Intercon
Intercon
- Location
- various (east coast)
- Focus
- LARP
- Established
- March 1986
- Website
- [various]
Mission statement
Intercon LARP conventions are intended to promote live-action role playing. Generally, Intercon conventions occur over a weekend and comprise LARP events of varying lengths, typically "one-shots" and, typically theatre-style LARPs. Intercon conventions also provide social opportunities for meeting fellow LARPers and information about LARP and related events elsewhere. Some conventions include panels and seminars on the practice and issues with LARP. Many have had some kind of "Build Your Own Game" event, where a LARP is created from scratch for playing later in the weekend.
History
In 1982, the Harvard Society for Interactive Literature, later just SIL, was formed. This group, along with the MIT Assassins' Guild, was one of the original groups doing theatre-style LARP. In 1986, they held their first convention, SiLicon I, and would soon produce a magazine, Metagame Magazine, the first LARP magazine anywhere. SiLicon would move from the Boston area down the east coast to the Baltimore area with the intention of finding a stable venue.
However, organizational issues resulted in the fracturing of SIL and the creation of the Interactive Literature Foundation (ILF) that would continue to produce all-LARP conventions, the next one being in New Jersey. However, logistical difficulties kept most of the next several conventions in the early '90s close to or in Maryland.
At that time, the conventions consisted almost entirely of full-weekend LARPs, that being the state of the art at the time. In 1992, Intercon 7.5 was the first convention with all shorter-form LARPs, which proved to be popular. Intercon 9.5, in 1994, was basically indistinguishable from Intercon conventions today. Intercon conventions in the late 90s soon provided a stable set of short-form LARPs and the opportunities for community and networking that a convention provides. Meanwhile, full-length theatre-style LARPs continued in other venues.
In 1998, an Intercon convention, Intercon the Thirteenth, returned to the Boston area. This turned out to be a wise move as full-length LARP was becoming less popular, while a number of strong campaign LARPs had swept the Baltimore area, reducing the player base for an Intercon convention there. On the other hand, the Boston area had a strong player base that was largely free of other, longer-form opportunities.
While the Boston-area convention was being established, logistical and financial difficulties in 2000, including the collapse of Metagame, led to the establishment of the Live Action Roleplayers Association (LARPA) which would license the Intercon name for all-LARP conventions, allowing local organizations to produce them. This would lead to another period of growth with two conventions: one in the Boston area and one in the Baltimore area, with the "annual" convention to be switched between them.
That success led to even more success and Intercon conventions were licensed in New Jersey, thanks to the efforts of two different groups there. For various reasons the New Jersey conventions ended quietly and, more recently, the Baltimore area convention is on hiatus.
