But SO MUCH is often riding on the information they present, especially when they unveil a new product. Doing a live demo of a machine or machine's new feature is just a bad idea. It should all be produced video segments and then people can play the machines or ask questions 1 on 1 like usual after the presentation. Especially with jjGnR and Toy Story coming up, good videos to show the features well are crucial. And big-picture, they're not that expensive to do. Jack really needs to get something like this in motion for the next reveal.

2 billion

Hugh thanks to Martin Ayob @PinballNews for recording, production and swift broadcast of Pinball Expo seminars. What a contribution to the pinball culture and legacy. Must be a round the clock job to maintain for 3-4 days. Thanks.

She worked at Marco for a while but has moved on. She's good at her job, personable and knowledgeable.

Thank you Levi! It was awesome seeing you at Pinburgh!

Yes, great work. They really need a blaring subscription/contribution button on the HEADER of their website.

Wonka CE

So you would have preferred to pay for a live seminar with the engineers and products and sit down to watch them on a YouTube video? They are pimping a hobby toy not proposing a interplanetary space vehicle. Not scripted but they did get the content they had to share across in the allotted time. Seems a bit more personal to me then a video.

No, it could still be plenty personal. They can still do the talking, but leave the demo-ing (with their voice over if they want!) to a pre-produced video that's tightly paced and gets across the point. Meandering on-site demos are not effective more often than not. So talk, announce, show the video, talk a bit more, announce, show the next video, talk about it a bit, wrap up, questions, the end would be a much more effective flow at getting the message across.

Anything else can be covered 1 on 1 after the presentation when people are playing the games. That format also wouldn't have resulted in the confusion about the bluetooth updates and wifi headphones (exaggerating, but the information was ALL SCREWED UP when related second-hand until the actual seminar was posted). The produced segments could have been made live on JJPs site immediately after the presentation for the rest of the world not at the show.

Sounds like you are wanting a small pinball company to have presentations more like Apple. Not realistic.

Two produced videos 1-2 minutes each in the current presentation (one for the bluetooth headphones and one for the wi-fi/ethernet updates) would have improved the presentation flow and message clarity dramatically, and would not have cost anywhere near Apple money. We've done half hour fully-produced making-of video game documentaries with foreign travel to shoot some of it and were nowhere near JJP size. It's an issue of motivation, not money. But if they can get rolling, it will improve their reveal messaging dramatically.

All possible in an unveil situation like they did with Wonka and SDTM but this was a dongle upgrade. In a video that would have lasted 2 minutes and everyone would complain they didn’t get their money’s worth in time. As for the all screwed up info on the WiFi, that’s a traditional cause/effect of Pinside. One person says it and it’s official on the forum. Anyone and everyone that sat in the recorded session understood what Keith presented clearly as WiFi and even More clear when he handed out WiFi Dongles to beta testers in the group. I accept these engineers and OEM’s are not nor will they ever be celebrities and professional presenter showmen but I appreciate them coming out of there shell to physically communicate with us goofy collectors. Software coders are rarely viewed as party showmen.

I'm not saying get RID of the actual creative team in a presentation, I like seeing them too. But use the short produced segments to augment their presentation. Talk, video, talk. And the produced bits can go on the JJP website to clear up any confusion before it starts on Pinside or elsewhere.

The problem with doing live is you have slow somewhat embarrassing situations like you see on video.
But Keith made the point that we listen and try to give collectors cool shit for JJP buyers.I commend them for pushing the walls alittle

Back from Expo and taking a break from tech support.

Included are pictures of my mugs. Started with 108 and went through them.

I met a lot of new friends, got to visit with a lot of old friends. And tried to kill myself at Mortons Friday night. Quite the Expo.

I was wrong about American Pinball unveiling their next game. I apologize for that. I hope the MMR Royal and Willy Wonka CE production game there made up for it a little.

This was my last Pinball Expo. It costs me more each year to go, plus having my business closed for three days. And the seminar before mine running longer and getting mine off to a late start and shortened. Helped make up my mind.

