Combatcon in las vegas june 24-26.

Found this link on the Dag forum. Says the con is where 'History meets Fantasy'. Yo, we should contact them about getting some space and demonstrating our Thang. Heretic, Smithy, Demie, Knubbs, what d'ya think? Link to their webpage is below.

http://thecombatcon.com/

Konradr

Here's the info from their 'Vendor' page.

Quote :

Calling all Vendors and Exhibitors!

Don’t pass up this fantastic opportunity to showcase your wares and services in front of a teeming throng of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Steampunk, Horror and Pirate fans, not to mention families, martial artists, various unsuspecting tourists who’ve lost their way, and the occasional exuberant gambler looking for ways to spend his/her newly gotten money. Sign up now by contacting Bruce Sielaff at bruce_sielaff@yahoo.co.uk. But hurry, because space is limited and filling up fast!

A vendor application will be provided here soon. Meanwhile, here are some details.

Exhibit Space – each booth space is 10 x 10. You may request multiple spaces if you would like a larger area.

* Standard booth space: $100.00
* Superior booth space: $125.00
* Prime booth space: $150.00
* Skirted tables (6’ x 30”), includes 2 chairs : $80.00 per
* Extra Chairs: $10 per
* Electrical power: $20

Click Here for a map of the Vendor Hall.

We would probably need at least two if not three booth spaces and that's like $300. Maybe not doable, but kick it around, think about it, but we should make a decision quick.

What if each unit raised $50 to donate to the realm, and then each member had to put in $5 (thinking 30 members) that would make it. We could ask for $1 per practice to raise the $5 each. Something like that.

Konradr

i really like this konradr i will donate to it

i think this sounds awsome and one of the best ways to spread the word about DAG. I will help with this

I'd donate to it. Not sure how much at this point. Another thing to look at is volunteering to work it make it free admission

Great find, Konradr. Some of us may be interested/willing to come down and help out if you'd like. I'd give them a call and explain what you do to see what the pricing would be. You aren't really a vendor since you won't be making any money. You are an act/performance that includes audience participation so you help them to pull people in. Pitch yourselves properly as a national organization that would be willing to come, do demonstrations and allow people to try the game and you may get space for free. At least some of their key people are getting paid to do that.

That sounds good Isk. I'm not a very good talker, anyone want to do the phone work? Knubbs, Smithy? Demie? All of you are good face to face people. How about it?

Konradr

i can do it if you want

yeah this sounds like fun and would advertise dag like crazy... i'm sure there are people who don't even know we have a sport like this right here.. don't have any money but will do what i can just ask

Actually, isk, the Vendor page says "Vendor's and Exhibitors" True, we are not Vendors but probably exhibitors. I will email them. Isk, I'm going to use your definition that you put on your home page, the one that starts with

Quote :

The sword holds a powerful fascination...

in my email, if that is okay with you. I will change Bel to Dag, but I will include Belegarth further in my email when I address both games and give them the link to the Dag website as well as the Bel website for them to reference.

If they contact me back positively I will pass the info on to whomever wishes to be the phone contact person (Taco, knubbs??)

Konradr

I would tag Smithy as the point of contact as VP of the Chapter.

Smithy and Taco have been discussing it, if we do something like this, the quality of our weapons and garb needs to improve, and we'd definitely benefit from having weapons onsite available for sale if we are forced into a "vendor" license.

Taco could put some of his leather works up for sale.

Konradr

yeah the vending license for this thing is acutally cheaper than anime vegas so we might think about it.

Sounds like a fantastic idea. :]

I will gladly be the POC for this. I have already got a few ideas in mind. But like Phoxly said. Garb and weapon quality nedd to improve. We can and should discuss this on Saturday.

Konradr, you know you are welcome to use anything on our site, but thanks for letting me know you'll use it. If I can spin something else to help, just ask. Angmarth and others do GenCon every year along these exact lines. You would want weapons and garb allowed at the event to be tight. Check this video out for an idea of how they present it:
http://www.blip.tv/file/4103827

I sent emails to Jared, who seems to be the person in charge, and to Bruce who is in charge of the Vendor's, and is in the UK apparently. Here's is the first response I've gotten back and it is from Bruce:

Quote :

Hi Kurt,

Thanks for your interest in CombatCon 2011! We are currently in the process of working out the details of activities and scheduling. My own area of responsibility is vendor coordination, but I will make sure that Jared and the rest of the team take a look at your proposal and get back to you as soon as they are able. If you have any specific questions in the meantime, feel free to contact me.

