Stratregicon is a company that sponsors a trio of
gaming conventions in the
LAX area.
The conventions are held on President's Day weekend, Memorial Day weekend, and Labor Day weekend. While Labor Day and Memorial Day are national holidays, President's Day is not often offered as a paid holiday by employers.
Orccon is held over President's Day weekend. Attendees ofen refer to this as "big con" as this convention usually boasts the highest attendance due to the relative lack of competing events. Many vendors, such as representatives of FASA Corporation, only attend this convention. As a result of the high attendance, a person planning to attend this convention should register early and if planning to stay at the hotel, should also register for rooms early as well, to assure that you get the convention pricing.
Gamex is held over Memorial Day weekend. This con is affectionately referred to as "dead con" by those of us who choose to attend. Due to the many competing events over this weekend, including other conventions, the continuing of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire at Glen Helen Park in Devore, and various sporting and local events. This is not a good convention to attend for your first time as your impressions will be of a rather quiet and somewhat lackluster event. While hotel rooms are not likely to be booked up, there is a high likelihood that there will not be as wide a variety of events to participate in as with the other two Strategicon conventions.
Gateway is the third event and is held over Labor Day weekend. While this event isn't as quiet as Gamex, it also isn't as hectic as Orccon. This would be an excellent choice as a first gaming convention as there is a good chance that the game you'd like to play will be available, and there is also a good chance that you will not have extreme competition for the place in the game. While I advocate this as the best of the conventions for a first experience, don't let that stop you from attending the others, just keep in mind that each is different and has it's own personality.
Gaming events are broken up into four main departments: Computers, Roleplaying, Boardgaming, and Miniatures. Within these departments you'll find a plethora of events to choose from, and if you don't find it in the schedule, you can wander through the Open Gaming room and try to find or even start a session. Many of the games in Computers and Boardgaming are organized as tournaments, and the rules of these are listed in the convention booklet (available at the registration desk and often found abandoned throughout the gaming areas) or can be gotten through the staff of the relevant department.
Other events include a miniatures painting contest, sometimes a costume contest (they do not allow weapons or weapon facsimilies at any events), and various demonstrations.
Exhibitors in the Dealers' Room can include:
Special guests have included various authors and artists such as Larry Elmore.
For more information about the coming Strategicon events, go to www.strategicon.net