While 50 again would be awesome, that was sort of a lightning strike. I'd still expect 25 or more this year - still WAAAAAAAAAY more than three years ago.

I'm fully expecting this to be the gateway to using up all my vacation next year going from event to event. Even measured the inside dimensions of my car, just in case I need to bring some large object home

I bought a Ford Ranger last spring with the assumption that it would need to be used for "pinventures". Measured the box with the salesman to make absolutely positively sure they would fit. Saved up and got a bed cap for it to make sure pins wouldn't get wet. That used up some pin dollars, but … wanted to be comfortable and for "it" to be comfortable on the future adventures too. Now … I just need to pinch pennys to save up for another pin.

So there is a post on the MGC Facebook page that is a bit confusing to me. If I am reading it right, it appears as if MGC is asking to be shutdown by a government agency. If not, they will be financially ruined for any future shows.

I am confused, what is stopping them from just having the show? And if the show goes on, is the only concern nobody would show up, or are there already vendors canceling?

Because at this moment I am still planning on attending.

That’s what I got from it, unless they are forced to cancel, they are still obligated to everything.

I’m getting with our insurance people to see what our options are and make sure we have coverage for stuff like this should we need to do something in the future.

Insurance coverage needs to be VERY specific for this type of cancellation. SXSW learned that the hard way when they got cancelled and their insurance did not cover this type of cancellation.

Agreed. I’m getting very specific with them now before our new coverage becomes live.

"I have just been informed that the City of Milwaukee has officially canceled the 2020 Midwest Gaming Classic. Thank you for helping to make noise to make this occur. We will have further communication as soon as possible, but we agree (hopefully obviously) that this is the right call.

While we are devastated by the loss of this show for this year, the health and safety of our attendees has remained our largest concern. I understand that a lot of people may have questions, and I ask you to bear with us for a few days. Eventually the entire story will come out. In the meantime, I thank you for your support - it is why we do this - and we are hopeful for what lies ahead in the future."

That’s good. Hopefully everyone can be made whole and just move forward to next year.

So I am still a bit confused, was it simply a moral reason that MGC did not want to "have" to hold the show. Or were there indicators that attendance wouldn't be made, and thus a funding shortfall.

Also, I assume this cancellation includes Tom Taylor's event?

Short explanation in my understanding: If MGC decides to cancel their own event, they're liable for all costs, including but not limited to fees to the WI Center for the hall etc.. If they are forced to close, there are clauses which include financial reimbursement from the WI Center.

Good question about TT's though.

I'm glad the cancellation got handled in the best way possible for MGC. I have one question remaining: What's the best things I can do as an attendee and game-bringer to help MGC out while they pick up the pieces and regroup for next year?

I presume I can let them keep the ticket and let them off the hook. I assume that also applies for Tom Taylor's event? I'm cool with that. If I needed the cash I spent on the show that badly, I wouldn't have went in the first place.

Also, my email from MGC mentioned we might be able to buy show t-shirts. I'm ready to do that as soon as MGC is ready. I'll take as much stuff as I can; I'll figure it's like those crazy "Super Bowl Winning Buffalo Bills" shirts that get shipped off to charities, and I'll be the coolest kid at league with my "MGC 2020" shirt.

As much as we're all bummed that we don't get to go to the show, please spare a thought for MGC's organizers, and cut them slack as they figure out what to do. This is a bummer weekend for us. It's a bummer YEAR for them.

I am looking fwd to buying both MGC and TPF shirts and swag! Happy to support both great shows. Hope they sell lots of it to help buffer the burden.

I’d definitely buy a shirt, what other 2020 swag was going to be available for the show?

Would be a great way to support Dan and Gary.

Great idea, Chris! I'd also be down for some MGC 2020 swag

I'm in for shirts as well, was hoping to go to MGC since my Vegas Expo was canceled.

Bummer

MgC tickets this year are good forever. Email went out about that

I also think it's pretty cool that the end consumer is being treated well by practically all parties right now. I booked a hotel at springhill with the "no cancellation" rate. The thought at the time of booking was that nothing would keep me from attending (lesson learned). I got a refund direct from the website due to an amendment of policy. I really appreciate that, and didnt really expect it.