Pinball Expo is a great show, and I hope it continues for many more years. People there had a great time and I hope the show goes on for many years and gladdens the hearts of pinball fans.

LTG : )

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Good Luck with whatever path you take Llyod,but hopefully you decide to come next year Your a good man!

Seeing you and Fred Young makes my Expo. Honestly wouldn’t be expo without founding fathers like yourself. For all you do for the hobby it would be foolish for the OEMs you support not to take care of you. I for one will contribute all I can to see you at Expo for many years to come. Thank you Lloyd!!

No shit I thought JJP & AP or CGC was footing the bill for him to be there

Still has to close shop. No work no income.

Expo has always been on me. CGC has paid to send me to TPF and MGC. Mike gave me the room for running tournament one time, and for my seminars. That has been reduced.

At any show I'm at. If I beat them in when the vendors can get in, I clean all the glasses ( Spooky's a time or tow too ), and help with repairs if needed.

LTG : )

kept us busy keeping them all up and running. Most were able to be fixed rather quickly. Rob Anthony did a great job of keeping the 3-4 of us on out toes. most games were only down less than 10 minutes after being reported. went rather smooth and they had some very nice and rare examples ive never seen much less gotten to play.

got to meet fred on the shuttle bus. Sat next to him. So much excitement in that guy. Of course I heard 30 voice's on the ride. lol!

Does anyone know who brought that Cheetah? I'd like to make an obscene offer for it.

Pretty sure it’s Rob Berk’s and not for sale... but as they say... everything has a price! (Maybe)

think that was berks, one of the prettiest games there.

That looked like it had 50 plays on it before the show. Whatever you offer make sure it’s way higher than 5k

Here you go! It was Berk's. Number in the bottom left corner or just go to the Expo contact info page.

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Damn Ccbigg thanks for the awesome picture

My company is 5 people and we do presentations like vic is describing ALL the time. ALL the time. You can even do one on your phone now, as I recently had to do in a pinch for a customer’s last minute request.

That was my favorite game this year, played fantastic.

So did they announce who won the JP Prem?

The third sentence tells us where Expo's priorities are now focused.

Lloyd is was so great seeing you and talking with you at the expo, always a great time when your there! Thank you for the mug, love it
You mugged me!

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This was maybe my 6th Expo. It was also the best one I've ever been to.
This is like a first class trade show now - It's run smoothly and professionally and the host hotel keeps making it better and better.
Great work, Expo team. Congratulations on 35.

What's the story on the Joust backglass in photo 13? I've never seen one of those.

That's a (fairly rare) promo poster for the game. IIRC, that's one that Python gave to Phoebe.

I had an amazing time at my first expo experience! My son randomly decided to join the Kid's Tournament and we ended coming back for him to compete in the finals! My only regret is not having just a little more time to try some more of the machines I hadn't played before. I have already promised my son and look forward to coming back next year!

Best Expo YET!

I know it was tough for those behind the scenes but yall did a great job and it appeared largely seamless from the outside!
Thanks to all for all you do!

I wish I had more time to explore more and will be back next year.

Special thanks to Troy for bringing Krull as it was a huge treat!
Special thanks to those running the free play room as it was well organized and friendly!
Special thanks to Rob Anthony and his crew for keeping the room running smoothly! BEST I have ever seen!

Just to add my thanks to everyone involved in running the expo - was fantastic and I'm looking forward to next year!

So where’s the expo 2020 thread......

Thanks to everyone that stopped by my booth. I never had a moment that didn't have someone in the booth

Krull, well it was a hit obviously, and I did all I could to keep it going. Had a few tweaks made since the ball hung up on a drop target. Had a flipper spring break on the lower left Flipper. But what really worried me was a coil go out on the upper left Flipper. Thankfully Mayfair amusement had an exact replacement. Total down time for the whole show, around thirty minutes.

