MAMEMAN,
We are glad you could make it to the show last year.
I'll try to answer your questions on behalf of the group as best as I can
.
Regarding cost...without going into too much detail, the cost of doing our show is very high, and also seems to increase each year. Remember, we do not have any corporate sponsors or anything like that...it is literally just about 10 of us that work our collective tails off each year for months to make it all happen. And that's in addition to our day jobs and taking care of our families and other relationships outside of the hobby
.
The cost of renting the hall, the electricity, the truck rentals, other miscellaneous fees, and now even the price of diesel fuel (which is now breaking the $5/gallon range in our area), and other items really add up to some big bucks. Again without going into specifics, the admission we have to charge doesn't reflect the cost when it comes down to true brass tacks (as the saying goes).
But we keep the show going mostly because we enjoy doing it and sharing with the masses our passion for this hobby and keeping these older games alive and in the consciousness of the younger generations that might otherwise never see and get to play these games. Nothing warms my heart more than hearing about a young person who comes to the show with his or her father, and subsequently learns the joy of a good pinball machine or classic video game.
Regarding closing times: This is actually set by the venue itself. We would actually like to stay open longer, but the venue has its rules and we must close when they tell us to do so. If it were up to me, we'd stay open all night!
We have discussed having "chill" areas before, but just finding couches to truck in proved problematic. And then we weren't sure where to put them as the hall was so full of games
. If you have any suggestions in this area, please let us know and we'll gladly consider it.
As for the reg. desk...we try to do out best, but again, we are the mercy of how many folks we have on staff, and who can volunteer. In addition, last year was exceptional in that we had a record crowd. We have discussed ways to make things smoother and hope to have this area run more smoothly this year.
I hope my attempts at answering your questions were helpful. Please let us know if you have any ideas yourself.
I hope you decide to come to the show again. We really do try our hardest to make it a worthwhile adventure each and every year
Happy gaming,
Jon (on behalf of the Extreme Team)