2003 Classic Gaming Expo
by Robert Bernardo

The Classic Gaming Expo 2003... another year, another show in which our club would have a table.  This would be the second year for us as a CGE vendor.  The location was the same -- Jackie Gaughan's Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.  The date was the same -- the second weekend in August.

And just like the previous year, I left for the show one week in advance in order to attend the Creation Star Trek Convention at Las Vegas Hilton Hotel.  My packing techniques still left much to be desired, though.  I was supposed to have left at 3 o'clock Saturday morning so that I could have made the 9 a.m. meeting of the Clark County Commodore Computer Club in Las Vegas.  The time ticked on, and I continued packing the station wagon with C= hardware and software until it was fully loaded up to its ceiling.  Finally, with the car sagging on its rear suspension, I drove out of Visalia, California at 5 a.m..

Surprisingly, I was still awake and fairly alert after only having an hour or two of sleep earlier in the evening.  Thank goodness for caffeinated ice tea!  The five and a half hour drive through the California/Nevada desert was not too grueling in the morning, the early light making it seem less dry than the desert really was.

I reached busy Las Vegas, fought through the freeway and city traffic, and arrived at the 5C's meeting place, a conference room at the local power company building.  Though I had come into the meeting very late, Al Jackson, the president of the 5C's was pleased that I made it.  I recognized some of the dozen or so members who were at the meeting, especially Paul Armstrong, the member who had helped me at last year's CGE.  After the club C= talk was finished, Al turned his attention to me, giving me the floor.  I talked about next weekend's CGE and invited everybody to attend.  Paul said he would go only if the club paid for the entrance fee.  The formal meeting ended, but Al and I continued informally talking about everything from Loadstar disk magazine to the Astoria Amiga/ Commodore User Group to Dale Sidebottom and the Spring LUCKI Expo.

After the meeting, I got lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant and then went across town to my home-away-from-home for the week, the Nevada Palace Hotel and Casino.  Exhausted, I checked into my room, bringing in some of the important C= items and leaving the rest in the car.  It was great to sleep for hours and hours.

The next day, Sunday, was devoted to my activities at the Star Trek convention, especially listening to William Shatner, a.k.a. Captain Kirk, when he came up on the stage.  The rest of the week was spent in getting ready for CGE, getting the disks/programs in order, writing up another edition of The Interface newsletter and getting it copied, and obtaining a few connectors and tools.  Tuesday I met up with Al Jackson again, this time at his home, and got some C= utility programs that I had forgotten in California.  CGE anticipation grew as the time came nearer.  Fresno Commodore User Group member, Steve Dubois, called on Thursday, saying that he was on the road to Las Vegas and would help me set up the table on Friday.

Friday, set-up day, and I was at the Palace Hotel at 8:30 a.m..  Some vendors/exhibitors were already there in the exhibit hall, including organizers, John Hardie, Sean Kelly, and Joe Santulli.  I immediately claimed my usual table and started hauling the C= materials from my car in the parking garage to the hall.  The desert air was heating up, and it took several cart trips to get most of the C= goodies onto the table. Steve Dubois had not shown up, and by 3 p.m., it was time to leave for a bit more work on the club newsletter, club application forms, and flyers for the 5C's club and the local Amiga club.

In fact, I spent the whole night without any sleep, just prepping for the Saturday CGE opening.  8:30 on Saturday morning and I returned to the Palace Hotel.  People were already starting to line up outside the exhibit hall door; the official opening was to be at ten.  I rushed my last few items from the car to the table.  Even that took 2 or 3 trips back and forth.  On my last sojourn to the car, I was marching intently, deep in thought about the coming day, when a white, large car came driving up toward me.  Not thinking about it, I kept on walking.  Then the car came up to a stop next to me, a hand waved out of it, and I finally noticed who was at the wheel.  It was Jeri Ellsworth and passenger Jens Schoenfeld!  Jeri and Jens had made the long automobile trip from Portland, Oregon.  Jens was visiting the United States for about a month, and he had rented a table at CGE for selling Individual Computer hardware and for exhibiting the C-One (CommodoreOne) motherboard.

