From the press release:
June 21st – 24th, Wyrd Con will host Tri Wyrd, their third annual convention at the Hilton Costa Mesa. Tri Wyrd is an interactive theater convention that combines a program of rich panels, presentations, and roundtable dialogues about the relationship between live participatory culture and transmedia storytelling across multiple platforms with an exciting lineup of LARPs, ARGs, pervasive games, and transmedia experiences.
This year’s Wyrd Con educational programming will include such esteemed panelists and designers as keynote speaker Jeff Gomez, Lance Weiler, Alison Norrington, Brian Seth Hurst, Jesse Albert, David J. Peterson, Esther Lim, Lizzie Stark, Nick Demartino, Mike Bonnifer, Scott Walker, Maria Alexander, Hal Hefner, Jenni Powell, Philip Gable, Brett Shefter and many others. Some on the exciting panels that will be featured at Tri Wyrd include Jeff Gomez’s Keynote “Dreaming Real” on Saturday June 23rd from 10 AM to 11:30 AM. Jeff will be speaking on five panels on various topics such as transmedia storytelling, world-building techniques, the importance of both LARPs and RPGs to personal development, and how the entertainment. As an added bonus to Tri Wyrd guests, he will also be running an exclusive One-on-One Mentoring Workshop on Sunday June 24th.
Interesting in enhancing your story world with a unique language. David J. Peterson, designer of the Dothraki language for HBO’s award winning series Game of Thrones will be running a language building workshop on Friday June 22nd from 8 PM to 10 PM. Additional panel discussions and presentations will center around transmedia storytelling, Alternate Reality Gaming (ARG), the use of cross-platform technology in storytelling, combined social media and live interactive narratives, participatory culture, education, Live Action Role Play (LARP), as well as prop and costume making workshops. For a full list of their educational panel and presentation programming, go to http://www.wyrdcon.com/programming/panelspresentations/.
Live participatory games and gaming experiences are also key elements of the Wyrd Con experience . Both traditional LARPs and new ARG’s as well as experimental pervasive games will engage people off all skill levels and interests. Such games and live-action events include a late night LARP designed by Susan Bell of LA Ghost Patrol titled “A Haunting in the Hotel”, an ongoing fantasy arcade game titled “Tomb of the Goblin” that will be running throughout the course of Tri Wyrd, and “Belegarth”, a fast paced full contact combat LARP.
Tri Wyrd’s event programming begins with a themed cocktail party on Thursday June 21st from 7 PM to 10 PM. Here guests will be able to mingle with the designers and event presenters that will be featured throughout the four days of the event. In addition drinks and dessert will be served. Additional special events include a Dance of the Dead, costume and prop contests, film screenings.
About Wyrd Con:
Wyrd Con is an interactive theater convention that brings together a program of rich panels, presentations, and roundtable dialogues about the relationship between live participatory culture and transmedia storytelling across multiple platforms with an exciting lineup of LARP’s, ARG’s, pervasive games, and transmedia experiences. If you have ever had a desire to solve the mystery, fight the enemy, or experience a world that mixes theater, costuming, create storyworlds and interact with all of the story worlds you have heard of from Anime, History, or Science Fiction, then Wyrd Con is the place to be.
Wyrd Con also strives to educate others in the concept and applications of Interactive Theater. This knowledge can be applied to daily life in a variety of ways, from personally interacting to understand different roles in situations, to developing innovative interactive worlds, and even training to gain confidence and grow as a leader. Much of our programming discusses how different interactive narrative threads can have differing psychological effects on the participants; expand a storyline to other media and market concepts to generate new opportunities. Education is central to us, as it allows every participant to better understand, as well as convey the story in the most intimately interactive way possible. Please visit us online at www.wyrdcon.com.
