Suggestions for the next Classic Gaming Expo (CGE)

[vectrexer]

While at CGE, and being a part of CGE, I noticed a few things I would like to see improved. This is not a complaint thread. Only things you want to see improved.

* Signage (with arrows) pointing to the Speakers / Auction room. There were three other conferences in the hotel at the time Both were big and two of them used rooms in the same hallways as our room. Signage would help the CGE attendees get to where they need to go, and get there on time.

* Signage pointing to the Swap Meet room for trading tables. When the door was open the room more obvious. But a lot of the time the door was closed an there was not sign for room's purpose. I heard more than a few asking where the room was too.

* Signage in the Speakers / Auction room with a list of times. Even if it is a whiteboard with hand written list. Having the list posted elsewhere was OK. But having the list inside the room would have been great too. That way the people attending the talks/movies/auction/etc can plan their time. The people giving the talks can also be reminded of their start/end times as well.

* A permanently available projector for the room. I brought my projector for use at CGE. But having to tear it down between talks was a little annoying. I appreciate CGE not wanting to have to replace a missing projector. Next time a Kensington lock needs to be there to keep the honest crowd, honest; and also keep CGE from sweating about equipment loss.

* A permanently available computer for various speaker / auction room uses. I brought out my laptop for the Ralph H. Baer video conference. Everything went okay considering the last minute setup of the system and the connectivity. But having a system in place for the whole show would be better. And yes, another Kensington lock needs to be on the computer to keep the honest crowd, honest. BTW,, we used a Dell D820 with Windows 7, a Microsoft USB camera and Life Cam driver, Skype software, AT&T Mercury USB Modem (Sierra Wireless Compass 885), and AT&T service to do the video conference with Ralph.

* A unbalanced audio miniature plug going to the mixer for the room audio. For the last server CGE's we have needed a miniature plug audio connection for the computer or for a DVD player and it was the same for CGE 2K10. Out makeshift solution on site was to use external speakers with a mic pointed at them. Not exactly the best solution and it really sucked for the playing of the "Joysticks" DVD. Next time let's ask for better.

* At least one unbalanced audio miniature plug coming from the speaker's room mixer. This would great for getting better audio recording of the speaker's talks. One output would be good. If we had more than one output then a couple of people (who attend the talks an share them) could get a quality recording. A balanced output might also be nice to have as well.

* An audio check of all the microphones in the Speaker's room. While stealing a mic for use with the computer we found one of the microphones on the table was not connected. By that time at least a couple of panels had give their talks. It 's no wonder that one of the ends of the table on Saturday could not be heard. The left side (facing the speakers) was not connected to the mixer when we looked. This was a Tropicana mistake that could have been found sooner if CGE staff had done an audio check.

* Every year the museum and the main floor ends up wondering if we can attach items to the conference facility walls. Even when we find out if we can we still end up wondering how to do it. Next time let's ask BEFORE the show instead of right at the show. As an alternative for the museum maybe we could get some music stands and easels so we don't have to worry about asking about the wall at all.

* A check of covered parking for the hotel. Due to the fact the Tropicana had other event going parking sucked a little. About 3/4 of the bottom floor for the Trop's parking garage was reserved for motorcycles of the Buffalo Soldiers convention. The rest was full all of the time unless you also had clairvoyance for empty parking spaces. The bottom floor was really on the only floor I wanted to park a truck full of old electronics so they were out of the baking sun. Don't get me wrong,,, I also am a daily rider and appreciated the fact the Trop saved some parking for the bikes. May by the next show they will have built parking on the other side of the hotel since it's undergoing a remodel.


Don't let any of the comments above be misunderstood as complaining. They're not. Just reminders to check out next! Or at least to get on Joe's, John's, and Sean's butt to assign to someone to perform the task. Maybe some of them for me.

I still think CGE 2K10 was great and look forward to the next show!

[Oldskool]

Those are all great ideas, mostly just technical things. The signs would be a good idea too so people know where they are going.

I think a few more TV's for the Game Station area would be nice. I could not represent all the major consoles because of lack of TV's. Yes, there was quite a bit, but quite a bit got left out too like the Coleco, Intellivision, and others. So I basically had to figure out what it was that people would like to play on the most and hook those up. Maybe next time I can locate a handful of cheap TV's since I live here locally. I can't complain much about that though, really there was a good handful of consoles for people to play on, any more and it might have got too crouded.

I honestly can't think of much that could be improved on. More vendors, more live music, and more attendees would be nice, but that comes with time I suppose. I guess there was a 3 year break there.