Dan and TPF honoring tickets to future events is very cool. I believe both shows had policies that would have protected them from refunds in cases such as this, but they stepped up big and allowed their tickets to be used in future years. That shouldn't go unnoticed, or unappreciated.

totally in for a shirt or two. Is it possible to make light of this and do a special "I got coronavirus and all I got was this lousy pinball tshirt"?

While I personally like this shirt idea, it may not be the best idea as many people are losing older loved ones to the virus.

Agreed. If any would be customized at this point though, I'd love to see a play on the "lost year" thing. "I don't even remember MGC 2020", etc. But...I'm sure that is about priority #3,786 at this point.

Customized isn't what I really had in mind. I was more thinking of buying the shirts that were already made for this year. Last thing I'd want to do is have Dan/Gary incur any additional expenses for a show that isn't happening. I'm more thinking of buying the stuff that would otherwise be wasted.

-Hans

I like the shirt, please tell us how to procure one! I imagine shipping will be extra, so I'm not going to blindly order one from the MGC website as it says it's for pickup at the show...

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Bunch of good questions in here. First, this post that I have posted elsewhere, then some merch answers in another...

MGC Update - Yes, we're canceled. It is what it is. See https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/2020-show-update/ for all updates. We fully anticipate being able to return in 2021.

A bunch of awesome pinball people were concerned about Tom's Open House and the yearly donation we make to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. This is a concern. If you'd like to help us cover, here is what we are doing:

We have re-opened ordering for Tom Taylor's Open House at https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/attend/ As I hope would go without saying, DO NOT order anticipating going this year. You will not. In a bit, with a timeline we are working on, you will receive the following options:

Choice 1 - Ticket good for the same event in the future
Choice 2 - Please donate my money to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission
Choice 3 - Refund

As should also go without saying, if you plan to pick refund, please DO NOT order. If you plan to do either of the other options, that would be great.

We are hoping to reach our normal donation level for the year. If there is a shortfall next year, we hope to be able to cover it out of any show proceeds.

In the case that Tom's does not move forward for any reason next year, we would refund money and plan to cover the donation from any show proceeds.

Please share with anyone who might be interested in doing this. Would be great to get this to the appropriate level.

--- Unrelated, but related ---

A number of people have asked us about ordering tickets still to help the show. Again, so long as you DO NOT purchase anticipating the show this year or plan to get a refund, this would be great. Tickets are available on the site for both VIG and standard tickets. If you purchase VIG tickets, you will receive this year's swag bag in the mail. If you don't intend to hold that, please wait for merch sales to open sometime in the next week.

Again, to do this or buy Tom's tickets, see:

https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/attend/

Thanks!

If you order one of the green shirts, our plan right now is to include shipping for free. I will tell you that this is the one shirt that we don't know quite what to do with - we start production of this one SUPER late since it is dated, so it is the only one that we can potentially pull back and modify or cancel. We will be asking people who have ordered if they still wish to get it with the date on it, if we should edit it off, or if they would choose not to get it. Depending on numbers will confirm if we move forward with making it - we sold 54 of the design so far (we usually have a big run in the next 10 days so this is about 1/2 of what it usually is) and if we drop below a certain level, it won't be financially viable to create them.

Our other shirts are far enough in production that completing them is definitely the more financially viable option. Having said that, they are paused for the moment and will resume production relatively soon. We've got some great designs this year. I've attached just two of them. I think we have two more, but I'm so burnt out, I'm not positive. I don't yet have pricing on them, but assume they will be more than the green dated shirt as their production is far more complex. Additionally, swag bags from VIG (including the NES game) will be purchasable as they are essentially complete. Parts arrive any day now for the carts... *oi*.

We will update people on this through the MGC Web site, social media, and mailers.
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In short, and without saying anything I can be liable about, the chickens started coming home to roost yesterday in an unexpected way, at that same time that ticket sales had completely cratered. The state shut down schools, but had only "recommended" events of 250 or more cancel. With that, we had no recourse with... well... anything very suddenly.

For the most part, it was incredible how many people were sticking through this with us. I only knew of a handful of drop outs. But, what had become obvious is ticket sales had fallen off a cliff - we sold 2 yesterday (oddly, until after the announcement when people started buying to help out) compared to a year on year sales of over 75. We were at the point that money had to go out to make the show happen, and money wasn't coming in. While we *may* have been able to survive off credit for a week or two, we don't think it would have been recoverable funds.

