De Palma’s 1974 Phantom of the Paradise.  In terms of feel and content, it struck me an awful lot like Frank Miller, but the universe complexity and themes really reminded me of  Mike Kaluta’s Starstruck (not the more recent Gaiman piece).   I think the feel may come somewhat from the fact that Starstruck was derived from an off-Broadway play by Elaine Lee, Norfleet Lee and Dale Place.   It’s darker and more “modern” than Starstruck of course, along the lines of Watchmen. 

At any rate, Repo flunked it’s test-screening badly and Lionsgate sent it straight to DVD.   It missed the mark largely because it was billed to the test audience as a horror vehicle by the Director of Saw II, and it’s not.  It’s not surprising that “Frank Miller as musical comedy” did not play well to that crowd.  It was a flop, and so like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil faced a huge issue getting released.

Theatres are sockets that studios put movies into to make money.   You pick the movies that are going to fill a 200 seat theatre to 200 people.  Not that are going to fill it to 50 people.   It’s true hype and advertising play a role.  But while I don’t agree it is the worst movie ever made, I can see it having real trouble finding a clear advertising method and an audience.  I’m not sure the people who went to see Sin City would like it, and I’m not sure who you’d sell it to.  One thing to understand about movies is just how fucking enormous releases are.  Sin City cost $40 million (a lot more than Repo’s 8m,) but grossed 158 million worldwide.  You can have a TV show, or Broadway show that a fuckload less people are interested in that is still very profitable.   Movies need a big audience to be anything other than arthouse films.  I suspect that Repo’s gore makes it hard to play in art houses like the Landmark E St. Cinema.  And frankly that’s a big drawback.  I can’t say “everybody is going to love this show,” because unlike say Sweeny Todd, if you are not okay with seeing human skin cut open and blood spurt out this is going to freak you right the fuck out.  It's not incredibly far afield in either tone or gore from Kill Bill, but it's a lot more fantastic and it's a musical.

At any rate, Director Darren Lynn Bousman and Writer Terrence Zdunich are touring around with lead Alexa Vega to try and generate a cult following.  Intentionally or not there's a sort of push for it as a new Rocky Horror, and they want to see a bigger big-screen release.  I think it’s a noble goal, and I doubt it’s really profiting Bousman, though it may be the best thing Zudnich can be doing for himself right now.  If you've read Terry Gilliam's The Battle for Brazil  you have some idea of how these things work. 

They make a good show and it’s fun and friendly.  People who know me know that I’m not big on actresses.  I don’t care much about them…my fandom stops with Ingrid Bergman, Myrna Loy, Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich.   A friend of mine got me half sold on Julie Christie.  But that’s about it.  That said, Alexa Vega kinda kicks ass.  She’s got a commanding personality which is not something you usually hear said about actresses.  When she takes charge, vocally, you actually feel it, and that’s sometimes very hard to do with a pretty girl especially one who’s playing young.  I’m gonna like the girl of course, it’s me, but she’s a cut above. 

I was pleased to meet them all where “meet” = seeing their presentation and passing about nine words in the lobby on the way to the gents.  All friendly words though.

So this film is not without talent.  The big names in the film other than Alexa Vega (who was in Spy Kids and is apparently now on Broadway in Hairspray) are Paris Hilton and Anthony Head (who played Giles on Buffy for folks like me not good with names). Paul Sorvino (Law and Order) rounds out the bill.

There's also apparently a cameo by Joan Jett though I missed it.

The music is pretty fucked up in a good way.  Sarah Brightman actually has a screen role as does Ogre of Skinny Puppy.  But I think a real chunk of the sell is the soundtrack. You’ve got David Lee Roth's in studio guitarist Brian Young, the frontman from Filter, the drummer from Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros, the rhythm guitarist from Guns n' Roses,  David J Haskins the bassist from Bauhaus and Daniel Ash of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets.  It also includes Ozzy's bassist Blasko, the drummer from Rob Zombie, POE ("Hey Pretty"), and Rami Jaffee, who has played with The Wallflowers, Foo Fighters, Soul Asylum and Pearl Jam. 

The producers were Yoshiki (who I've never heard of but is apparently big in Japan the way Elvis was big in the U.S.) and Joseph Bishara who produces Glenn Danzig, which kinda figures.

So what did I think of it?

Well…I did not walk out thinking “this is the greatest fucking movie ever made…I am obsessed with it.”   But I think it has the power to grow on you.  There’s a lot of rich complexity of the sort that you see in Pan’s Labyrinth that feels like there's a world behind it.  It feels strongly like it was made from a comic or graphic-novel media. 

The music was the same way.  It's complex and despite it all not all that catchy except for "Zydrate Anatomy."  Some of it really seems to suborn music for story which since it claims to be an opera you can't complain about.

But I think it grows on you.  It's rich and there's enough there for two watchings.  It's a fascinating world, and in the end you've only sort of licked the dark corners of it. 

