Ill take a stab at it and say no, probably not worth going. Might be 5-6 games left to play at that point.

No

Not if you have to pay or drive a long distance. Everyone is packing up.

NOPE!!! learned my lesson last year. NEVER AGAIN

No. Wouldn't be worth going today. Game room was weak.

Absolutely not.

No, unless you enjoy breaking down and loading machines, in which case head on over! There also may be last minute deals but not like other shows.. most games here aren't for sale.

Nope. Too much packed up and on the way out

no way

It wasnt worth going Wed thru Sat either if that makes you feel any better. Smallest crowd and least number of games ive seen in 15 years. If it was a horse they would have shot it.

No.

No.

I packed up my booth at 5pm today. Sunday is always a waste of time.

I always book my flight home Sunday morning.

Only at Expo...

No

Was planning on going today for my first time but had a massive hangover from Pinball Lifes party and extending the after party at my place. Sounds like I didnt miss much. Plus I already got to play GoT at PBL

The show isn't even open on Sunday. Why do people find it so hard to read? The only scheduled event on Sunday is main and classics tournament finals.

I read just fine, and I'd be pissed if I showed up Sunday and found out there is nothing to do, and even more pissed if I got charged to find that out!

expoend.png

The site banner says the event runs through Sunday, and the schedule says the Game Hall is open all night, and the Vendor Hall reopens after the Banquet, and nothing is listed about anything closing again, before the event ends at 4. How is Joe Public supposed to know not to bother?

You're a few minutes from Joliet... we're open 1-7 on Sundays, and have 37 pins on free play with your $10 admission. Way closer and cheaper than Expo...and there will be more pins here than an Expo Sunday, too.

http://www.jolietpinball.com/

-Mark

Marcos, your place sounds/looks like fun. I agree that the show schedule cited above is mis-leading. I assume there is not a policy to keep games present until the show is over or it is not enforced.

Each year I am tempted, but haven't made it yet to expo. I'm thinking the highlights for me would be the Stern tour, PBL party and some great eating in Chicago. It's been implied, stated, hinted many times that Expo is many great things, but not the best show to just go and play lots of games. I'm not making a blanket judgement, but I would go with my expectations appropriately adjusted. I still really want to go. One day.

No

Last time I went it was empty of everything @ like 4 am

By 8 am there was nothing

Not even soda

When I was breaking down my booth at 5pm, Mike rolled over and started cussing me out - apparently when the hall closes at 5, that means everyone including exhibitors, which I found unusual. Then he started cussing me out for packing up and saying I was contractually obligated to stay for Sunday. I tried to explain to him that the schedule didn't indicate any vendor activity on Sunday and managed to finish my packing and get out of there before he yelled at me any more.

Sorry, I have a 1-year-old who has a 7pm bedtime, and I have a 10-hour drive ahead of me today, so sticking around after 11pm or Sunday wasn't happening.

But what makes his yelling at me particularly frustrating is that the show is, as you say, essentially closed on Sunday.

What happens to the unsuspecting public who show up today? Will they be expected to pay full price today at the entrance?

It's free and no line. IMAG1306.jpg

Gotta love Mike's " I was contractually obligated" line. Just like the vendor form says all games in the vendor hall must be on free play at all times. Some machines had "hours they are available to play" as well as a vendor saying machines are only for "potential customers" at his discretion.

Vendor hall opens at 11pm. is there a lot of vendor hall action at 11pm on a Saturday night?

Marco/Stern booth at10:25 am Sunday. Still buzzing with ten machines. To be fair, one Kiss is broken/off.1445181904484.jpg

Looks like JJP took their Hobbit back to Streamwood.
1445182267931.jpg

Chicago Gaming booth at 1035 am Sunday.1445182732077.jpg1445182696959.jpg

At 10:40 am Sunday, the Free Play room has 35 machines with 9 of them off or being broken down to take out of the room.

Thanks for the updates Mr Bally. Good for people like the OP to know what to expect on a Sunday (and myself for my first expo next year?)

We slept in, so WPT was still going as one of those 35... it was shut off and left around noon. Sunday is actually pretty cool, it's basically free once the door guys start breaking down and loading stuff. Stop by and check out what's left... great time to play GOT.. and take note of the huge amount of work it takes to tear down (and set up!)

You did right in my mind. Mike can be grumpy about things, but he is one of pinballs biggest supporters. He simply wants to see the show alive on Saturday, after the banquet concludes.

This is exactly the way the schedule has been for a long time. Some vendors leave Saturday when the Banquet starts, some leave when it's over, some leave on Sunday. Now, you are SUPPOSED to stay though the 11PM traditional event halls "re-opening" but hey, other life events take over. Especially when you are traveling many hours to a show and are trying to get home before 1AM Sunday!

I don't ever remember them charging $ for Sunday at Expo, but I could be wrong about that fact. It is my understanding that if an evert/hall/tourney is not on the schedule starting for any given day, then there are no guarantees that the activity/vendor/ect. will still be there. The free play area is kind of a free for all. I would NEVER suggest for someone to go to expo Sunday only, expecting there to be a ton of games still available for free play.

There are usually only the Stern booth games and a few other games still present and on, come Sunday morning.

Thurs+Fri+Sat are the CORE Expo days. Plan ahead of time for those days next time or nothing, would be my advice.

Gee, I don't know why people don't bring games to Expo. Seems to me if a show is fun, easy and convenient, and NOT 5 days long, people might actually WANT to stay.

Kill the banquet, cut the show down to 3, mayyybe 4 days tops. I'd say setup Thursday night, open friday, saturday, and most of Sunday. If people aren't having to take the entire week off, they might be apt to take the following Monday off to give themselves time to travel and recover and keep vendors and games in the hall a full 3 days.

Expo is really Thursday-Saturday. Wed is set-up and Sunday is tear down and tournament finals. The vendors that sell stuff are pretty much done with the show when the hall closes down at 6pm for the banquet on Saturday evening. When the vendor hall opens up around 11pm Saturday, most vendors aren't selling stuff, for the most part, but games are on and playable. Sometime around 6am Sunday the freeplay area and vendor hall is open and free. Nobody is selling bands for Sunday; so whatever is left is free for the public. If you are a late riser on Sunday, hit IHOP and church, and get to Expo around noon, expect about 4 machines with 3 turned off.

The Banquet should be broken up into a Brunch/quick award ceremony/get your stuff signed party (saturday am) and a seperate charity auction (saturday afternoon). Close the show down Sunday.

-c

I'm sure that there are reasons that they haven't done this.

Is 5 days a normal length for an industry show? I only really know about E3 to compare it to, which is the video game industry show. That show is three days long.

It never used to be 5 days. Wednesday was added to allow set up and the bumper blast party before the official start on Thursday. In the past people set up Thursday and the show never really got going until Thursday evening or Friday morning.

It's nice to have a set up and tear down day with the show in between. So Thursday to Saturday for the official show.

The Thursday morning tour was always the official start of the show.