Oh and it was nice meeting ya Vectrexer. Your collection was quite amazing, and I thank you for donating a Vectrex for Game Station duty. It was actually quite popular.

[MachineGex]

My only advice is to leave the wife and kids at home.

[GarrettCRW]

I heartily agree with the signing and swap meet room suggestions. I was a bit confused as to where the conference room was at first, so I missed a chunk of the Ralph Baer keynote. Unlike the setup at the Riv, where the rooms were clustered in one area, it was a bit messy for everything but the museum and the main room.

Also, and hopefully this may be remedied when the Trop finishes its renovations, but the food was lacking. When a lot of people are trucking it over to New York New York or some of the other nearby casinos for food, something's not right. I smuggled in my own caffeine and was pretty restricted in my arrival and departure times by my ride situation, so it wasn't a major issue for me, but some solid foods to go along with the drink stand would have been nice.

As mentioned by Sothy, the DP afterparty needs to be assigned to someone (not Joe, who obviously had much on his plate). I went in pretty much unplanned in '07 and was readily aware of the party, but everything was in doubt pretty much until I was forced to leave for the night. Furthermore, the conflict against the Pinball Hall of Fame party wasn't the greatest of ideas, and the lack of regular shuttles to the Hall was also disappointing.

Otherwise, the show was great, and hopefully the logistical issues can be smoothed out with the Trop next year.

[bunnyboy]

* Map of the hotel/expo, on the website, including vendor loading area. We drove around for half an hour trying to find an entrance which turned out to be just one unlabeled loading ramp. I eventually found some unlocked "no entry" doors to get inside

* It is probably a Tropicana problem, but better audio inside the expo hall. The music was very loud (interviews at the Tetris table on the other side of the hall had to be stopped) but the announcements were unintelligible.

[digitpress Jim]

Thanks guys for all the suggestions to make CGE 2k11 even bigger, badder and better! I have been speaking with Joe about the show and we're gonna be staying in touch through out the year to make CGE 2K11 an outstanding experience for all our team members and attendees. And we have definitely talked about the after party This year's show was fantastic and had a nice turn out and tons of fun events. Please keep posting us with your comments and concerns and we will start taking note now! Thanks everyone, it was so great seeing all of you at the show.

Digitpress Jim

[digitalpress]

I DID have a sign up sheet for the DP party the whole day at the DP booth. There were over 60 names on the list, so if you didn't know there was a DP after-party then you're in the minority... we did the same thing in 2K7 :P

But it was badly organized. Turned out just fine in my opinion, we had Medieval Mayhem 2600 and 30 arcade machines to play as well as tequila, vodka, beer and pizza if you waited out the first half hour... but this clearly WASN'T the usual love-fest. The good news is that when something like this happens, I tend to overcompensate next time. I have a feeling that the CGE2K11 DP party will be the best one ever. And it's less than a year away now!

[buzz_n64]

I DID have a sign up sheet for the DP party the whole day at the DP booth. There were over 60 names on the list, so if you didn't know there was a DP after-party then you're in the minority... we did the same thing in 2K7 :P

But it was badly organized. Turned out just fine in my opinion, we had Medieval Mayhem 2600 and 30 arcade machines to play as well as tequila, vodka, beer and pizza if you waited out the first half hour... but this clearly WASN'T the usual love-fest. The good news is that when something like this happens, I tend to overcompensate next time. I have a feeling that the CGE2K11 DP party will be the best one ever. And it's less than a year away now!

Damn, I guess I should have asked about the after party because I was wondering how people were going to get together. Oh well, next year I'll be doing it. Glad to meet a few of you at least.

[4ever2600]

I DID have a sign up sheet for the DP party the whole day at the DP booth. There were over 60 names on the list, so if you didn't know there was a DP after-party then you're in the minority... we did the same thing in 2K7 :P

But it was badly organized. Turned out just fine in my opinion, we had Medieval Mayhem 2600 and 30 arcade machines to play as well as tequila, vodka, beer and pizza if you waited out the first half hour... but this clearly WASN'T the usual love-fest. The good news is that when something like this happens, I tend to overcompensate next time. I have a feeling that the CGE2K11 DP party will be the best one ever. And it's less than a year away now!

So Joe, CGE2K11 is less than a year away? Is that official?

Yeah, most of the unpreparedness of the after party was my fault for not getting the liquor ready for all the thirsty mouths. I take responsibility for that. I guess I'm just not good of a party organizer... it was my first party as an organizer. Ever... I agree with Joe wholeheartedly. I still think it was the best after party ever just BECAUSE it was in the show hall.