I think it's destined to become a cult classic, though I doubt it will ever see a major theatrical release.  It's got some serious chops and if it seems a little scratchy in places, it's really beautiful in others.  And it draws you back.  Sin City was pretty, but I'll be damned if I remember more than one or two scenes. It was a comic book - bubblegum.  I suspect I'll remember Repo ten years from now in pretty good detail.

It's worth buying rather than pirating, and I'd strongly recommend it (out on DVD and Blu-Ray on the 20th).  It isn't often art is "something else" and Repo is definitely something else.

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Date: 2009-01-16 11:14 Subject: Not really a meme... Security: Public

As most people have probably gathered I do LJ memes approximately never.  I've recently become interested for reasons of personal reseach in the concept of the "Johari Window" 

According to Wikipedia:

A Johari window is a cognitive psychological tool created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 in the United States, used to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. It is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.

When performing the exercise, the subject is given a list of 55 adjectives and picks five or six that they feel describe their own personality. Peers of the subject are then given the same list, and each pick five or six adjectives that describe the subject. These adjectives are then mapped onto a grid.

Charles Handy calls this concept the Johari House with four rooms. Room 1 is the part of ourselves that we see and others see. Room 2 is the aspect that others see but we are not aware of. Room 3 is the most mysterious room in that the unconscious or subconscious bit of us is seen by neither ourselves nor others. Room 4 is our private space, which we know but keep from others.

This went around as an LJ meme about a year or more ago, and like most memes I bypassed it.  At any rate, while I don't tend to do memes I do occasionally comment on serious issues raised by my friends, so I've created a Johari window and a negative Nohari window, and I am interested in the input.

Just for what it's worth, I don't expect people to use identifiable names, don't care what they say, and won't take anything personally.  You can't really NOT be critical in the Nohari window.  I'm just curious about the results for purposes of research.  I tend to take all things pop-psychological as interesting, but superficial.  As an estimator I value roundhouse methods while recognizing they are an incomplete picture

At any rate, for anyone interested:

http://kevan.org/johari?view=James_dc
http://kevan.org/nohari?view=James_dc

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Date: 2008-11-21 11:02 Subject: Live Roleplaying Groups, Money, and Self-Destruction Security: Public

This morning's economic news came from Monty Python.  According to the Post:

OBAMA:  But I don't want to think I've not lost a Treasury Secretary, so much as... gained
    a bailout!
    [clap clap clap]
    For, since the tragic death of the economy--
PAULSON:  It's not quite dead!
OBAMA:  Since the near fatal wounding of the economy--
PAULSON:  It's getting better!
OBAMA:  For, since the economy, which, when it seemed about to recover,
    suddenly felt the icy hand of death upon it.
FEDERAL RESERVE:  Uugh!
HARRY REID:  Oh, it's died!

So...the best we can say about the economy is that it was coughing up blood late last night...

In that spirit, I'm going to reprint an article from back in 2002, during our last declared financial panic.  I think it was a good summary then, and holds up reasonably now.  I wasn't enchanted with the title, but mine was admittedly much more boring and the current title was put on it by Dave Coleman, then the Editor of the LARPer, and it is probably better than whatever I had (which may have been the subtitle)....


This article originally appeared at http://larper.larpaweb.net/no_work.html

January 2002, Volume 2, Issue 1

LARP in the Time of Cholera

Live Roleplaying Groups, Money, and Self-Destruction
by Gordon Olmstead-Dean

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with the Co-GM of my current campaign and figured out our current unemployment statistics. After a few moments with pen and paper, we came to the conclusion that about 18% of our regular contingent were currently unemployed, with about a quarter having expressed serious concern about being severed.

I shook my head, and began looking through our schedule…this game could move to a private venue we owned. This one we could cut the price on a little bit and offer more meals…and we could look towards running the season without any significant prop expenditures…we'd always borrowed where we didn't have to buy, and between that and my private stock, we could run the season till about next October on last year's properties…

"Maybe..." I said hopefully..."Things will be better by then."

My partner in crime began running games in the mid-nineties, and had never been through a recession. So I ordered another cup of coffee and launched into the dreaded old-timer's account.

I ran Live Roleplaying events through the `92 recession and lived to tell about it. So I told her what I was worried about.

( more musings about the spiralling economy )

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Date: 2008-11-18 00:29 Subject: LARPA Contest Winners! Security: Public

Intercon  Mid-Atlantic is over, and what a convention.   The company was great, the games were very good, and the weather stayed fairly warm if rainy.   The Con numbers never reached the usual levels, but you couldn't much tell from the party in the function space after hours.  People had fun, talked shop, danced, and generally had a good time.  I got several "best Intercon evar!" comments from people, and if we lacked a little in numbers we made up for it in quality of company and good spirits. 

We had some new faces this year and that was very exciting.  I got a chance to talk to a lot of the good people involved in producing the New England Convention about cross promoting, and pushing the Intercon name.  If IMA is going to have a growth year and be a good neighbor, we'll need help and everyone I asked for help was really forthcoming and willing to go the extra mile. 

