We certainly appreciate the offers for help guys...the fact of the matter is, we've been doing this since 1999. We've had help from dozens (if not hundreds) of people in the past including a professional publicity firm. The problem is actually fairly simple. For the amount of space that CGE requires, we just don't generate enough revenue for the hotel that's hosting the event. What we really need is a "Plaza-like" hotel in the older part of Las Vegas with a little more space than what the Plaza has to offer. We've gone out there and looked ourselves and enlisted the help of the Las Vegas Convention Authority and haven't found the right place yet apparently. Each year we THINK we have found our new permanent home, but when all is said and done, there's always a problem and it generally stems from this hotel or that hotel attempting to take advantage of us in one way or another.

What sets CGE apart from other local shows is our museum and the alumni. Our museum display is the most comprehensive display of videogame historical items ANYWHERE in the world. We have dozens of items that can't be seen anywhere else. We can't afford to move our collection out of Las Vegas again. The support we've gotten from the alumni over the years has been so strong due to the relationships we've forged with many of them but also because most of them actually enjoy hanging out in Vegas for a weekend. The show pretty much has to remain in Las Vegas.

So if anyone knows of a place in Las Vegas that is near the strip and has 25,000+ square feet of convention space and is interested in filling about 400 hotel room nights for the weekend that will basically cover the cost of the convention space, by all means, please let us know.

All that we require to put on the show is that the show be able to pay it's own bills. We will not "pay" to put on the show and, quite frankly, we don't really like the idea of asking people to "donate" money so we can do it either. We're happy to accept any corporate sponsorship however. If any of you know of a company that would be interested in sponsoring the show, please put us in touch with each other.

Last but not least, please don't misunderstand me here. I'm not saying CGE is dead...it's not. We'll figure it out - we always do. It's just that for 2011, there isn't enough time and we don't currently have any concrete ideas as to where we could afford to go.


Sean Kelly
Organizer, Classic Gaming Expo