Add to this that when schools got canceled, the writing was on the wall and we were the largest event standing, and we were getting slammed with messages and notes calling us out for not canceling. The further we went, the worse optics got and we appeared tone deaf. We agreed that we didn't want to operate due to any social risk factors - added to by the "recommendation" to close essentially ceding all legal liability if anyone got sick at our show to us.

We were in a situation that us canceling had been made impossible due to certain places that were unwilling to work with us on pricing. Prices would have spiraled to insane levels, and it was clear people would not come.

Running the show would be socially irresponsible at best, and would open a world of legal liability that could have made it even worse than canceling it outright.

Waiting until the State or City finally made the call to force events to cancel at best would have made us look like clueless dolts since everything else had already closed. If it didn't come fast enough, what I mentioned above started to kick in.

Rock... hard place.

You may read into this why exactly we felt the need to call out Evers publicly. I will say I was *shocked* that it was the City that called it, but thank goodness they did.

I'm not going to sit here and tell everyone that we're in a great spot because that is clearly not what we expected. Thankfully, we put into place a number of measures to assist in the case of a disaster like this after two years ago with the giant snowstorm, and last year's show was able to get us onto solid footing. We anticipate being able to hold the show next year as expected.

I am personally hurt at this point that people have attacked both myself and fellow show organizers. MGC was in a unique spot of having emergency plans that are panning out. I had also worked in a job that taught crisis management and that served me really well throughout this. Unfortunately, most shows are not in this position. I know of more than a handful of friends that run other shows that expect to declare personal bankruptcy over this - two more contacted me today. Anyone acting flippant or like this is a joke should realize that shows like this operate on surprisingly thin margins, and most are directly attached to their owners. It's not a time to be sarcastic about this stuff.

Having said that, I am also amazed by the outpouring of love that the show has had. I've had dozens of people reach out to me with encouragement and offers to help. At the moment, I'm stuck waiting for places to open on Monday and can't do much, but being real - this is why we do this. It sure isn't lucrative enough to do otherwise, and the stress level... yeesh.

I am disappointed that we are not going to get to operate the 2020 Midwest Gaming Classic as planned. We had a ton of great ideas, and some awesome announcements still yet to come that we will now not get to do. Ultimately though, I do believe that this is the best course of action that the show can be taking for the health and safety of those attending and the communities that we belong to, and I support the decision.

Dan;

I can only imagine the pile of everything you guys having going on right now, but you've ALWAYS stuck your neck out for the community, and always done right by me.... even when I've been a minor pain in the ass from time to time.

So I just rang through a VIG package, and even tacked on the extra $10 for early access. I mean, if I can't go, I might as well not go a bit earlier.

(Though, at your leisure, the Paypal transaction seems to have gone through, but the MGC site gave me an 'internal server error')

-Hans

Hans,

You rock. Gary made a typo. Thanks for finding it. It's been fixed and tickets are sent for some year in the future. So you're super super early

I sympathize with the tough position MGC was in. I'm sure you guys were beyond biting your nails at how the cancellation was going to go through.

I don't need a refund for my ticket, and I don't need a refund for Tom Taylor's event (my first year going--I was excited to make it!). I DO want to buy some swag, and I DO want to see you all next year. I'll sit and wait to see how everything shakes out, and I expect I'll have some cool shirts to wear to league nights.

I hope the wind-down from MGC 2020 goes smoothly, and that the MGC 2021 afterparty will be even more all the more crazy for the long wait!

Thanks Dan and Gary and crew for all that you do to make MGC happen, and we'll see you in 2021!

Love the lower design, and definitely would want one if they're made or already made.

First time at the show last year, and to Milwaukee, and it was definitely a highlight of the year for my friend and myself.

Thank you for all of your continued hard work!

What a difference 9 days makes, hunh? Yikes. It feels like I wrote that statement two years ago.

Anywho, new update, from social media:

We have completed a claim process for ticket holders. Information on how to create a claim will be directly mailed to ticket holders in the upcoming hours. As we have yet to begin recovery, we do not have a timeline for when claims will be completed.

If you are in need of an expedited payment due to financial hardship, please reply to the email we send and we will do our best to honor your request as fast as possible. Please do not do this if you can afford to wait as we want to prioritize those in need first.