I love IMA and I want it to keep its special feeling and characteristics, but it's time for us to grow again as well, and this weekend we roughed out a lot of the things that need to happen for IMA to move forward.  Contest Submissions will be much earlier this coming year so that at least a few tracks of good games are up by the time the New England Convention runs.

This year’s contest proved pretty exciting.  There was some real competition.  I should explain briefly that all games compete in two categories.  Technical Submission (a copy of the game submitted beforehand and read by judges) and Runtime Scores.  A game that does not complete it’s Technical Submission may still run and Receive Runtime Scores, but is unlikely to win Best Overall since its highest possible score will be 50%.  We also had a “Wildcard” category this year which only reflected Runtime.

This years winners were:

Gold - Best Overall - Time Travel Review Board by John D'Agosta, Susan Weiner, Nat Budin, Josh Rachlin
“Wildcard” – Best Runtime - Holiday Season by Mike Young
Gold – Best in Category – 6-12 Players – The Road Not Taken by Mike Young
Gold – Best in Category – 12-24 Players - Time Travel Review Board by John D'Agosta, Susan Weiner, Nat Budin, Josh Rachlin
Silver – 12-24 Players - Shangri-La by Tom Vorhies, Carol Young, Andrew Zorowitz and the Foam Brain Staff
Bronze – 12-24 Players - Finals by Christopher Buck, Emily Buck, Jennifer Buck, Elizabeth Mullen

I’m going to throw in a note here.  People who were at the Convention are aware that Road Not Taken won best 6-12, but also had no competition.  I think it’s worth mentioning that it was only beaten for Wildcard by Holiday Season by the same author, so clearly competition aside, it was a very worthy entry. 

I think all these games were very solid and very credible, and the spread on scores was close enough to make us feel that all the games were good competitors and that everyone put in a good effort.

The real winner is the rest of the LARP playing world.  There are now six new games in the GameBank, posted and ready to go!

http://www.larpaweb.net/gamebank-mainmenu-31

On a final note, I want to thank everyone who attended Intercon, and the people who worked hard to produce it, particularly Stephanie Olmstead-Dean, who handled the hotel, and con-suite, Meredith Peck who handled a lot of the admin work of the convention, and Mike Young who handled database issues.

I also want to thank the many people who came forward and made displays of generosity by donating to the Con and the Bar.  Many people went above and beyond the call of duty to help out in this difficult year, and we deeply appreciate that. 

Next stop – Intercon I!

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Date: 2008-11-12 15:03 Subject: Intercon Mid-Atlantic - almost upon us! Security: Public

So Intercon Mid-Atlantic is almost upon us.  With gas prices falling and the economy stuttering and Obama elected, reg has picked up a little.  More than I expected, honestly.  And there are a few more people in the wind, friends bringing undecideds who will either come at the last minute or not.  The games that are open now are probably going to have slots at the door, and the ones that were full already were.  I'm guessing we'll shuffle up to around 80, which has us down about 22%, which given the timing on our ass-kicking is not bad.  By the time people unfroze and decided they might be willing to travel again, IMA was just too close.

I'm looking forward to the weekend!  For once I have the latitude just to have fun and not worry that the con is going to lose a lot of money.   Effectively this Con is paid for by LARPWriting.org and Threads of Damocles.  Enjoy the bar!   This year for all it's failings IMA will be a good set of games and a good party.  I'm browsing through the attendance list, and except for a very few people who had some pre-existing conflict, we're mostly not missing the core people who we enjoy partying with and who make the Convention fun.  And IMA is still bigger than Threads, which is a great party.  So it's going to be a nice fun weekend, and I officially refuse to worry that the economy hurt us.  We're going to rock on, play games, have fun, and maybe learn something.  I'm thinking of running an informal roundtable track during the day, and seeing if anybody shows up if we actually have a TOPIC for our rambling daytime discussions.

Also I'll add that we've run a lot of discounts and slashed prices to try to help the games by getting more reg.  That was aimed at people who were hard hit. With GM comps, price reductions, etc., reg will cover about 35% of Con budget this year. I don't want to guilt anyone so I'll just remind my friends who work jobs as good or better than mine and are not starving that most of the Con is coming out of my pocket, so if you don't need to figure out how to pay nothing for the con, you know those little bits do help.  I don't mind and I won't complain, but everybody appreciates the person who kicks in for the party.

We'll turn that around next year, having gotten Threads up and making ends meet. 

We'll do a lot of things differently next year.  Next year will be Intercon 24, and we have some big plans for Intercon 25, and if that is going to happen we need to ramp up now.   We're moving back to the Baltimore-Washington area, expanding the Convention to include workshops and roundtables on Thursday, and finally adding a real workshop and panel track all weekend.  I'm expecting about twenty people the first year, and we'll go from there.

I've added an additional "WildCard" prize to the LARPA Small Games Contest this year, and that should make things interesting.  We've got three competitors for the 12-24 Category, but it's likely that the one micro entrant will win that category.   We have more entrants this year than ever before, and I'm happy about that.   Next year we are going to open Contest Game Bids before we open Regular Bids and may also offer a few more Categories.

