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If you are interested in hosting a Minicon, Megacon, or Debate Night, or have any questions, please feel free to contact us at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Be sure to let us know if you are ECR (New York and Connecticut) or NER (Massachusetts and up)

What is a Minicon?

A minicon is a one day event hosted by a JSA chapter, usually at their school, in which other schools are invited to come and debate. Hosting a minicon is a great thing to do with your chapter for several reasons: it brings chapter togetherness, it is good practice for debating, it is a great chapter fundraiser, and it brings publicity to your chapter, helping it grow.

Some alternative ideas to going about a minicon are hosting a “megacon” or “debate night”. A megacon is simply a minicon in which two or more schools host. This is especially good for smaller chapters who can not host a minicon on their own. A debate night is a minicon on a friday or saturday night with casual attire, rather than business attire. This is a fun alternative for people who want to do something a little different than the average minicon.

How do I do it?

When hosting a minicon there are several steps that must be taken.

1. Venue: Acquiring a venue is the first step to hosting a successful minicon. Talk to your teacher adviser, your school principal, and anyone who allocates rights to classroom space and weekend use, and work out a date. The date should be at least five to six weeks away, to allow time for proper planning. Be sure to talk to your region’s Vice Mayor to make sure that your date does not conflict with another event.
2. Dividing the Work: The work for a minicon should not solely be left on the Chapter President’s shoulders. Good positions to assign are a Conference Coordinator (in charge of making the agenda and scheduling the day), Director of Debate (in charge of the debate list and debater assignments),  Director of Logistics (in charge of directions to the venue, and lunch options), and the Director of Fundraising and Advertising (in charge of creating ides to fundraise for costs and getting information out to other chapters). Assigning responsibilities to members of your chapter makes the workload easier for you, and makes the overall event more successful. Be sure to check every once in a while and make sure everyone is doing their work.
3. Theme and Debate List: The next step to take is to write the theme and the debate list. The theme is a unifying topic which all of the debates and thought talks will fall into. Once a theme is decided, start writing your debate list. This is where your creativity comes into effect. The more original and interesting the debates at your minicon are, the more people will want to come. Be sure to have your debate list approved by your region’s Director(s) of Debate. Once the debate list is approved, have them put it on Debatenet so that people can begin to sign up for the debates.
4. Advertising your Minicon: Talk to your Vice Mayor and Director(s) of Minicons about ways to advertise. Get a chapter president contact list and email or call all of them, inviting their chapters to attend your conference. Create a facebook event for the minicon and have all the members of your chapter invite friends from other chapters. Be sure to publicize within your school as well, a minicon is a great way to expand your chapter.
5. Fundraiser: Having a fundraiser can be extremely beneficial for your chapter. One fundraiser you can have at your minicon is a bake sale, which is easy and can bring in a large amount of money for your chapter. Another fundraiser idea is a simple 5 dollars at the door charge. This isn’t as good though because it may deter others from attending. Feel free to come up with an original fundraiser for your minicon.
6. Final Preparations: About a week or two before your minicon occurs make sure that your debate list is filled out with debaters and moderators. If it isn’t full, contact your friends and chapter members and try to finish it off. If you still can’t fill all the spots, talk to your Vice Mayor and the Chapter Presidents you contacted to try to get people to debate. Finalize the agenda, and make sure it is easy to read and follow so that people who attend your event will know where to go at what times. Make sure each debate has a classroom to debate in, and the rooms are big enough. Make sure your fundraiser is fully planned out, and anything needed for it is ready to be there.
7. Precon: The Friday night before the minicon, or a couple days before, you should hold a “precon” in which all the officers for the minicon get together at someone’s house or another location, and get ready for the next day. Have all the agendas stapled, name tags ready, logistic plans figured out, and someone to open the building in the morning.

Things to Increase Your Minicon Attendance

There are several things which can increase the attendance of your minicon, besides just great advertising and an interesting debate list.. You can have a new or exciting special activity. A quiz bowl, mock trial, crisis scenario, master debater, or a new special activity of your own design can really set off the excitement for the minicon. You could also have a keynote speaker. A famous public icon in politics, a known face in business, or anyone people might want to hear speak, can easily draw a crowd. Anything else unique that will put a spin on your minicon and make it stand out from the crowd will easily make your minicon highly successful.