Jeri asked about what time the expo would start, and I replied that she had 45 minutes before the doors opened.  Giving me a surprised look, she drove off to book a room there in the hotel.  I ran back to the table and got the last few things in order, Amiga 500 set-up on the table's left side, C128DCR set-up with 20-inch monitor occupying the center, and SX-64 on the right.  Also the Commodore programs for sale filled a couple of cardboard boxes.  For sale 1701/1702 monitors, C64's, C128's, 1541's, and 1571's were up along the back wall in partial view for the public.  In front of the table was the custom-made Commodore vinyl banner.  Across the way, diagonally to the right of our table was the NorthWest Classic Games Enthusiasts' booth.  Rob Brown, a friend from last year's CGE, had set up various game consoles and classic computers at that booth, including a VIC-2O set-up.  I had brought the wrong monitor for the Amiga 500 at our table; it was a Commodore 1902, but I failed to read the sticker on the back that said that it did not have analog RGB.  Rob loaned me a Commodore 1084 to use for the rest of the show.

Along the side walls CGE had set up various classic arcade machines for the arcade competition.  To the far left beyond our table were the classic gaming consoles, set up for anyone to play -- Atari 2600, Colecovision, and Vectrex, to name a few.  Most interesting was the Vectrex, which had the rare 3-D, "spinning wheel" glasses attached.  All across the massive hall were the various vendors' tables, mostly selling gaming console items, mostly emphasizing Atari 2600 (after all, the Classic Gaming Expo used to be called the World of Atari).

Jeri and Jens came in, and after a bit of confusion about whether their vendor passes were paid for (Jeri's was pre-paid), they set up their items at the table next to mine.

Though the expo was set to open at 10, it really didn't open its doors until 10:30.  With videocamera in hand, I taped the hoards of people who rushed through the doors, grabbed everything they could at the freebie table in front, and then scattered to the multitude of tables around the hall.  I ran back to my table, and I was immediately swamped by interested and curious game aficionados.  The best, unwrapped game packages were immediately bought off our table.  The public loved playing with the Commodore and Amiga set-ups.  Jeri and Jens at the table next door also had a steady stream of interested on-lookers.  Breaks in the activities were few; Jeri and I would talk to each other about subjects like her trip from Oregon, the CommodoreOne, and Jen's visit, but invariably after a few minutes we would be interrupted by people wanting to know about Commodore/Amiga or about the C-One.

Luckily, Steve Dubois finally showed up.  He had not met up with me on Friday, because of multi-hour traffic jams on the freeway to Las Vegas. At 12 o'clock I left him in charge of the table, while I rushed off to the other side of the hall in order to film 8Bit Weapon, a Commodore music group, in concert.  Seth Sternberger of 8Bit Weapon had earlier recognized me from CGE 2002, and he introduced me to his friends.  I was impressed by Seth's music, so much so that later I bought his CD.  As the music was played from Commodore and Amiga computers (lots of key-pushing and paddle-turning on the Commodore), a huge, Amiga-choreographed light show was projected onto the back wall.  Also Seth's friends put on masks and went out to dance in front of the band.  Many of the Expo attendees, including Jeri, were drawn to the concert.

I couldn't stay too long, because I was worried about the club table and about not giving Steve a chance to see the concert.  I ran back and relieved him of his duty.  He would come back several times during the day to keep me company, to play on the Commodore set-up's, or to man the table.  Thank goodness for his help.

Among the hundreds and hundreds of people who came to CGE, it was good see familiar faces, friends from past CGE's.  Mat "Mayhem" Allen once again came all the way from England.  He had a few of his C= items on display at the CGE museum, set in a side room adjoining the exhibit hall.  R.W. Bivens and his collegues from OlderGames.com had a booth with Good Deal Games, and R.W. was selling his creation, Weird Worlds, a text adventure for the C64.  John Harris, creator of the game Frogger and president of the Amiga Group Enthusiasts (of Fresno, California), was there after an absence of a few years.  Dan Kramer, Atari hardware designer, had his own booth and was displaying and selling some of his hardware rarities.  Both John and Dan got along famously with Jeri, who would wander off from her table especially on Sunday, and they would talk to her about computer hardware matters, among other things.