I think if IMA is going to be the art and theory con, we need to be the art and theory Convention and that means really putting our money where our mouth is and provide a real programming track.  It will be lightly attended at first, but you can't grow something without planting a seed, and it's time.   We'll also move to a heavier promotional message.  IMA-2008 was intended to be a "coasting" con - run our usual numbers and usual crowd during what would arguably be the most intense and difficult year for the Threads Campaign.  With Threads beginning to run itself, I'll have more time to devote to IMA-2009 and to the twenty fifth anniversary in 2010.

As a side note, the 25th Anniversary of Theatre Style LARP passed without remark last year.  But I think in a lot of ways that's less of a landmark.  The SIL was founded as the Harvard SIL that year, but we know there was LARP before that, and there are murdery mystery events that go back as far, and Assassin games, etc.  So that was a landmark, but not really anniversary worthy.  I think that the beginning of SilIcon/Intercon in the United States is going to be a much more memorable date down the years.

So we'll worry about the future later

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Date: 2008-11-05 13:36 Subject: (Offtopic) Because people ask... Security: Public

No particular ideas on Defense other than Jack Reed.  I think you could do a lot worse than that.  Reed is a veteran with cred and a certified expert, who can work closely with Joe Biden, who is probably going to be the Defense/State guy.

Treasury is obviously going to be very important.  Bob Rubin has been talked about a lot as well as Paul Volcker.  My personal guess is going to be Timothy Geithner (President of the Federal Reserve Bank).  He's worked for Rubin, who may well end up as the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors rather than Secretary.  Geithner is already in the middle of the bailout, day-in/day-out and that's going to be enormously important.

the_smith_e asked what Warren Buffet wanted.  I'd guess if anything a role on the CEA.  I'd guess Rubin or Volcker for Chair though.

State is a big one.  Madelaine Albright has been suggested, but she's something like 72, and I just don't think she could keep up with the pace.  I think she'll be an advisor of some sort, but someone younger will take State.  You do not want the health complexities inherent in a 72 year old derailing the delicate processes State needs to be responsible for.  A good realistic choice is Greg Craig.  Colin Powell has been suggested, as has John Kerry.  I think if we see that sort of "dream team" pick it would be in this slot, but my money is going to go on Craig or somebody like him.

At this writing, as far as I know Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Illinois) is a given for Chief of Staff and should be announced shortly.

No strong feelings about the other slots...

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Date: 2008-11-04 10:28 Subject: Election Day Rants, IMA, and Leadership Posts - III - "Modular Structure" Security: Public

Intercon Mid-Atlantic is coming along. Reg has started to move up a little, which may go with the easing of the financial panic. There is some thought that the likely "blue" election day will settle things more and people will get a little less panicked about spending. If you still want to come, but were locked out of the room block, please contact me directly as we may be able to get you a room.

Election Day - I haven't digressed much about politics this year, because frankly it was a very close horse-race then a foregone conclusion. But a quick early evaluation. To pull off a win, McCain would need to get every solid vote he has, also claim every leaning vote he has, claim every single tossup vote in the country AND claim 18 electoral votes that are currently leaning Obama. I won't say that's impossible, but it would take a significant miracle...the only thing I see that could possible save McCain is a surprise upset in Pennsylvania. That still means he has to carry both Ohio AND Florida, but he could afford to slip in one other place...he could afford to lose one of GA, VA, NC, MO, and he could afford to lose the Dakotas and Montana.

Today in Leadership, we visit the topic of Modular structure...

---

The Modular Structure and some Pros and Cons

Despotism in LARP

During most of the 1990s it was put forward that LARP only worked as a Dictatorship.  The theory was that in order for a LARP to run well there had to be one tyrant who controlled everything with an iron fist.  ( More on Despotism and its alternatives... )

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Date: 2008-11-01 11:44 Subject: Make money on IMA - Leadership Posts - II Background A Security: Public

Intercon Mid-Atlantic will Pay you Money!

We're broadening the Intercon Economic Incentive Program, and you can make money!

We need to encourage people who are COMING to the con to push to fill up their car with people who can afford $35 to crash, eat, and drink for the entire weekend.   We're getting some response but it isn't enough. 

Get ten people to sign up for IMA, and show at the door.  Crash space or full hotel and $25 rate.  I will hand you a $100 bill at the door
Get five people to sign up for IMA and show at the door. Same deal and I will hand you a $50.

Sorry we can't quite do a $10 refund for "bring a friend" but coordinate...fill a car with people, come to the Con and get paid.

Just as a side note...every time we've been in tough financial times and been trying to hold out a hand to help, we get one or two people asking technical questions like "so if I bring my friend Bob and he shows up but leaves because he was really just coming to see his sister, does it count..."   My answer to all questions is, "we're fair, generous and trying to help.  Do well by us and we'll try to do well by you."