In general, options for ticket holders will be refunds, the opportunity to convert ticket value to MGC merchandise credit, GOATStore.com credit (a retro game store we also run) or keep the tickets for use at a future event. Keeping tickets for the future will be the default option. This process will be available until 12/31/2020.

Thank you for your understanding and patience during this time.

.........

That email process has started. As we rarely email that list directly, it may take a few hours to receive an email. We also have a small update at https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/2020-show-update/ describing the process now.

By the "default option" do you mean that no action would be necessary through the site, and tickets will automatically be converted?

Correct. If you do nothing, the option will remain to make a different choice until 12/31/2020 at which point any items you have will move to whatever their default option is, which for the most part is "convert to future year". You can also go and confirm that you want it to be this way now if you'd rather.

The three main exceptions are:

VIG - The default option is for us to send you your Swag Bag in the near future, and your ticket will become a VIG ticket with no swag bag in the future. These ticket holders will have the option to add a Swag Bag in the future.

Workshops - Will be refunded by default with the exception of Ben Heck's Computer Build, which will be shipped and conducted via livestream. We will probably notify this group and move up the submission date so we're not holding money until the end of the year.

Merchandise - We anticipate producing the merchandise and shipping it at no additional cost. We will be contacting people directly on this in the upcoming days to confirm there is enough interest, as the shirt in particular is the one which has not yet been produced. I posted the image from it with my post (looking for generic images for my posts as photos of people seem.... weird at this moment, I added it below too) and we've sold like six of them in the last hour, so I now anticipate we will have enough interest to produce it.
mgc-shirt (resized).jpg

Thanks for clarifying. I'm really bummed that this happened, and I'm really sorry that all of the effort you and your crew put into this isn't really materializing this year. It's one of the things I look forward to all year long. I know those are just words people say, but when you're facing some shit at work, or dealing with whatever you have going on, events like this can make a real difference.

Would an order of that shirt help? If so, I'm happy to order one. If it's going to be a burden to get them printed, collect them, and ship them, I'd rather contribute in another way.

Thank you. We do plan to print and ship them, so long as not too many people drop their orders. They were the one thing not somewhere along the process so I can hold them back otherwise. However, we've sold a couple handfuls since the cancelation, so I anticipate they will be made.

The other big help is Tom Tickets. I've seen a number of those come through as refunds already - which no problem, I know many who have already lost their jobs, so I get it - but we are hoping to still maintain this donation or as close as possible to it.

Just ordered 2 of those green shirts. My cuz and I will wear ‘em proudly at MGC 2021. Keep on keepin’ on Dan et al.

Just went online to order tix for Tom Taylors charity event,
knowing full well it is cancelled for this year,
but hoping maybe to attend next year, but know it is not a guarantee.
Chances of me going either way are small, as I live in Oregon, but who knows what will happen in 2021.
Over the years I have bought several games from Tom
(and had them shipped to me, way back when it was still relatively cheap to ship games)
and met him a few times at Expo in the 90s,
but look forward to possibly seeing his vast collection in person,
especially the early 60s Williams pins.
cheers and good luck and keep flippin'.
the other Tom

I don't see the green shirt on the website. I get that they aren't actually printed yet, but how are others actually ordering them now?

Jeff

Ordered a t-shirt this morning from the following link:
https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/attend/

Yes, they are still under preorder merchandise. I need to talk with the production company yet to nail down that but we've sold enough since the cancelation I believe they will be printed.

Ahh, I was looking in the Shop area.
Carry on...

Sorry the show was cancelled but really there was no way to get around that. At least there was a little warning, and it wasn't a few days before show when the news came.

Look forward to next year, and hope we all get there safe and happy for the greatest gaming show on earth!

Haven't seen the poster mentioned yet (or maybe I missed it?) -- is that merchandise still planned on being done? I'd love to keep my yearly poster collection going!

Posters are already done but I am not sure when I will get them.

Gotcha. Well, I'd still love to get one. Whenever you do get them, let me know and I could come pickup; no need to spend more money to ship it.

Wasn't there, didn't do that, still ordered the t-shirt

Shame it had to be cancelled, but there was no way it could go on. Looking forward to next year!

Can we atleast get a stream of Jay getting drunk and running around in his manthong. Just not gonna be the same without a MGC story that floats around for like 2 months

Wouldn’t be the same...

bump
A few pics from last year to remember the fun.

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