Regards,
Bruce Sielaff
CombatCon 2011
Vendor Coordinator

This is the email I sent, originally I attached photos from Fool's raid, but having second thoughts about wether they would open up an email with attachments, I sent another copy today without said attachments and he responded right away:

Quote :

The sword holds a powerful fascination for many people, but with the coming of firearms they have generally disappeared from combat use. Today competitive swordplay is often limited to martial sports such as modern fencing and kendo, which, while excellent sports in their own right, neglect the complexities of group tactics and the variety of weapons on ancient battlefields. Dagorhir Battle Games, and their sister organization, Belegarth Medieval Combat Sports, fills this gap with a martial sport that uses stiff, foam padded approximations of medieval weapons and a very simple set of rules for an experience that is fast, challenging and addictive.

Hello, my name is Kurt Bowker and I recently found a link to your Combatcon that you will be holding in Las Vegas in June. I live in Las Vegas and am a member of a Medieval fighting group. We fight full contact with Foam weapons. We belong to Dagorhir, a fighting organization that has been around since 1977. The group is nationwide and was formed from a group who were inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Thus we are a mix of fantasy and Historical periods, languages and races; however, we are not a LARP. We don't have magic, we just fight full contact with Safely padded swords, maces, axes, spears, halbards, javelins, arrows, and shields. Our group has been around for 2 years now, and we fight every Saturday at a local park here in Las Vegas. We belong to the Realm of Barad'Dun and my unit is the War Wovles, and my fighting name is Konradr Greywolf and I am a Norse persona.

When I found your website listed in Dagorhir's national Forum, I thought it would be a great opportunity for our group to do a demonstration and increase membership. We would like to be a part, to demonstrate out fighting and to allow event goers the opportunity to fight with us.

For more information on Dagorhir, I refer you to www.dagorhir.com. We also fight with a sister organization called Belegarth, which has several groups in Utah. I refer you to their website at www.belegarth.com. For more information on us, including links to videos and photos of our events and practices, I refer you to our Forum https://baraddun.forumotion.net/.

I am sending this message again, removing the attachments since I'm not sure you would open something with attachments.

We are awaiting a response which I will direct to our Realm's point of contact which is the vice-president of our Realm. His name is Smithy and in our parlance, his title is Shepard of Barad'Dun and he is one of the Leaders of a unit called the Royal Army of Barad'Dun.

Sincerely,

Kurt Bowker a.k.a Konradr Greywolf, Leader of the War Wolves of Barad'Dun

If I get more responses via email I will let you know, otherwise I will PM Smithy Bruce's phone number and let him start up some dialogue with the man.

That's a nice Video clip from Gencon, thanks Isk.

Obviously we can't have everyone demonstrating at the site. So we will definatley use the most experienced people, the best talkers, the most passionate, and those who can get some nice photogenic garb together (I refer to Isk's video of the Angmarth guys) Also the best equipment, even if its personal equipment, to be used as loaners.

Konradr

Watching that Gencon, Belegarth demo video, how big would you guys say that demo area is? I'm sure its bigger than 10' by 10'. Would you say 20' by 20' or bigger?

If I have time, I will jump over to the Bel board or WiKi and see if I can contact Angmarth and ask them any pertinent info.

Konradr

The activities they are planning sound interesting, specially the 24 hour combat marathon for the michael j. fox foundation, and the garb fashion show!

http://thecombatcon.com/activities

Konradr

Okay guys the president of the group has contacted me, here's the email he sent me:

Quote :

Hi Kurt,



Thank you for your email. I think Combat Con is a perfect event for your organization to be represented at. We plan to have 600-1,000 people in attendance, consisting of a combination of martial artists, fans who have a interest in fighting, and fans who just have a general interest in the genres we're presenting. As you know, there's no larger stage than Vegas, so we plan to attract media, sponsors, industry leaders and a whole new base of potential students.

