TempleCon
Encyclopedia
History
TempleCon is a multi-genre retro-futurismRetro-futurism
Retro-futurism is a trend in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced prior to about 1960...
-themed gaming convention
Gaming convention
A gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...
held annually in Warwick, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. The first TempleCon occurred on January 27, 2006 at the Holiday Inn (now the Providence Hilton) in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. In May 2006, the staff relocated the venue of the 2007 event to the Westin Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. TempleCon 2007 was successfully held at that location, and nearly tripled the attendance from its first year. In 2008 and 2009, TempleCon was held at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Providence, RI. Due to a significant amount of attendance growth at the 2009 convention, TempleCon has since moved again to the convention-focused venue of the Crowne Plaza Hotel Providence-Warwick located in Warwick, Rhode Island, which hosted the event for the first time in 2010, and will host it again the weekend of February 4th, 5th, & 6th, 2011.
Currently in its sixth year, the organizers founded TempleCon in an attempt to offer a more organic, attendee-focused type of convention experience in contrast to that of the popular expo-focused events such as the Penny Arcade Expo
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo is a semi-annual gamer festival held in Seattle and Boston. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to console gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop...
or Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
. Rather than focusing on a commercial industry-driven event, TempleCon instead has fostered a "party-like" atmosphere aimed at mature gamers and non-gamers alike. In 2008, the organizers introduced a steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
theme to the convention, with the aim of eventually focusing primarily on steampunk-oriented games and events, as well as related performance, music, artwork and costuming. In 2009 this theme was greatly expanded to cover other forms of retro-futurism
Retro-futurism
Retro-futurism is a trend in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced prior to about 1960...
, and since then the event has expanded significantly in both size and scale in terms of serving this genre of speculative fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
.
Events and Focus
TempleCon typically covers all genres of electronic, non-electronic, casual, and hobby games. It has hosted a number of very high profile competitive events, including drawing the largest participant numbers in the world for the Privateer PressPrivateer Press
Privateer Press is an award-winning role-playing game and miniature wargame production and publishing studio founded in 2000 by Brian Snōddy, Matt Staroscik and Matt Wilson. Mike McVey joined the partnership early on as Miniatures Director...
published WARMACHINE
Warmachine
Warmachine is a tabletop steampunk wargame produced by Privateer Press.The game is played with white metal and plastic miniatures manufactured by Privateer Press representing military characters from the Iron Kingdoms D20 Role Playing Game setting...
and HORDES miniatures wargames
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
and the annual North American Diplomacy
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
Federation Grand Prix Tournament. TempleCon also features a large video gaming lounge with electronic gaming equipment including video gaming consoles, personal computers, and arcade games. The event has become a popular location for casual competition for players and teams of both fighting games and first person shooters who plan on competing in other professional events later in the year.
Guests
TempleCon also has hosted a number of guests of honor from both the gaming industry and literary community. Past guest artists, writers, and performers have included Lars Grant-WestLars Grant-West
Lars Grant-West is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.- Early life and education :Lars Grant-West was born in Brooklyn. He attended New York City's School of Visual Arts. As of 1997, he lives in North Scituate, Rhode Island...
, Dave Seeley, Cyril Van Der Haegen, Heather V. Kreiter, Rick Sardinha, Dan Brandt, Kevin Clark, Quinton Hoover, Geek Woman, Rebecca Guay, CJ & Erica Henderson, Leanna Renee Hieber, G.D. Falksen, Kelley Hensing, George Higham, Jason Soles, David Carl, Jack Coleman, Nicole Vega, Robert Tritthardt, Marc17, Anita Arora, The Rhode Island Pirate Players, Ela Rogers, Ameena, Troupe Moirae, Neylan, Tempest, Paloma, Samara, Rory Raven, Sasquatch and the Sick-a-billys, The Dirge Carolers, DJ Delicti, The Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, and The Penny Dreadfuls.
Guests for 2011 include writer G.D. Falksen, performance artists The Wandering Legion of the Thomas Tew, writer and game designer Jason Soles, game designer David Carl, writer Nicole Vega, writer Leanna Renee Hieber, artist Kelley Hensing, writer C.J. Henderson, writer Simon Berman, dancer Ameena, dancer Samara, dancer Baseema Moirae, dancer Neylan, dancer and designer Tempest, dancer Jaylee, dancer Samara, writer and mentalist Rory Raven, and artist Dr. Grimm.
Musical guests include The Gypsy Nomads, Psyche Corporation, Niki Luparelli and the Gold Diggers, Ocean Born Muse, DJ Atterlothe, and DJ Decay.