As I had learned from the previous CGE, the big disadvantage to being a vendor is being stuck behind the table; I was not able to get out and see the talks or meet up with such illustrious game alumni as Steve Cartwright, Garry Kitchen, or David Crane.  However, Paul Norman, game designer of Forbidden Forest, Aztec Challenge, SuperHuey Helicopter, Beyond the Forbidden Forest, Huey II, Def Con 5, Navy Seal, and The President Is Missing; visited our table and spoke about how he was at the show to look around and to sell and autograph a few of his software items.

It seemed to me that the whole day had passed when I asked Steve Dubois what the time was.  He said that it was only 1 p.m..  Yow, I was exhausted already due to lack of sleep.  Nevertheless, I presented a brave front to the public, helping them with their questions and comments.

"This game for the Amiga is the best conversion of the arcade!"

"What is that?"  (My reply -- a SX-64, the "portable" Commodore 64.)

"Do you know where I can have this repaired?"  (My reply -- well, before you repair it, it might be cheaper just to get another one. The 5C's have plenty of hardware to sell.)

By the six o'clock closing, we had sold our best stuff -- programs, computers, disk drives, and a monitor.  I realized that for Sunday there were only the left-overs that the Saturday crowd didn't want.  Darn! Next year, better planning... save some good stuff for Saturday and some for Sunday, instead of trying to sell it all on Saturday.

Jeri and Jens left their table almost immediately at closing time.  I stayed around to go to the CGE swap meet where people would trade their gaming items for other items.  That went from 6 to 7 p.m..  Immediately afterwards was the CGE auction, which lasted over an hour.  John Hardie was the auctioneer, and he carried on the auction with his usual good humor and a few beers.  Aiding in the auction was the attractive woman who in best model form showed off the items for auction.

This year there was no vendor's after-show dinner, and so, I left for my motel in East Las Vegas.  After depositing my camera gear in the room, I decided not to eat dinner in the smoky casino restaurant but find something else along the roadway.  Oh, well, a run-of-the-mill Long John Silver's fish restaurant.  I ordered the $6.95 seafood platter and thought about the day's events.  One good thing about visiting the restaurant... I was seated at a booth which had some Long John Silver's party hats lying around.  Shaped like a pirate's hat, these were meant for kids to use. However, I thought they could be put to better use.

When I returned to my room, I turned on the copying machine (yes, I had brought a color inkjet copier) and copied some Commodore logos.  Cutting the logos from the paper, I taped them to the pirate hat, covering the skull-and-crossbones.  Ah, a Commodore pirate hat now!

After a good night's sleep, I was back to the expo at 8:30.  Jens came in about an hour later.  The doors opened at ten, and Jeri came in about an hour that.  I was wearing my Commodore pirate hat, and Jeri was pleased at my nautical appearance.  I gave her a Commodore pirate hat, too, which she wore only after the expo was over for the day.  Funny... several people would stop at the table and take photographs of me wearing the Commodore pirate hat.

Sunday was slower.  Sales were fewer at my table.  Steve Dubois had returned back to California, and so, I had no one to help me out or to look after the table if I had to leave.  R.W. Bivens made a brief appearance at his table but had to leave in order to attend his own wedding!  I don't remember Seth Sternberger or Paul Norman showing up on that day, either.  However, Dan Kramer and John Harris were still around, and Jeri would hang out with them for much of the time, leaving Jens alone to run the table by himself.

Just before 2 p.m. I hunted down Jeri and told her about the upcoming talk by Nolan Bushnell, the father of Atari.  I pulled a bedsheet over the FCUG table and went off to the conference/auction/swap room which would be where Nolan was to speak.  The room was filling up fast; everybody wanted to hear Nolan.  I found a seat near John Harris and Jeri.  John and Jeri turned to me in amusement, and John said, "Should you be wearing that hat in here?"  Realizing that he was referring to my Commodore pirate hat and that I was among diehard Atarians, I replied, "Hey, what's wrong?!"

Nolan spoke for 2 hours about the early days of Atari, things that the crowd would acknowledge but of which I had no knowledge.  However, when he spoke of Jack Tramiel, my ears perked up.  Yes, that Jack Tramiel, formerly of Atari but then at Commodore.  Nolan remarked that Jack was a good man but that he was very cheap.