Now on to the next segment of the Leadership White Paper.  Remember you can read the full White Paper here.

II - Background – How Things Have Been and Are Now

We can’t move forward without a good grip on where we are now.  Some things about our current state are obvious.  Some others are known only to a few people who deal with them, or are “principles” which get enforced only because I enforce them. 

Structural Facts – How Threads is Organized

Most people see only a little of the organization of the game.  Even many writers do not deal with it in much detail, preferring to ask me for “yes” or “no” answers.  To act as leaders, we need to know why we do certain things, and how our structure is set up.

( Who's in charge, volunteers and more.... )

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Date: 2008-10-28 18:32 Subject: Leadership Posts - I Introduction Security: Public

Hey folks.  The GMs of Intercon Mid-Atlantic still need reg.  We've had a few new reg, but we really need to push the free crash space, the other deals.  Please push information about the Intercon Economic Incentive package out as far and wide as you can.  I wouldn't ask for myself, but the people who have bid games deserve good full audiences, and there are some events really hurting.  You can help.  You can offer to drive people.  With $10 crash space and $25 food, people can afford Intercon if they can get there.  Help me with that. 

Today I'm starting a modular release of my White Paper on Leadership in LARP groups.  You can read the whole paper at LARPWriting.org, but for people who want small, digestible bits, we're going to serialize it here.  While it was unashamedly written for the Threads of Damocles group, it has a larger significance.

Since it was released the most common response I've had is for someone to describe a basic business management model, and suggest that maybe instead of this hare-brained amateurish stuff we try doing it like the "real" folks do it.  It may be worth explaining that we began with a straight business model for LARP back in the 1990s and have evolved to this level of specialization.  I summed up the differences by saying: 

<i>Volunteer management and leadership on an NPO level does not work like real business leadership
Volunteer management on the organized suburban community/soccer mom level does not work like real NPO leadership
Volunteer management on the gamer-geek/LARP level does not work like organized suburban soccer mom leadership...

So once you pass through that filter...really the model we need is DRAMATICALLY different from a real business model. I've seen groups apply that model and seen them fail. Where they have worked it is only because people have carried out the pretense of that structure as an elaborate LARP while actually running on a much less sophisticated model. Where they have failed that structure typically shot the group in the foot, became a huge stumbling block it could not work around.

It's a great ideal to break the project down into blocks, etc., but that MUST happen along organic lines driven largely by the volunteers and personalities involved. If it doesn't, it's going to be a resounding failure.

What most business people want to build is a business structure that works if you fill it with people. That will, in no uncertain terms, fail. <i>

I - Introduction

This White Paper is intended to kick off a planned discussion on the future of leadership in Threads. It is long. I have tried not to repeat myself or use too many big words, but this is a big subject. If it seems I’m writing too much about it, consider the hours that many groups have spent miserable because of failed choices about leadership and ask…”is it too much to spend an hour reading to avoid weeks of misery and a failed campaign?” I figure it will take about two hours to read through the 45 pages of this discussion.

It isn't just a blueprint of leadership. It is a detailed discussion of every challenge and problem facing us. It presents a new model for production based on a "Free Market of Ideas."( More ideas... )

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Date: 2008-10-23 16:38 Subject: Intercon Economic Incentive Package Security: Public

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR GAME LISTS!!!

So every year, IMA reg is about 105. I suppose it could be bigger if we advertised more. It's true we're sort of the "best little-known secret of LARP." A small, quiet convention that is serving free food and booze at an incredibly cheap rate. But we like being the "thing you have to know about," and it's been a great place to run cool experimental work. Not trying to be snobby just figure you have to be around a few years to hear about IMA. We don't compete much with the Boston Convention.

I track registration. And I know when it should peak. The Con runs up to 70 and then during the period that would be the last two weeks

On the Day the stock Market first crashed, Intercon Reg was 70. It had been steadily gaining and was in the period where over about two and a half weeks it should run up to about 110, with a few drops taking us back to 105.

Today Intercon Reg is 71. The curve didn't just slump, it shattered. Never seen anything like it. Healthy, healthy...BAM!

The good news is, MOST OF THE GAMES HAVE MINIMUM. Most of the games are going to run, only a few are in danger, and there are players who haven't signed up yet. I think we're going to get everything run. I've been working on that.

But it's clear we need a larger solution. By now it is clear that this is not a normal time. This is not 1992. It may not be the Great Depression, but you may have to remember Nixon as a President to have been through worse. The solutions that worked to keep the con afloat in the last two recessions are not good enough now...THIS CALLS FOR MORE!

It's not clear to me that the crisis is really affecting our attendees all that much. But I suppose with people talking about staff cuts, people are reluctant to travel even if they don't actually have less money than they did last month.

I also understand that "it's the travel and the expense not the Con Reg."

But it's time for some "Economic Stimulus" of our own. This is a one time emergency provision to operate the Convention at a loss in order to make sure the LARPA Contest games run.

http://ima.larpaweb.net

1) The Con Rate is $25. If you paid $45 I will hand you a $20 at the door. I am resetting the rate. If you paid $25 I will hand you a $5 at the door. We are officially the cheapest place to eat and drink that weekend. PERIOD. You can hardly eat and drink at HOME for less than that.

