MACE is a local convention in High Point, North Carolina, USA.  The organizers are good people and it is a fun time.  Last year they ran a Game Chef style design contest* and they'll be repeating that this year.  If I understand the rules correctly, you need to register for the con to submit an entry.  The preliminary details are here.

The contest doesn't get rolling until 27 October, but I thought some advance warning might be helpful.

*Which I won, p0wning Jonathan Walton's hippie-Communist starvation dance opera entry by a narrow margin. 

What am I to make of this phrasing?

You can preregister free for this event (Registration is now Closed).  LINK HERE TO REGISTER. Only those that have preregistered for the con will be allowed to preregister.

Registration is closed until later this year. From the Gaming Pre-Registration site:
"Pre-Registration for games will open 10/1/2006 and Ends on 11/3/2006."

And the Iron Game Chef contest requires pre-registration for gaming to participate.

(It's hard to find the main site; start here:)
http://www.justusproductions.com/Mace.aspx

Thus, I think you'd pre-reg to get into the con ($25 or free for 12 hours of GMing), then pre-reg (for free) for this event.
Hope this helps;
David

Yahgh!  That's messed up.

If you're coming to MACE (and I hope you are), pre-register when you can.  Then write a game and strive for the coveted Iron MACE for free.

And notice the Custom Die, with YOUR NAME on it, for all pre-regs....

Hey! Wait a second! Do we GMs get one?! I might pre-reg as a player, if not! *pout*
David

Hey all, just a bump here:  ROn's looking for more folks to register in advance for the event, so if you're at all interested, go sign up at the link that Jason dropped (I had Ron fix the page so that it's no longer misleading: Sign up as soon as you can).

Here's an announcement I've been dropping on area mailing lists in NC:
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So MACE, one of the premier local gaming cons, is going down something
fierce this year. You can find more and register over at the MACE
site here:
http://www.justusproductions.com/Mace.aspx

MACE is in High Point (about 40-60 minutes away from the Triangle,
depending on where you live and how fast you drive) from November 10-12.

Anyway, one fun component that I'm assisting with, that had success in
the past, is the MACE version of the "Iron Game Chef" contest. This
is originally a contest that I hold yearly over at www.game-chef.com
(entirely online). But for MACE, we're doing it locally for people who
live in the area and can presumably make it to the Con.

Basically, in Iron Game Chef (just like Iron Chef on TV) you're given
a number of 'ingredients' and told to make a 'dish' (here, a playable
RPG; doesn't have to be LONG. Doesn't have to be PRETTY. Just has to
be playable (and fun)). The ingredients in the past have been rules
about what you can or cannot use to make your game, from actual rules
to themes. Like, "Must be a fantasy game", or "Must use at least three
die types", or "Must use playing cards", etc. Sometimes there are
thematic "word" ingredients, like "CHASE: METAL: WIND: POPULATION;
Choose three of these four words and use them as concepts in your game".

It's really light and fun, and for folks that have always wanted to
try their hand at designing, it's an interesting little contest. This
year all participants (you have to register to join) will get two
weeks from the announcement of the ingredients until they have to turn
their games in on the first day of MACE.

This year, the contest rules are going to be very easy to encourage
people to join. Hopefully they will inspire people to put together a
fun, playable game. When you turn it in at MACE, it will get reviewed
by a panel of game designers and Con administrators, and you'll be
getting some helpful feedback that you can use if you want to move
forward and finish/publish it.

Anyway, if this sounds interesting/fun to you, please feel free to
give it a shot! Registration is free (you're expected to attend MACE,
though), and you can register here:
http://www.justusproductions.com/ironmace.aspx

Thanks- If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
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Oh! Well, if I can sign up for the event IN ADVANCE of registering for the con, I'm definitely in.