Origins is the second largest American gaming convention. It is not the oldest (I believe that DunDraCon holds that honor). Last year Origins had well over 3000 official events, 13,000 attendees, a small art show, a large dealer's room with demo areas and computer-game-playing areas, video room, tournaments galore, and round-the-clock gaming for 4 days. The War College does the military strategy stuff, there is miniature warfare, a host of train/empire games, traditional board games (Scrabble!), oodles of card games, a handful of LARPs, lots of role-playing. It is a very general well-balanced convention. If you are in the industry, it is a great place to see people playing your games and the competition's games and eavesdrop on the players: what they like, what irritates them, where do the frustration/reward levels synch.... If you aren't in the industry and just want to play, you can find almost any game or game system there. Carolly