Please send me more information on the specifics of what you would like to do at Combat Con. Based on what you have said below it sounds like you will want to rent two vendor booths side by side (giving you a 20' x 10') and bring your equipment in so people can work and fight with you. I think our participants will really enjoy the opportunity to actually get in there and fight with you. Of course, you will need an additional liability waiver for each one, etc, but we can discuss the details of this later. Is this along the lines of what you were thinking?

Sincerely,
Jared Kirby

Smithy, run with this and contact this guy and tell him what we are about and what we intend to do. Here's his email address.

jaredkirby@hotmail.com

Drop him a line with your phone number and start the ball rolling.

Konradr

Smithy have you contacted these guys yet? Here's an email I recieved from the guy coordinating the vendors. He needs a response.

Quote :

Sorry for the delay - the vendor page is now live at http://thecombatcon.com/vendors/vendor-registration. I have reserved a space for Dagorhir, but do please fill out the application form and complete the fee payment process. As soon as I get all that, I will forward you confirmation. And do let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,
Bruce Sielaff
CombatCon 2011
Vendor Coordinator

Konradr

We could benefit from getting Belegarth officials like Par involved to see if they would want to come down. I"m not sure how into events Dag is, but Belegarth loves promotional events.

We are a Dagorhir realm and are promoting our realm as well as Dagorhir. As a side, I included Belegarth as a sister organization. Isk has offered to help with combatcon if we need and that is all the help we would need should we need it. Though reading some of Par comments on the Bel board, he does seem quite knowledgeable.

Here's the latest email from Jared:

Quote :

From: jaredkirby@hotmail.com

Hi Kurt,

I just wanted to follow up because I haven't heard from anyone since your email. With Vendor registration now open the spaces are filling up and I want to make sure you get the right space/area for this.

Or did you decide not to have a booth?

Take care,

Jared Kirby

If it rains I may not be interested in fighting this Saturday, but I would like to come out to practice to at least discuss this with the Shepherd. They obviously want us and we need to contact them and get the ball rolling.

I can donate at least $40 this coming payday to the Realm, maybe even sooner, in order to send in a deposit if neccessary. The tribunal needs to make a decision and we can move on it.

Konradr

Okay, boys and girls of Barad'Dun, this is the latest on Combatcon.

Yes they want us.

At present they can't offer us time in the demo ring because that time is currantly taken up by the 6 themed groups of the combatcon. Should there be time as we near june for vendor's he will keep us in mind. So we will be talking to peeps and inviting them to fight within our space. Our space will be two booth spaces, 10 by 20. which will be like the area we had at Rennfaire. So at most 4 or 5 on 5 fighting. Maybe two vets in with the rest being participants.

We are looking at getting one 'superior' booth space (next to the demo ring) and one standard booth space next to it. This will cost $250. We will need electricity which will cost $20. Everything else, we will provide ourselves. So we are looking at $270.00 and the sooner we can pay it (I can pay via paypal online) the better.

Next week I have my bonus check coming in and have asked my wife for $100. In addition, I will ask Kilanos to get the Realm funds that Surt was holding for us. I believe it to be $80, but could be wrong. We need the rest of you guys to donate what you can this weekend at practice so we can get a space next week. Whatever you can donate, please do so, little or big.

What is dontated will first go to the booth spaces and then for what we need for the demo. Rope, banners, flyers, business cards, a promo set up, manual of arms copies, etc. We should have a small table or two, one for promo's and one for you guys who want to sell stuff. We'll see about that later.

Me and Smithy will not be at practice, so whatever you can donate should go to knubbs or Demie to hold for us. Have them right up some kind of receipt for whatever you donate. Should neither of them be at practice, I will ask Templar to stand in for me and take donations and give out reciepts.

Lastly, the one bit of info I am waiting on before we decide to go ahead, is 'Vendor passes'. I'm still waiting to hear from them on how many people we can get in for our 'demo' and if it will cost us anyting extra.

Konradr