Con of the Rings is an annual gaming convention focused on The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, which is a Living Card Game (™) from Fantasy Flight Games. The gathering takes place each October in Roseville, MN at the GameZenter.
Con of the Rings is hosted by The Free Peoples of the North, a group of four (now five) long-time LOTR:LCG players from Minnesota. Con of the Rings was conceived in August 2017 when Mark (@Loophole) and John (@PeaceandThought) were traveling home from Gen Con. Knowing they would not be able to attend each year, they began laying plans for bringing the best of the LOTR:LCG Gen Con experience to Minnesota. After some initial delays, they met with Aaron (@fishbaugh) and Ben (@McDog3) in February 2018 to begin planning the initial convention.
Kickstarter was used to sell tickets in year one, and after a quick sellout, many community members volunteered their expertise in event planning, graphic design, manufacturing, and the like. Year two (2019) was likewise a sellout year, and Nick (@nbonnem) joined the Free Men of the North to assist in future planning.
Today, the Free Peoples of the North meet regularly to keep convention plans moving along for 2021 after COVID-19 led to the cancellation of the 2020 event. They are committed to making each year just a bit better than the year before and slowly growing the event while maintaining a commitment to a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. They communicate with the community through this website, the Con of the Rings Twitter account, on the #con-of-the-rings channel on Discord, and through a regular Mailchimp newsletter (which can be subscribed to on this site).