| Convention | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| SiLicon I | Woburn, MA | 21-23 March ‘86 |
| SiLicon II | Danvers, MA | 27-29 March ‘87 |
| SiLicon 2.5† | New Jersey | Nov ‘87 |
| SiLicon III | Danvers, MA | 11-13 March ‘88 |
| SiLicon 3.5† | Morristown, NJ | 7-9 Oct ‘88 |
| SiLicon IV | Philadelphia, PA | 7-9 April ‘89 |
| SiLicon V | New Haven, CT | 6-8 April ‘90 |
| SiLicon VI | Annapolis, MD | 8-10 March ‘91 |
| Intercon VII | Edison, NJ | 13-15 March ‘92 |
| Intercon 7.5 | Fairfax, MD | 4-6 Dec ‘92 |
| Intercon VIII | Hunt Valley, MD | 12-14 March ‘93 |
| Intercon IX | Dulles, MD | 11-13 March ‘94 |
| Intercon 9.5 | Hunt Valley, MD | 7-10 Oct ‘94 |
| Intercon X | Ocean City, MD | 10-12 March ‘95 |
| Intercon 10.5 | Timonium, MD | 6-9 Oct ‘95 |
| Intercon XI | Timonium, MD | 1-3 March ‘96 |
| Intercon 11.5 | Mt. Laurel, NJ | 11-14 Oct ‘96 |
| Intercon XII | Hunt Valley, MD | 21-23 March ‘97 |
| Intercon 12.5 | Edison, NJ | 17-19 Oct ‘97 |
| Intercon XIII | Natick, MA | 13-15 March ‘98 |
| Intercon 13.5 | Timonium, MD | 2-4 Oct ‘98 |
| Intercon XIV | Natick, MA | 12-14 March ‘99 |
| Intercon 14.5 | Cherry Hill, NJ | 16-18 July ‘99 |
| Intercon Millennium | Timonium, MD | 31 Dec ‘99 - 2 Jan ‘00 |
| Intercon XV | Chelmsford, MA | 10-12 March ‘00 |
| Intercon 15.5 | Timonium, MD | 30 June - 2 Jul ‘00 |
| Intercon IAGO‡ (aka Intercon Millennium II) | Maryland | ‘00-’01 |
| Intercon A | Chelmsford, MA | 9-11 March ‘01 |
| Intercon XVI | Timonium, MD | 19-21 Oct ‘01 |
| Intercon B | Chelmsford, MA | 8-10 March ‘02 |
| Intercon XVII | Timonium, MD | 4-6 Oct ‘02 |
| Intercon C | Chelmsford, MA | 29 Feb - 2 March ‘03 |
| Intercon Gazebo (Intercon XVIII) | Piscataway, NJ | 13-15 July ‘03 |
| Intercon D* | Chelmsford, MA | 12-14 March ‘04 |
| Dexcon 7 (Intercon Northeast 2004) | East Brunswick, NJ | 14-18 July ‘04 |
| Intercon Mid-Atlantic 2004 | Timonium, MD | 8-10 Oct ‘04 |
| Intercon E | Chelmsford, MA | 4-6 March ‘05 |
| Dexcon 8 (Intercon Northeast 2005) | East Brunswick, NJ | 13-17 July ‘05 |
| Intercon Mid-Atlantic 2005 (Intercon XX) | New Castle, DE | 7-9 Oct ‘05 |
| Intercon F | Chelmsford, MA | 3-5 March ‘06 |
| Dexcon 9 (Intercon Northeast 2006) | East Brunswick, NJ | 12-16 July ‘06 |
| Intercon Mid-Atlantic 2006 (Intercon XXI) | Rehoboth, DE | 17-19 Nov ‘06 |
| Intercon G | Chelmsford, MA | 2-4 March ‘07 |
| Intercon Mid-Atlantic 2007 (Intercon XXII) | Rehoboth, DE | 16-18 Nov ‘07 |
| Intercon H | Chelmsford, MA | 29 Feb - 2 March ‘08 |
| Intercon Mid-Atlantic 2008 (Intercon XXIII) | Rehoboth, DE | 14-16 Nov ‘08 |
| Intercon I | Chelmsford, MA | 6-8 March ‘09 |
| Intercon Mid-Atlantic 2009‡ (Intercon XXIV) | Germantown, MD | 23-25 Oct ‘09 |
| Intercon J | Chelmsford, MA | 12-14 March ‘10 |
| Intercon K | Waltham, MA | 4-6 March ‘11 |
| Intercon L | Chelmsford, MA | 2-4 March ‘12 |
| Intercon Mid-Atlantic 2012‡ | Baltimore, MD | 5-7 Oct ‘12 |
| Intercon M | Chelmsford, MA | 1-3 March ‘13 |
| Intercon N | Chelmsford, MA | 27 February - 2 March 2015 |
| Intercon O | Chelmsford, MA | 26 February - 1 March 2015 |
| Intercon P | Westborough, MA | 18-21 February, 2016 |
| † Unofficial Convention | ||
| ‡ Cancelled | ||
| * Secretly Intercon XIX | ||