3 couples from Iowa. Hotels done..Road plans made... Tick Tock... Come on. March....

Please PM me with your favorite BBQ places nearby. THX> Gonna try some TX style...

i had absolutely 0 ZERO 0 intent on buying anything last year....... and yet.... came home with a pin.

Awesome...

You and me both. Walked home with the ST Pro from the Marco booth.

Yeah.....but it was a cool one

Anyone driving from MA that could transport a pin back in case I get the itch?

Hey all,

I am excited to announce I am bringing KAHR.US Circuits to the TPF! My space will be small since I'm flying from Virginia and won't be bringing a machine, but I'm excited to be participating in this legendary show... I'm already linked in the Festival's vendor page. Please stop by and say hello!

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets

Cool, any show specials?

FWIW, my Dredd that I am bringing with be sporting a KAHR circuit.

Just booked flight in from Atlanta. I have never been, but it looks AWESOME! Can't wait!

dunno... I guess I gotta start planning what I can bring. I'm coming on Southwest so at least I won't be luggage-constrained.

I couldn't get a room in the show hotel, but got in the Home2 Suites 1/4 mile away for $92 a night (plus $12 a night in tax). I think it is the closet place with a complimentary breakfast.

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets

If you are contemplating bringing a game to TPF and would like some assurances that it will be monitored by a dedicated staff, please contact me about adding your game to the TPF Tournament line up.

If you have a great playing Data East DMD or Gottlieb DMD, then I really would like to entice you to bring a game to the TPF for the tournament area. If you have a mid 2000s Stern DMD like 24, BBH or CSI, I would love to talk to you too!

If you have a boutique game like America's Most Haunted or Full Throttle, I would love to feature your game in our tournament.

I'm also looking for a bally 6-digit Solid State game. This particular game has a special opportunity in the TPF Tournament, so if you have one that is in great playing shape and are willing to bring it to TPF, please contact me.

Bringing a game is a great way to get a complimentary weekend pass as well as special access times to the show floor as well as a some food vouchers.

Marcus

Unfortunately I don't have any of those games. But it will be fun to play others. A nice change from my High Speed.

Now a group of 4 of us Atlanta folks are coming. This is just getting better and better!

Question - How hard would it be to get Steve Ritchie's autograph on one of my translates? I am not really a star follower at all, but he is the king! Is it doable and worth my effort to bring one with me on the plane to try to get his signature?

Bring it!

Very easy.
Steve always has a signing session after his talk.
He is always happy to sign whatever you bring.

Good thing I have my hotel room and plane tickets. I don't want my ass kicked by the King.

Yep, Steve is very approachable and always seems willing to sign whatever you have.

Just don't ask him about Space Shuttle voiceovers...

What they said. Bring it. Try to remember a marker in case his are dried up, he carries quite a few but they go quickly.

He signed my STTNG apron cards early on last year. I caught him and his wife after they finished eating their lunch on Sunday with a Stern ST one that a friend had given me that morning and really enjoyed talking with them both. I didn't want to impose, but he has a point - he wouldn't be there and enjoying the show if it wasn't for people caring enough about pinball to have the show in the first place.

He and his wife have always seemed like incredibly nice people.

Its very easy. Steve is around the entire weekend and is a great guy to talk to and BS with. He always is willing to chat and sign stuff. Absolutely not a problem. Kick ass games from a kick ass guy...!!!

Yes he's very easy to chat with. All of the designers that show up are regular guys.

Any thoughts on when the tournament info will be finalize and added to the website? I'm curious to know what the changes are and what tournaments will be held.

Love to know which games are going to be used too but I'm sure that's dependent on what's coming to the show as well.

It's time for your to join the masses on facebook.
There's a discussion thread here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/171969562990569/

Ugh... Facebook.

I used to hate Facebook just like you.
But it is an incredible tool for keeping up with what is going on in Pinball.
Ton's of great local clubs to join and lots of cool pinball happenings.
Just because you sign up for an account does not mean you have to post a photo of your dinner every day. lol.

Oh, I've had an account since before they opened it up to the masses. Every six months when I have something I have to go on there to do I'm spammed with everything my extended family and the people I knew in highschool are up to and it's more trouble than it is worth to dig through the cruft. Then Facebook gets irritated that I haven't updated my status or logged in for two days and starts blasting my inbox with all the crap I'm attempting to avoid. Blergh. I suppose I should suck it up and start spamming back pinball goings-on.

I despise social media sites like facebook. Fortunately, my wife loves it and I convinced her to follow Bat City for me.

I need to get a Fb page just to keep up with you Beaumont guys.

Facebook is not that bad, I promise. The members of this forum are the exception... not the rule.

From facebook there are deeper levels... twitter... pinterest... vine... tumblr... digg... reddit... and the ultimate black hole... 4chan. I have heard it even goes deeper...

This very forum is a form of social media... although an antique one. I quite like message boards... and this is among the most advanced I have ever seen. Extremely well maintained and coded. Robin has put his passion into this.

Web wide, web forums are dying... not thriving. You can thank facebook for that.

Correct course of action is to partake in a "little bit of everything". With some tweaking, you can make facebook work for you and not the other way around. If you dive in with default settings and use your actual email address... you are in for a world of drama. But if you cater the privacy settings, friends list, news feed display and email settings to your taste you can find facebook not only tolerable, but valuable.

I posted a picture of our dinner last night on facebook...

We're ready.

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That's one good looking machine

That's sweet! That think got a Hemi?

That's really cool, nice job.

Clearly, an insane pin.

Guys forgive me if this has been discussed I have not read all 6 pages.

Game Exchange is coming to TPF this year!

I would like to host a Meet and Greet like we have done in the past at EXPO.
I Suggest Friday Night or Saturday Lunch. (I have to leave for Houston late afternoon Sat)

Ideas on whats close to the hotel?

I will be doing Pinside Badges again for this with Lanyards as well.

JJ,

Great! Look forward very much meeting you in person!

Thomas in OKC

Frax and I would love to attend a meet and greet with you, JJ.

Have you checked with Ed to see if it would be possible to get access to one of the conference rooms, perhaps? There's a mall next door and lots of chainy-type restaurants along with it. I'm not sure that after happy hour Friday night that I'm (or Frax, or much of the rest of everybody staying at the hotel) is going to want or be able to drive anywhere. I just checked to see if anything had been posted schedule wise (and it hasn't), but I did notice - 39 days!

There is a Hooters type place across the street. A good fit for this crowd!

Safest bet of the year: Best in show!

Name of this place, please? [EDIT: Found it, the Wild Pitch Sports Bar--i think]

Correct. Wild pitch or was it third base? IDK. they were in transition in 2014 so not sure.

Yes, both names were in use depending where you looked. Of course, some never looked at the name.

i'm in....

There is an Irish pub/soccer bar place across the way as well, good beer and food last year. I imagine they're still around. No idea what it was called though.

Wild Pitch

http://www.wildpitchsportsbar.com/the-girls.html