2) We are creating "Crash Rooms" Crash space is $10 payable to me, per person. Rooms are going to be segregated into "Girls" "Boys" and "Couples." There is no guarantee of bed, it's "first come first served." That doesn't mean "get there and stake out a bed" it means the first four people who fall asleep get bed space. Bring a bedroll. If you can get to the con, we have space for you. So far that's $35 for the trip. TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!!!

3) PLEASE DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT DROP A ROOM RESERVATION. IF YOU DECIDE TO DROP YOUR ROOM CONTACT stephanie@vialarp.org. The Con may take over your room. (This doesn't mean we pay for your room, but we may use it for one of the crash space rooms). We realize that if people have a room and some room-mates bailed they may elect to go to the "Crash rooms"

4) Gas is fixing itself. Travel right now is cheaper than it has been at ANY POINT THIS SUMMER. Gas is the one thing declining. Pile into a car and COME TO INTERCON!!!!!

This is going to be a great Con and I don't want to see it ruined by bad Economic Timing. Come down and help us push Intercon that last 30!

We got food, we got soda, we got a bar...now we got crash space...Join us!

http://ima.larpaweb.net

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Date: 2008-10-20 22:03 Subject: Threads Leadership White Paper - Introduction Security: Public

I've put together a White Paper on plans to revise the Leadership and Production Model of Threads of Damocles. I think it has a lot of value to anyone running a sophisticated campaign with a genuine commitment to a broad-based leadership.
This White Paper is intended to kick off a planned discussion on the future of leadership in Threads. It is long. I have tried not to repeat myself or use too many big words, but this is a big subject. If it seems I’m writing too much about it, consider the hours that many groups have spent miserable because of failed choices about leadership and ask…”is it too much to spend an hour reading to avoid weeks of misery and a failed campaign?” I figure it will take about two hours to read through the 45 pages of this discussion.

It isn't just a blueprint of leadership. It is a detailed discussion of every challenge and problem facing us. It presents a new model for production based on a "Free Market of Ideas."

Despite jokes that are made at my expense and which I may indulge because I'm good natured. I do not write or talk because I like to hear my own voice. This has been hard work, and I have put a great deal of thought into it. I collected and in some cases invented the ideas and principles here because I think that the players and volunteers of this group deserve well thought out and reasoned leadership. I could have done many of these things unilaterally, but I chose to write them down for two reasons.

First I think that our group is made up of intelligent, educated, people who can easily read fifty pages, and understand it. The ideas in it are an attempt to crystalize much of what I have learned and observed into a form that others can benefit from.

And that leads to the second reason. I think the ideas and concepts presented in this document could benefit many campaigns and many writers, and as much as I want these ideas to benefit our group, I want our group to serve more than it already does as a model for other worthwhile endeavors in the future.( a bit more introductory explanation, and the links... )

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Date: 2008-10-14 02:33 Subject: Intercon Hotel Block Closing! Security: Public

Apologies if you receive this notice more than once, but it's impoirtant important (and apparently my spell checker is not working).

The deadline to reserve a hotel room in the Intercon Mid-Atlantic room block is tomorrow, 14 October 2008!

After that time there is no guarantee that you will be able to get a room at the reduced rates for IMA, or indeed, that you will be able to get a hotel room at all. November is actually a pretty busy month for the sites that stay open in Rehoboth Beach! I can't make more hotel rooms appear where they don't exist, so grab yours today while it's still available!

IMA 2008 room rates are $80/night single/double, $95/night triple, and $110/night quad, plus 8% tax. To make your hotel reservation, just call the Atlantic Sands Hotel at 800-422-0600 (302-227-2511 outside the U.S.), and be sure to mention Intercon. PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO'S PLANNING TO COME TO THE CONVENTION!

See you there, and thanks!

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Date: 2008-10-12 12:27 Subject: Real Risks to the World Security: Public

I've generally stuck to LARP here, but after my comments last week, I thought I'd add this article on "The Next World War? It Could be Financial" At the risk of upsetting people who think that ideology is something other than a dying entertainment for people who grew up in tents or Red States, I think this speaks more to the realities of current day warfare, and economics can drive instability that results in miltary adventurism.

I'll go one step further, providing a vague LARP link, and say that I think the current crisis, and its political issues are of interest for players following the political game in Threads. The political game is constructed largely by three or four lifelong Washingtonians including a guy who can't say what he does but knows military and political analysis better than your average bear. It's certainly worth keeping your eyes open...the Threads political game is not a simple "us/them" set of conflicts, and it will shape up considerably over the next six to eight months. Not everyone is involved, and we've worked hard to create a modular game where not caring or being interested in those plots does not leave you without interesting things to do. But it's there for people who are interested and entertained.

