ROFLCon is a biennial convention of Internet meme

Internet meme

The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...

s that first took place April 25–26, 2008, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

. The meeting was first announced in late 2007.

Various Net celebrities

Internet celebrity

An Internet celebrity, cyberstar or online celebrity is someone who has become famous by means of the Internet. Such fame is based less upon raw numbers, as with traditional media...

 attended, such as the authors of the webcomics xkcd

Xkcd

xkcd is a webcomic created by Randall Munroe. The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." It has been recognized in such mainstream media as The Guardian and The New York Times....

, Questionable Content

Questionable Content

Questionable Content is a slice-of-life webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques. It was launched on August 1, 2003. Jacques currently makes his living exclusively from QC merchandising and advertising, making him one of the few professional webcomic artists...

and Dinosaur comics

Dinosaur Comics

Dinosaur Comics is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on 1 February 2003, though there were earlier prototypes. Dinosaur Comics has also been printed in two collections and in a...

, Jay Maynard "The Tron Guy", moot

Christopher Poole

Christopher Poole is an American internet entrepreneur from New York City, noted for founding the websites 4chan and Canvas. He originally started 4chan anonymously, under the pseudonym moot .-Impact and activity:...

, Leeroy Jenkins

Leeroy Jenkins

Leeroy Jenkins, sometimes misspelled Leroy Jenkins and often elongated with numerous additional letters, is an Internet phenomenon named for a player character created by Ben Schulz in Blizzard Entertainment's MMORPG, World of Warcraft. The character became popular due to a video of the game that...

, The Brothers Chaps

The Brothers Chaps

The Brothers Chaps are Michael "Mike" Chapman and Matthew "Matt" Chapman, creators of the Homestar Runner series of animated cartoons. The brothers are originally from Indiana, but now live in Atlanta, Georgia.-Matthew Chapman:...

, and many others.

ROFLCon was organized by a group of students from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 led by Tim Hwang. According to Hwang, the inspiration for the conference was the September 23, 2007 meetup of fans of xkcd

Xkcd

xkcd is a webcomic created by Randall Munroe. The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." It has been recognized in such mainstream media as The Guardian and The New York Times....

with its creator

Randall Munroe

Randall Patrick Munroe is an American webcomic author and former NASA roboticist as well as a programmer, best known as the creator of the webcomic xkcd...

 in a park in North Cambridge, MA. The ROFLCon team spent months tracking down people associated with meme

Meme

A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...

s, but many of the invited guests did not attend.

Attendance was open to the public after pre-registration and a fee. The primary events of ROFLCon were moderated panel discussions with the Internet celebrities, and question and answer sessions with the audience. Several guest speakers gave talks on issues pertaining to internet culture. The convention ended with the ROFLConcert, featuring live performances by Group X

Gröûp X

Gröûp X is a faux Arabian rock band, claiming to be from the fictional village of Cramshananteen, Saudi Arabia. They play a mix of rap and rock. They are known for using comically accented and mangled English and a vaguely hostile attitude towards the United States and Americans...

, Leslie Hall

Leslie Hall

Leslie Merritt Hall is an American satirical rap artist and front-woman for the band Leslie and the LY's and the operator of a "gem sweater museum"....

, Lemon Demon, Trocadero

Trocadero (band)

Trocadero is an experimental rock band based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They are best recognized for providing several songs to the popular machinima series Red vs. Blue, including "Blood Gulch Blues", its theme song...

 and Denny Blaze

Denny Blaze

Denny Hazen, commonly known by his stage name Denny Blaze, The Average Homeboy and Blazin' Hazen, is an American rapper made famous for a demo tape produced in the late 1980s featuring his single "The Average Homeboy"...

.
In 2010, the conference took place from April 30 to May 1 at MIT. Passes were available from $45 for a student to $500 for a "Mystery Pass."