Four p.m. I returned to the FCUG table, uncovered it, and powered on the computers, waiting for passers-by to visit.  A few did come, but several vendors were already dismantling their tables/booths.  However, I wouldn't start tearing down the table until the show was officially over.

The winners of the arcade competition were announced were great fanfare and much applause and cheering.  Though news crews hovered around the exhibit hall on Saturday (darn!  they didn't come to interview Jeri), they were not there on Sunday.  However, Shane Monroe of RetroGamingRadio.com came up to me and wanted to interview Jeri.  I hunted her down again, told her about the interview, and brought her over to the RetroGamingRadio booth.  She had to wait a bit, because Shane was interviewing another person ahead of her.  That gave me a little bit of time to run back to the FCUG table and get my 35mm Nikon camera and also Jeri's birthday gift.

O.K., Jeri's birthday wasn't until September, but I wouldn't be around to present it on the exact date.  Better to give the gift early than too late.

Jeri was miked up, and the interview started.  The interview ran for quite awhile (though I wasn't timing it, it seemed to be more than 10 minutes but less than 20 minutes).  Shane asked many questions about Jeri and the C-One.  Meanwhile, just out of Jeri's peripheral vision, I was edging forward her birthday gift.  Shane's sound engineer caught what I was doing and smiled.  From Shane's vantage he could see what was happening, too, but that didn't deter his interview.  My hope was to catch the birthday surprise at the end of the interview with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to You".  Unfortunately, Shane would not have any of that.  The interview came to an end; the microphones were cut off.  Oh, well, I sang "Happy Birthday" anyway as Jeri protested that her birthday was not in August.  Her gift -- a golden license plate frame with the Larry Anderson- penned phrase, "I Want One... CommodoreOne".  Smiling, she said that she would put it on her Chevy Nova.

The end of the expo.  I tore down the table; that took a long time to transport the remaining software/hardware back to the car.  Jeri, Jens, Dan Kramer, Chris Romero--"Mr. Vectrex", and Gerald White gathered in the center of the hall to talk informally.  Meanwhile, after packing the car, I sat back down at the table to count receipts and fill out tax forms for the state of Nevada.  All told, the money came out to just over $100. After paying the state, it came out to just under $100.  Well, that was no good, because the table cost $100 for 2 days.  If I bought two C64 power supplies, that would put bring it to over $100 again... a few dollars of profit for the club.  I turned the tax form and tax payment over to Sean Kelly and thanked him and John Hardie for putting on a great show and telling them that I hoped to have a table for the next CGE.

Dan invited us to dinner, and we all decided to eat right there in downtown instead of trying to go along the busy, crowded Las Vegas Strip. After walking down Fremont Street, we found a steak house in a casino and decided to eat there.  While waiting for a table, Dan showed us the mysterious ways on how to win on a "picture" slot machine, this one being based on the old t.v. show, "I Dream of Jeannie".  (Jeri's comment, "I think it's stealing clock cycles from the display.")

When we were finally seated, dinner was slow to come.  I ordered the steak and lobster plate for $15.  The steak was average; the lobster was small.  Dan and Chris did most of the talking.  I did a lot of listening, which is what I do when I'm tired.

After dinner, we went out and waited for the 11 p.m. showing of the Fremont Experience, the free light show held on the awning that towers over the street.  After that, we went back inside for more talk, but by midnight, Dan, Chris, and Gerald left, leaving Jeri, Jens, and I for a more unenviable task.  Jeri had a leaking rear tire on her car, and we had to change it.  Even at midnight, the temperature in the parking garage was in the 90's, and there we were, getting hot and grimy changing a tire.  After the spare tire was put on, Jeri and Jens were going to leave straight for the San Francisco area and a rendevous with Dale Luck, Amiga programmer most famous for the Boing Demo.  They were going to see his collection of arcade game machines.  I wasn't going to be crazy; I was going for a good night's sleep back at the motel.

The next day I checked out of the motel, visited the Excalibur Hotel and Casino (a knights of England theme), had a McDonald's lunch, and watched the movie, "The Matrix Reloaded", at the gigantic IMAX Theatre of the Luxor Hotel.  Afterwards, I ended the day by driving back to California and thinking of the successful Classic Gaming Expo.


For pictures, go to http://www.dickestel.com/classicexpo.htm