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Date: 2008-10-08 15:02 Subject: 6th Annual LARP Roast Security: Public

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Date: 2008-10-06 14:31 Subject: Writer's Block: Day of German Unity Security: Public Topics/Tags: cold war, german unity, writer's block

No.  I think that yearning for the Cold War is very similar to romanticizing the First or Second World War.  Great from a vantage point of watching movies and wanting an artificially simplified struggle, but not so great if you are dying at the Somme or Malmedy.  I spent most of my teen years growing up under the shadow of nuclear annihilation.  Was that reasonable?  Possibly not.  There is no well defined suggestion that the U.S. was in serious danger of a real nuclear war after 1962.  But we read about computer errors like the 1979 Exercise Tape and 1980 Computer Chip failures, and were concerned that a war might start accidentally.  We also knew that Soviet systems were technologically inferior to ours and that based on their WWII experience Soviet logicians might potentially consider a catastrophic nuclear war that broke U.S. military power a "win." 

When international tensions rose, we feared that there would be a catastrophic war brought about by human failure.  I don't think I was as prone to this as others, because I was very familiar with the Cuban Missile Crisis, and knew there were a lot of checks in the loop.  But that also meant I was aware of the potential for real misunderstandings, or simply a real conventional war.  I'd read Gen. Sir John Hackett's "The Third World War," illustrating a Fulda Gap invasion of Europe.  It was also conventional wisdom that if 3 or 4 "hotspots" ever detonated at once, it could trigger an international situation so completely chaotic that a nuclear attack might be expected.

There was tension there because all of us knew two things.  We were suburban kids, not survivalists, and we were not going to drive to cabins in West Virginia every time things looked a little rough.  None of us wanted to behave like imbeciles.  But at the same time we knew that realistically only people who guessed well which crisis would be the "big one" and got out of town were going to live.  We lived in the DC suburbs, and there was not going to be any "running away" after a war started.  In a way you hoped for the conventional war scenario, because that would give plenty of time to get out of town.  I'd planned to meet my friends in Austinville where my grandmother lived, which we felt might be a target because of the lead mines, but we also felt had a lot of mountain coverage that would contain a subsurface blast, so that even a blast that destroyed the mines would probably leave the area habitable.  

We hadn't worked these things out in detail but it was understood we might have to if "things got worse."  I was also the political kid and basically the person in my peer group that I think people counted on to tell them whether or not things were "bad enough" to warrant "doing something."  I never panicked or did anything stupid, but I think we did. Other people might have the bliss of thinking a blast would kill them outright, but we'd all read John Hersey's  "Hiroshima" and we knew that at extended range, most of us would live, and it was a coin toss depending on what was a target whether you'd die horribly or be stuck having to live in a world without infrastructure.   We knew the bombs were bigger than the Hiroshima blast, but we also knew a lot of them were subsurface penetrators, and smaller warheads...more accurate but less "beefy."  Only a small handful of "city busters" were supposed to be deployed. 

 

I'd just entered College when the Soviets shot down a KAL airliner for violating their airspace at Sakhalin Island.  I called my girlfriend of the time, and we had many hours of conversation.  We all agreed right then that things weren't "really bad" but that they might go south quickly and I made plans to leave school if the situation really deteriorated. 

I don't miss not responding to every international crisis by waking up thinking "is something going to start a nuclear war today, and if it does, is enough information going to leak out that I can second guess right, and not give a false alarm and make an ass of myself, but also actually successfully second guess and get out of the way.  Even if I do, will it be worth it?"

The nukes are still out there, but nobody seriously thinks they are going to be used.   At least not in a big way.  There's still Russia-Ukraine or Pakistan-India.  That's meant that there is more fighting in the world today.  Maybe the nukes were good.  They made everybody behave.  The U.S. would not have conducted a resource-motivated seizure of Iraq during the Cold War, nor would it have had to.  A lot of people in a lot of the world have lived in misery since the Soviet Empire fell apart and every two bit power can fight over the scraps.  But...I don't miss not living under the shadow of death, and I think if it came back, very few people around today would be happy about it.

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Date: 2008-10-05 10:50 Subject: Please Help! - IMA Games Beginning to Fill. Hotel Block Closes in Two Weeks! Security: Public

Hi folks. I don't send out mass mail very often or without good reason. IMA is entering the "serious" phase of reg now, with the hotel block closing in two weeks, and games beginning to fill or close to full. If you are a GM, or a player on any LARP or gaming-related lists, Please pass along a note about IMA. You can cut and paste this, or make up your own promo note. This "word of mouth" helps more than anything else you can do for IMA and I deeply appreciate it:

Intercon Mid Atlantic 2008 - Nov 14-17, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

http://ima.larpaweb.net/

This year we have more function space than ever along with the traditional open bar and Con-Suite and Intercon parties! Don't you owe yourself one little vacation at the beach this year. Registration for games is open, and we have a great slate of games this year. Sign up now before our hotel room block fills. One game, Screwed, is already full and others are close to full.

