Author: Mike Young (---.cox.net)
Date: 02-24-2005 19:11
The venerable Sandy Antunes has generalized it as "games are sold by word of mouth," but the original Young's Law was "LARPs are sold by word of mouth."
One thing that our local LARP community does is something called "shameless plugs." At the end of a LARP, after the wrap, people who are also working on LARPs in the community are encouraged to get up in front of the group of players and advertise their games.
Some people do skits, some just stand and tell about their games, but the key is that it helps build a larp community from a bunch of diverse local games.
The key is, of course, reciprocity. If you are allowed to plug your game at someone else's larp, you have to allow them the same courtesy. If there is a group that won't allow plugs, then they aren't really being part of a community and should be discouraged from plugging their games at other people's events. Harsh yes, but fair.
I've written extensively elsewhere on the best ways to plug your larp at events. Three key things:
1. Don't plug your event during runtime of another event. Instead focus on playing the event you're at. Show that you're a decent, supportive participant and that will give you a rep when you plug your larp.
2. Do NOT compare your larp to other larps, especially the one that you're at. Sure you may know that your larp is the best one out there, but your prospective customers may have different opinions. I once watched a guy lose over a hundred prospective players at once by starting his plug with, "you may have enjoyed this weekend, but if you want to play a *real* game..."
3. The ideal shameless plugs are entertaining, enlightening, and short. Keep the audience's attention, get the information out, and end it before you bore them. A good rule of thumb is less than 2 minutes for a skit, otherwise just give the salient details: name of larp, system, dates run, venues, cost, contact info, web address. Make sure you have some of your fliers with you as handouts.
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