How to promote larping

Community Larp discussion
#1

This weekend at Jade Empire we had a situation when a bunch of us players were returning along the beach from encounter to the main camp. Suddenly behind us we heard “What the hell is this?!” Turning around, we discover a bunch of teenage girls at the beach staring at us. Cheryl said “I’m gonna do some PR”. I didn’t want to leave her alone there and so joined in. We chatted to the girls, told them about larping and what fun it is, about different larps out there, about our costumes, clan colours, and how we fight the bad ninjas, showed them spells and fireballs, did a bit of demonstration sparring, and eventually our guys came back down to collect us and we said good-buy and walked back to the camp.

Several ours later a bunch of teenagers turns up at the main gate of Awhitu camp, all wrapped in blue clothes, waving cloth balls: “We want to be ninjas and fight, look, we are wearing our clan colours, and we made magic potion balls!” I am glad that Derek took care of that and entertained them for some time, as the rest of us were collapsing in laughter, people asking Cheryl and me “What have you done?”

#2

Assuming they weren’t extracting the urine, that’s awesome :slight_smile: Did they actually want to come and play?

Viperion

#3

[quote=“Viperion”]Assuming they weren’t extracting the urine, that’s awesome :slight_smile: Did they actually want to come and play?

Viperion[/quote]

Yep, they were very keen. I invited them in and let them whack each other with rubber swords for half an hour and then shooed them off.

They turned up again later, after it was dark and helped be ninja ambushers.

#4

Instant crew!

#5

I was so asleep during this attack, though I did see the pictures!

#6

In the spirit of Anna’s famous Chimera business cards …

I hereby propose the idea of printing ten bazillion NZLARPS/Diatribe business cards … (for certain values of bazillion, anyway)

  • supplies can be sent to affiliated larps/events, for distribution to new people &/or strangers
  • (smaller) supplies can be sent to individual members who want something concrete they can use to help recruit/pressgang friends

If people felt NZLARPS and Diatribe were somewhat separate, they could always be printed on opposite sides of the same card … but that’s a design decision for later in the process … and we do have some excellent Design talent in the community, so I don’t see that being a huge problem.

One could continue this concept somewhat, mirroring the “Street Team” initiatives some bands use to raise their profile, distributing event-specific posters/cards to interested members etc…

Anyhow, before I get caught with a bad case of feature creep …

[size=120]Does the concept of NZLARPS/Diatribe business cards that can be sent to sent to society Members and Event Organisers to assist in the promotion of larping seem like a good idea?[/size]

#7

If supplied with a collection of them, I would provide them to interested parties and new players attending the larps that I run. So yes, I think it is a good idea (after all, it took me 2 months to get on to joining Diatribe as I had forgotten the name after the first larp I had ever attended).

#8

Hell yes.

One of the games catnip is planning is a Wodehousian picnic. its running at Chimera, but we were planning an outdoor run in Wellington. Having something to hand to interested members of the public wondering why there are a bunch of people in 20’s costume stealing policeman’s helmets and so forth would be quite useful. Ditto for outdoor fighter’s practices.

#9

Instant crew![/quote]

Just add PR!

#10

I want some of these pronto, I have just about run out of the old NZLARPS business cards. One with Diatribe on would be good too.

I gave one to a guy yesterday, in fact.
But then, what else do you do when there is someone who is obviously wearing a sheet that is meant to be a toga and a blanket that is meant to be a cloak, on a bus, on the way to work, in the middle of a week?
As I got off the bus I slipped him an nzLARPS card and told him to check out the website. He looked at the card and said “I didn’t know there were larpers in NZ!” in an “that’s awesome” tone of voice. Expect a new recruit in Wellington, perhaps.

#11

LOL