The Intercon Party!
Two nights of Intercon Party. Open Bar provided in a convenient nearby hospitality suite by Threads of Damocles. Party till you drop! Dance, and a good selection of non-lame music.

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Date: 2008-09-21 23:03 Subject: A First Look at Lullaby of Broadway: Another Openin' Another Show Security: Public

Lullaby of Broadway: Another Openin' Another Show ran September 19-21, 2008 at the Days Hotel in Timonium Maryland. The game is credited to Interactivities Ink, but was largely a solo effort in writing by Mike Young with editing by Suzanne and Paul Wayner and others. Karl Musser ably assisted with onsite production. I'm not going to try to reproduce the full production credits here, as I'm sure Mike will post them to his blog shortly and if you aren't getting it on the Planet LARPA Feed you ought to be. I worked with Meredith Peck on Technical Crew and Cast.

I think before I talk about Lullaby, I ought to be honest about where I'm coming from in talking about it. I have a lot of respect for Mike Young as a producer and writer, and he's been in the game for years. But I admit I had concerns over this game, and I don't think they were unjustified. Solo work is always risky. The genre seemed...wonky...at best... Mike's 2006 Nightmare Before St. Patrick's Day can be fairly considered to have been a troubled event, and while Brassy's Men had high points, I'm on record as feeling in some areas that when it ended it had not yet achieved its full promise or conquered all the challenges that needs must face any campaign.

So this was an ambitious project, and I had concerns. I want to make that clear, because I don't want to come off as writing a very fluffy "positive" review.

Lullaby of Broadway: Another Openin' Another Show was in my personal opinion a first class production and a significant success. It ran well and on schedule, and would be a credit to any writer or producer. It was a pleasure to be a part of the production.

I'm not in any shape for a full length review here. I stayed up until 4:45 one morning, and about 6:45 the next, drinking and gossiping with various of the usual LARParati, and generally behaving badly. There were a lot of old faces I was happy to see again and some new folks I hope we'll see more of. It's been a long time since I burned the lights at the Days Hotel Timonium till the sun rose, and it brought back some happy memories.

The short version is that Lullaby combined a very structually sound framework with a successful genre concept.

I could muse a lot about the "theatrical LARP" sub genre. By this I mean LARP where the players assume theatrical roles and are empowered to take a very active director stance. I think there's a very strong tonal difference in a game where the player is associating the event with a threatrical production, whether or not they are playing an actor playing a character. Lullaby disposed of that unecessary complexity as have most theatrical LARPs, but keeps the feel...even if you aren't playing at being an actor, I think for most players theatrical LARP promotes a very strong feel of being able to "play the plot" rather than "win the game."

I'm still mulling what made Lullaby work so well, but I thought it was notably less rough than the 1997 Timonium run of Shakespeare's Lost Play. The 1997 SLP. was generally considered to be a very good run, but I think Lullaby is one of the smoothest theatrical LARPs I've seen. I certainly think that the success may be rooted in the fact that this was a very polished and technically competent game. Everything was prepared, playtested, and done in advance, and there was good cross checking and editing. That's certainly a very big plus. It may be no more than that Mike is a talented writer, producing the sort of material he excels at.

But I do tend to think despite being a strikingly proficient game technically - and I don't want to detract from that, there are probably other things that help. I think the audience of 2007 is more mature than the audience of 1997, and the general level of player sensibility higher. The art is more advanced overall. I also think that the musical genre is a good find. I think it allows for a certain ritualization that takes the focus away from the gamist "win win win" drive. It's hard to play Max Bialystock to "win." If it had been an old school theatre-style full length it would have been underplotted. But musicals are underplotted, that's the way the genre works. And for whatever reason it works in LARP.

I'm sure I'll have more observations later, but that's a quick first look. This was a well run production and I was pleased to be able to help with it.

The next run All That Jazz will be Oct 2-4, 2009. While the official calendar is not out yet, we know it will not conflict Threads or IMA. Signups will be open in a few weeks, and it is definitely worth checking out.

Greetings to everyone I got to meet, or renew ties with at Lullaby!

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Date: 2008-08-19 13:59 Subject: Phoenix and the Russia-Georgia War Security: Public

So back in 1996-97, John Corrado, Jr. wrote a set of games focusing on the concept of a crisia between two former elements of the Soviet Union

* "Phoenix" by John Corrado, Jr., from 9 AM to 2 PM
June 14th, 2006
In Moscow, Russian President Alexi Rukovachev announces that he has proof that the rebellion group Svoboda is being housed, trained, and equipped at Ukrainian bases along the Russo-Ukrainian border. Thirteen divisions are redeployed to that border.

In Kiev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Boris Voyenney denies that his government has anything to do with Svoboda, and that it will not be intimidated by Russian posturing. Eight divisions are redeployed to the border. And in Washington, President McGrier calls an emergency meeting of the national security committee to try and figure out a way to avert what may soon be the first conventional war between two nuclear powers....

The structural similarities struck me in the past week...

Who'd have thunk Georgia, instead, huh?

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