I really do hope there is a 2011 show, even if it's smaller and at the Plaza... That would rock. - D

[Vectorman0]

Lets decide on a regular group photo time that will be the same every year. That way it always happens and we all know when to expect it. I think 5:00 at show close (before the auction) would be best.

[NoahsMyBro]

*** NUMBER ONE TIP ***

To repeat something mentioned above:
If your significant other isn't into things, don't bring her/him. Just like talking your wife into the car you think she should buy, this is probably something everyone must learn for themselves, but try to believe me and take my advice. I spent a lot of time both at CGE and at wife-things feeling uneasy because I needed/wanted to be elsewhere.


Suggesstions:
* Re: After-party -- Due to the wife issue I left early and returned late, but the time I hung out at the party was terrific. I also thought the whole thing was based on word-of-mouth, but I did find the party and will know to look for the sign-up next year. Also, if there was any sort of money collection for the party I didn't contribute and was never hit up. Chris, OldSkool, I'm happy to PayPal somebody if I should - let me know.

* Signage and info dissemination - I had trouble finding out what time the show BEGAN. I don't recall if that was posted on the signs in the hall near the show, but I could not find it anywhere on the CGE website. I wanted to get to the show immediately at open on Saturday morning in order to pick up a boxed copy of Failsafe (7800). AA had said there would be 10 copies and I didn't want to miss out, but I had to guess what time the doors opened. I wandered down to the show thinking I'd be a little early and might help with finishing touches before the doors opened and got there right at opening. I did get the Failsafe, but maybe next year the time can be posted on the website.

* I second the idea for more description-cards in the Museum, but that seems like an awful lot of work. I don't know who produced the cards that were there but they looked great.

* Bags and the museum - The guards were very strict about not letting folks bring any sort of bags into the museum, including purses. I believe this caused a lot of people to either not check out the museum, or else to feel anxiety when leaving valuables on the floor by the door. I don't know what we can do to improve that situation but something surely can be done. I wonder if maybe bags could be left with the DP booth and numbered tags given to people to match the bag to the person? (Sort of like a coat check.) I'm not eager to add more pressure to the DP table staffers, but I don't know how we could get an addl person to work the bag-check continuously. And of course I'm open to other ideas as well.

* Personally I was disappointed I didn't meet more DP folks. This is clearly nobody's fault but my own, but I still wonder what could be done to improve that. I met Sothy, Vectrexer and RetroYoungen, but I think that's it. Above a couple of you mentioned a Group Photo. That would be great, and would help with this, I think.

* Regarding the Group Photo - Assuming we do have a group photo, I'd like it labelled with names and handles after-the-fact to help learn everybody's names. Not helpful for the show, but certainly helpful after-the-fact.

* Keynotes - Not only was it very hard to hear most of the speakers near the back of the room, but there was no way to know their names after the introductions. Next year there should be name-plaques on the table in front of each speaker.

Finally, I know you guys want to establish a routine for the show and avoid constant year-to-year changes. In keeping with that I assume you want to stay at the Trop. Personally I didn't like the Trop for many reasons that had nothing to do with the show, so I'd vote for a change of venue if that was up for consideration. Of course I've never stayed at any other Vegas hotel and don't know how the prices compare either so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

Looking forward to (the 10th Anniversary show - right John?) next year!

[thekeepr]

So Joe...the problems had at the last CGE (3 years ago) at the Rivera were not experianced at this last show?? Which hopefully means there will be a 2011 event?? This was a great show for 2010. Rob

[Sothy]

The Fridge was an awesome idea. I'd be happy to help with the after party at next cge. I was conscripted to carry booze in 07 but this time even though I volunteered there wasn't much for me to help with except carry TV's into a room with no power strips and then carry them back heh. Having the after party in the expo room was an awesome idea though! I wonder who came up with that? ;P

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

* Bags and the museum - The guards were very strict about not letting folks bring any sort of bags into the museum, including purses. I believe this caused a lot of people to either not check out the museum, or else to feel anxiety when leaving valuables on the floor by the door. I don't know what we can do to improve that situation but something surely can be done. I wonder if maybe bags could be left with the DP booth and numbered tags given to people to match the bag to the person? (Sort of like a coat check.) I'm not eager to add more pressure to the DP table staffers, but I don't know how we could get an addl person to work the bag-check continuously. And of course I'm open to other ideas as well.

Yes.

The pile of un-watched, un-managed bags at the door of the museum was a bit scary.

Sure, the valuable museum items were protected ... but there was nothing preventing another CGE'er from either accidentally or purposely snagging anybody elses bag on their way out.

