I have one last Immersion left, do you have contact details for this girl? I can ply her with Immersions and fliers.
On the topic of the larp convention, I think I’m going to go ahead and organise one. Stay tuned, more details later this week. 
Forgot to get contact details, but I see her on Tuesdays at orchestra practice.
Woo, yay, go Anna!
[quote=“IdiotSavant”][quote]START
- 10am to 12pm: larps A and B
LUNCH - 1pm to 3pm: larps C and D
AFTERNOON TEA - 5pm to 7pm: larps E and F
FINISH. Dinner and socialising? Or a big evening larp with everyone?[/quote]
Firstly, I think you need three hour sessions. If a game runs short, that’s fine - more time to costume for the next one. But if it runs long, people are screwed.
Secondly, the evening slot is the perfect place to run one large game rather than several smaller ones, which would also provide a unifying experience for the event.[/quote]
I think that 30-person larps can be done more quickly than 60-person ones. With fewer people they can go faster. 2 hours could be enough time, and if there are 1 hour gaps between then it gives time for overrun.
If they were all three hour then you’d be looking at:
START
- 9am to 12pm: larps A and B
LUNCH - 1pm to 4pm: larps C and D
AFTERNOON TEA - 4:30pm to 7:30pm: larps E and F
DINNER - 8:30-11:30: larp G (with everyone)
That seems pretty tight. I think a later start might be good, give more prep and meet-and-greet time in the morning. And that’s a late ending, it would put some people off.
Maybe 2.5 hour slots starting at 9:30 could work?
An additional overnight game at the end might be possible at Motu Moana (because bookings are for the day + night), for those crazy enough. Personally I’d be exhausted by then.
[quote=“Ryan Paddy”]
I think that 30-person larps can be done more quickly than 60-person ones. With fewer people they can go faster. 2 hours could be enough time, and if there are 1 hour gaps between then it gives time for overrun.[/quote]
I don’t know whether the number of people involved in a larp really has much effect on how long the larp will be. Giving people less stuff to do, or less time consuming stuff, would probably have more of an effect. The mini larps that were held at Kapcon this year had c. 10 people each and both ran comfortably in the three hour slots.
[quote=“Ryan Paddy”]If they were all three hour then you’d be looking at:
START
- 9am to 12pm: larps A and B
LUNCH - 1pm to 4pm: larps C and D
AFTERNOON TEA - 4:30pm to 7:30pm: larps E and F
DINNER - 8:30-11:30: larp G (with everyone)[/quote]
I was thinking 2 day streams and one evening one. So 10 - 13, 14 - 17, and 19 - 22 for the big game. Plenty of time for slippage.
I agree, trying to squeeze 4 three hour games into a day is difficult. It’s a perennial problem at kapCon, and one we have not yet found a solution for (well, cloning, but then we’d have to take over the world…)
I totally agree and both locations are part of my advertising strategy.
I think getting Immersion into school libraries will help and I’ve been working on that for the last 4 months. And I’ve been saying for years we have to hit the Armageddons, so I’m just going to organise it myself and do it this year.
So Motu Moana doesn’t hire out for a single day 
So either we hold a weekend event or finding a venue. I’m trying the latter option first.
[quote=“Anna K”]So Motu Moana doesn’t hire out for a single day
So either we hold a weekend event or finding a venue. I’m trying the latter option first.[/quote]
You could hire it for the weekend and run short larps on the Saturday and something like an all-day larp on the Sunday, as some people seem to keen for that. Then people could opt for just the first day, just the second day, or the crazy combination. Friday evening could be used for getting the venue set up and all the gear moved.
[quote=“Anna K”]So Motu Moana doesn’t hire out for a single day
So either we hold a weekend event or finding a venue. I’m trying the latter option first.[/quote]
If its the only affordable venue you can get, see if you can glom together with another group who wants to use it for the second day.
You know, this really sucks. I had my heart set on Motu Moana. 
Book the weekend. Surely one of these fantasy larps in the making can use the Sunday? Or Serenity, Stargate, etc?
This is fine, even if we only use it for one day.
But I’m sure something will fill Sunday. And this way people have the option of staying over.
[quote=“Ryan Paddy”]
But I’m sure something will fill Sunday. And this way people have the option of staying over.[/quote]
Which might help attract out of towners…
You could plan a one-day St Wolfgang’s Vampire Hunters for Sunday. That way you can be sure of a good turnout (because it’s a popular campaign), and you don’t have to ask around and rely on another organiser to put on a day game.
On the downside, you’d be organising both a con and a day game on the same weekend which might threaten burnout.
Or you could see if someone can put together a seperate one-day tabletop RPG event on the second day, just to help cover the costs.
What is it with per-head venue costs? Can’t they just charge a fixed fee?
Whilst doing Honours at uni, so yeah, burnout/nervous breakdown is a distinct possibility. Unless I farmed the work out to the other three GMs and just did logistics (“just” logisitics, lol)
Hmmm. I’ll talk to Tigger tonight, see what he thinks.
[quote=“IdiotSavant”]Or you could see if someone can put together a seperate one-day tabletop RPG event on the second day, just to help cover the costs.
What is it with per-head venue costs? Can’t they just charge a fixed fee?[/quote]
Ah, the hilarity of scout camps in the AUckland region. It’s a per head cost with a minimum of 35 people (so if less then 35 people turn up, you’re still paying for 35). Over and above 35 people, you’re paying the per head cost per head.
Then again, I think Motu Moana charge per head that sleeps at the camp. I’m not sure how they’d treat a whole troupe of daytrippers. I’ll ring them up tomorrow and have a long chat on how this can be worked. Once I have a forecasted cost for the venue hire, I should be able to see whether a con alone could fund it (unlikely) and how much of a success the Sunday event is going to have to be. Or we could run a Friday evening event too - IdiotSavant linked me to the game materials for “Breakout Day” which is another successful KapCon larp, also known as “The Call Centre of Cthulhu” and there’s a dedicated Cthulhu gaming sect in Auckland, so that might score us some income as well.
Motu Moana is still my first choice, especially since if we do end up having to take it for the entire weekend, we are able to offer cheap/free accomodation for out of towners which might lure us some new faces to game with.
I’ll post again tomorrow after I’ve chatted to Motu Moana, since then we’ll have numbers and be able to make choices as opposed to just speculation.
Thanks to everyone who has given me advice or input on this, I really do appreciate it, especially Ryan and IdiotSavant.
Depedning on date, day 2 of this larp con (what was the name again?) might be a good Orkland launch for Sundereth.
Sundereth is already undergoing it’s first version change but should be play testing by March, tweaked & ready for deployment in by April.
What do you think Anna? That would probably solve the burnout issues for organisers, & solve my gear logistics issues…
I am sure I could help if you want Jared. Would make it easier if I could Convert Karina to the Darklside of LARP it would be easier though…
The News:
I’ve had a long conversation with Motu Moana, and they’re letting us have the place for the weekend for $800. That’s from Friday evening to Sunday 4pm. They only charge per head that sleeps there with a minimum of 35, but they said we could have as many people there during the day as we want.
It’s a strange, strange system, but it is what it is. So the upshot is, I had us pencilled in for 22nd-24th August.
(Motu Moana Lady: “En-Zed-El-Ay-Ar-Pee-Es? We had you guys here not long ago, didn’t we?” Me: “We go there a lot.” MM Lady: “And you do this…live improv thing?” Me: “We’re a strange but harmless bunch.”)