Kapcon 16 was Fantastic

Another year, another Kapcon. This was the second year that Debbie and I were in charge of Kapcon, and it was a great con to run. We kicked things off with pizza and drinks at Syn bar in Wellington on Friday night, a great casual evening (with delicious Hell’s pizza). We left early, having a drive home and an early start, but things were in full swing when we departed.

The number of GMs who offered to run games this year was great, and while a couple of arms were twisted to fill the few remaining spots in the timetable on the day, it was fantastic to have 90% of the timetable filled before the start of the convention.

The quality of games run at Kapcon this year was excellent, and this was reflected on the second day of the convention when a noticeable trend of people having a first choice for a game, followed by ‘anything – they all sound good’ coming through on the game selection forms.

Nick, Nasia, Katrina and Frank put together a brilliant 1930’s era LARP – ‘The Flight of the Hindenburg’, which ran on the Saturday night. 60 players spent an action, intrigue and politics filled night on the Hindenburg, mixing with aliens, a superhero, Nazis, a mummy, a werewolf, a vampire, a ghost, and lots of movie stars, politicians, businessmen, gangsters and other colourful characters. It was a highly successful LARP, and I look forward to hearing more stories of how people’s nights went (in person and over on NZRaG.com)

Evinshir games was present, with a huge display of boardgames and roleplaying products. There was a near-continuous stream of boardgames being played in the main room, and more than one con attendee walked out with a lighter wallet, but a pile of very reasonably priced games under their arm.

In the process of continually improving and adapting Kapcon, there were a few subtle changes this year. One of the more noticeable, and fun for me, was the hiring of a PA and wireless microphone. It made announcements, and GMs describing their games, much more audible. I must also confess that I do love playing to an audience when I have a mic in my hand. We also had colour coded forms to make paperwork easier, and a greater amount of information available to attendees about the schedule, what games they were in and so on, through the use of an oft-updated wall display of blurbs, the timetable, and the list of games, players and rooms for the upcoming round.

Once again a pizza run was done each day, and a candy bar was in operation, for the convenience and sustenance of attendees.

Numbers were very close to last year (final count pending, about 107). As Paul put it, Kapcon’s recent attendance has stabilised at 100 plus 2d10. Kapcon managed its goal of being a non-profit convention, with expenses coming incredibly close to income – closer than I had thought possible to zero.

We are passing the torch onto Paul this year – just as Scott passed it to Debbie and me, and Luke and Sam passed it to Scott before that, and so on. Scott, Luke and Sam were all still heavily involved in Kapcon this year, and will continue to be over the coming years I expect. Debbie and I will also continue to be involved in the running of Kapcon, helping Paul (and Zac, I believe) to make Kapcon the best convention it can possibly be. We all have a lot of love for this convention, a strong will to see it flourish, and a firm belief that Kapcon is a damn good way to spend a weekend. Thank you to everyone who made the weekend possible, those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, GMs who ran games, players who played in them, everyone who had a hand in Kapcon’s success.

My verdict? Kapcon 16 was a blast, a roaring success, and I can’t wait for Kapcon 17, in 2008.

I look forward to seeing you all there,

Matt Cowens
Kapcon Committee Leader, Kapcon 15 and 16