One person with one bag-check table and a set of 50 or so numbered clothes-pins (or something similar - the bag gets one tag and the person the bag belongs to gets a matching tag) could've put a lot of people's minds at ease.

Not to diminish the monetary value of any single item in the museum, but I'm sure some of us had hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise in our bags (ironically, there were even a few booths that had the same items for sale that were on display in the museum) ... and if you weren't a vendor that had a table to put your bag behind, walking around the museum while your bag of valuables sat precariously, un-watched by the door (from what I could tell, the guard wasn't watching who took what only that people didn't bring bags in) prevented (for some) a high level of enjoyment or time spent in the museum.

Next year a bag-check person is the way to go.

[Tempest]

My main complaint was that the trading room was poorly marked and hardly had anyone in it. I know that the vendors didn't want people setting up make shift booths on the convention floor, but I don't think having people trade in an poorly marked back room worked either. Maybe they can find a happy medium next year?

I also think the band was WAY too loud. I had to shout to be heard when they were playing and it completely drown out everything else. I know they want the sound to carry, but it was ridiculously loud at times (and that's coming from someone who is losing his hearing!).

I loved the projector DAPHNE setup, but you could hardly see what was going on due to the bright lights in the room and the wrinkled bed sheet it was being displayed on. Maybe it could be setup in a darkened corner next year, preferably AWAY from the band.

Tempest

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I loved the projector DAPHNE setup, but you could hardly see what was going on due to the bright lights in the room and the wrinkled bed sheet it was being displayed on. Maybe it could be setup in a darkened corner next year, preferably AWAY from the band.

Tempest

Yeah, as a 1st attempt for a Daphne setup I wasn't quite sure of the logistics of how it was going to work, but I think it went okay. As far as presentation goes I think the projector was actually pretty decent for the high-lighting conditions of the room. With 800 Watts worth of halogen bulbs in it, it would've looked FANTASTIC in a low-light situation, and I'll work to make that happen next time.

One of the reasons that you may not have been able to "hear" anything was that the speakers of the setup were actually donated to both the Ralph Baer panel AND the Joysticks director panel (come to think of it ... I never did retrieve the speakers from that, so I guess they were ultimately donated to the Tropicana hotel staff). So, for two major chunks of time there was no sound at all because there were no speakers!

I've discussed a desire for improvements for next time with Joe. I'll look to do what I can to get a real projector screen out there and ensure that the lighting is killed to the best we can in that immediate area. Consider this year a test run with promising results.

[vectrexer]

My main complaint was that the trading room was poorly marked and hardly had anyone in it. I know that the vendors didn't want people setting up make shift booths on the convention floor, but I don't think having people trade in an poorly marked back room worked either. Maybe they can find a happy medium next year?

I also think the band was WAY too loud. I had to shout to be heard when they were playing and it completely drown out everything else. I know they want the sound to carry, but it was ridiculously loud at times (and that's coming from someone who is losing his hearing!).

I loved the projector DAPHNE setup, but you could hardly see what was going on due to the bright lights in the room and the wrinkled bed sheet it was being displayed on. Maybe it could be setup in a darkened corner next year, preferably AWAY from the band.

Tempest

Since the Trading Room was for quick trades and short table time I think it was not too bad. The time I went into the Trading room there were people doing business. But yes, maybe some small whiteboards to provide a quick ID of the traders. I can remember other years when I went to look for a person in the swap meet areas and had no idea of the face to go with the name. Nick have been nice to see at least a name.


Band too loud? Nah,,, just back off a little. (also an ex Navy guy whose hearing was affected by my time in the service next to noisy equipment)

[SegaAges]

*** NUMBER ONE TIP ***

To repeat something mentioned above:
If your significant other isn't into things, don't bring her/him. Just like talking your wife into the car you think she should buy, this is probably something everyone must learn for themselves, but try to believe me and take my advice. I spent a lot of time both at CGE and at wife-things feeling uneasy because I needed/wanted to be elsewhere.

QFE

Apparently alot of fun and stuff happened when I left. The major reason I left early was because the people I brought were wanting to do normal Vegas stuff and not as into games as me. I missed a good chunk of Saturday.

I also agree that the name badges should say our handles much bigger

[digitpress Jim]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the awesome suggestions for improvements for the next show! We greatly appreciate it. I have been reading all your posts and have been compiling a list of all the improvements you would like to see next year. I will personally make sure that Digital Press handles are made for every one to wear and of course that the beer and pizza are on time at the After party. We will work hard to make sure we can fix as many issues as possible that we encountered this year while of course tackling the new ones we may face Keep those suggestions coming! Thanks everyone =D

Digitpress Jim