RECON Overview
RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation.
For Everyone, The RECON community is a brilliant, social, and caring group of people who share a passion for making and playing games. Bringing everyone together creates opportunities for serendipity, both personal and professional.
On the business / creator side, the featured talks and workshops will explore the intersections of puzzle design, narrative, and technology, among many other topics.
For players, you’re getting a behind-the-scenes look at the artistry and technology that goes into games. Think of it as a view into the minds of the industry’s best creators.
The Content
Talks
All ticket holders get access to every talk. There are no tracks. Everyone is in the room sharing thoughts, questions, and answers. RECON talks are crafted to enhance your understanding of the industry and to empower you to help it thrive, whether you are an experienced creator, owner, supporter, or consumer.
At RECON, our talks are different. We choose presenters specifically for their expertise in the subject matter, willingness to give back to the community, and stage presence. Every presenter is hand selected and supported by the RECON team to bring you an exemplary presentation relating to the convention theme. By collaborating with each speaker, we bring you a curated event.
Birds of a Feather
RECON is about sharing ideas. That’s why we’re putting together group discussions on different industry topics suggested by ticket holders. Each Birds of a Feather session is led by a facilitator who keeps the conversation lively and moving. Share your expert knowledge, ask your burning questions, and network with your peers in a casual, approachable, and fun conversation.
This is how we plan for serendipity. It sounds like an oxymoron. But it’s the truth. With this structure, you can give input on topics, and make the conversation yours.
The Experiences
RECON 24 features quintessential Los Angeles experiences…all coming on-site to our RECON venue.
Both experiences are included with your RECON ticket.
You will be scheduled into a session for each of these experiences. They will both take place during RECON. You will not miss any talks, Q&As or post-talk breakout sessions to participate in these experiences. They are fully integrated into the design and schedule of RECON.
Your pre-registration survey will help the RECON team book you into sessions that don’t conflict with your other interests (i.e. Birds of a Feather conversation topics) and give you the best opportunity to make lasting connections with other attendees.
With Imagi-Ne’er-Do-Wells, you get to participate in a Los Angeles immersive industry mainstay, shaping the experience with your creative ideas.
In contrast, The 49 Boxes run only occasionally for the general public, and those lucky enough to get tickets solve their way through a beautifully crafted game unlike any other. At RECON, we will run multiple smaller sessions of The 49 Boxes so that everyone gets to experience this otherwise elusive event.
The 49 Boxes
The 49 Boxes & The Magic of Floyd G. Thayer is a social, story-driven experience where audiences interact with incredible artifacts to solve mysteries kept secret for more than half a century. This doesn’t happens around you… it happens because of you. Learn more about The 49 Boxes.
Imagi-Ne'er-Do-Wells
The kooky concepts club for creative types. Each event features a surprise creative prompt for players to invent a new experience and laugh with other weirdos as they attempt to do the same. Sharpies provided. Cocktails encouraged. Learn more about Imagi-Ne’er-Do-Wells.
More is yet to come.
The Community
RECON is about more than just the talks, games, and people on stage. It’s about making connections. We’re creating a space for conversation and sharing ideas. You are welcome to join any conversation. No, you’re invited to join.
If you believe in the future of this industry, as a creator, designer, player, blogger, supplier, supporter… or in any other way, you belong at RECON. We look forward to seeing you this summer!
RECON LA is Unique
- The event is an in-person, non-streamed event.
- Every talk is new, written specifically for RECON.
- The program has been curated so you learn through experiences and play. We bring you brilliant speakers, discussion groups, new experiences, and opportunities to play fantastic and unique immersive games.
- RECON isn’t about the people on stage; it’s about the industry as a whole and the people like you who make it thrive.
The RECON Commitment
RECON is committed to an industry that will produce high-quality experiences in a financially stable way for many years to come. At other events, you may have heard that you need expensive sets and complicated technology in order to succeed. While we feel that those aspects of escape rooms can be highly valuable, they don’t inherently make great escape room games. They are tools you can choose to use.
RECON presents options for where to focus your efforts, so that you can select which tools will enable you to create exceptional experiences, whether you are creating them in physical real-life spaces, in packages you mail, or as digital-only games. RECON guides the escape room conversation to a sustainable place for this industry – for players, creators, owners, and other types of experience designers.