Now if you saw the machine opened up, that didn't mean there was an issue. I did that often to show people the lower playfield. And if I noticed people trying to get good pictures, I opened it for them to. I wanted it enjoyed, and I think that was a success

Thanks everyone that was respectful to it, only had one ass mess with it all weekend. So pretty good

I did come home with some hardware to!!!

Although one of the awards really belongs to Chris, High_End_Pins . Since he did the work, I was just the nut that displayed it

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Joust video game poster. I sold a bunch on Ebay around 2000. You don't see them too often.

LTG : )

Sorry that we didn't meet your expectations for a casual session at a collector show. We are software engineers, not showmen, and we wanted to share some behind-the-scenes work with people who like pinball as much - or more - than we do. Attendees also had the opportunity to get early visibility into two features that will make our games more accessible. The slight technical glitches that the team encountered illustrated that these features work under real-world conditions, and not just an ideal, carefully controlled setup.

I had a front row seat for the amount of effort and teamwork that went into the development of the Bluetooth audio connectivity and over-the-air updates. I'm proud of the accomplishments, and I'm glad we had a chance to show them off, no matter how clumsy the demonstration went. Pardon our dust.

--Ted

(Disclaimer: I take no credit for the technical work on those features. My contribution was limited to providing feedback on the user interface.)

Only it's not just for the collector show. That presentation will be watched on the internet for months or years.

Making those feature and product demos tightly edited 1-2 minute feature videos instead would have communicated the feature/product better and improved understanding of how the features work (the recorded stream had no video of what was going on on THE SCREEN, which is the most important part for both features in this case). I'm not saying 86 the exposition, but enhance it with the video. Then after the video, the engineers and designers can expound on what was shown, but everyone (in the room and online) will have received a great summary and demonstration of the feature(s).

Look, JJP does great things, but they don't do everything well. Butch puts out AMAZING best-in-pinball technical manuals for JJP games. I can't say enough good things about them. The JJP presentations reveals (not the normal panels, but any time a new feature or game is revealed) deserve a tightly produced promo video to highlight the product or innovation up to the level Butch is putting into JJP manuals. It's not expensive, it only takes the will to do it. I mean, why bother doing amazing pinball manuals when 95% of people will never crack it? Dunno, but I totally appreciate it - they're AMAZING. Adjusting the flow of your panels at feature or product reveals with short professional video demos will only HELP JJP make better impact. Of course hands on demos can always be done after the panel for those that want them.

And if you're understaffed or don't have the time, send me a machine. I'll be happy to make you a video for whatever feature or machine you want to show off, but the back and forth shipping will probably cost more than video production local to you.

Well said, Ted - I just want to emphasize that I know Victor's coming from a place of wanting JJP and their games to knock it out of the park, and I think (totally my inference) that he's aware of some of the launchpad issues with POTC specifically. If the unveiling is an "event" per se, the buzz is high, and the sales will be too. I don't want to put words in his mouth - but to me, as owners of that game, we're all a little sensitive to making sure things go well for JJP.

That's my thought on why the quick demo video is a good idea. That gives you the control of the situation when the hotel or other venue introduces unforeseen technical challenges. I unfortunately have real world (as in daily) experience with technical stuff just not going the way we want. Still, pretty cool features to be sure, and I am quite curious about the updating process, AND what this could mean for the future now that the games are able to connect to the fearsome Internet!

Same here. I know that promo video for Dialed In (and for TH) must NOT have been cheap! Those are major productions, and I'm not suggesting blowing a bunch of cash on doing this - but it's pretty darn amazing what you can get nowadays with a couple of proper lights, a Canon D5 Mark 2, and some good copy.

Exactly. This feedback is as a customer of JJP and a frustrated viewer of their presentations, big and small, where reveals of products and features are slowed down by live demos that are slow and ineffective at communicating the value of the product or feature cleanly and concisely. JJP CAN do better in presentation. Butch's manuals are PROOF of that. This is simply pretty mild feedback hoping they finally address this recurring weak spot in their reveals. That's all.

I believe that I may still have a couple rolled up somewhere in storage. I purchased them from james loflin and paul keifert a few years ago at expo when they were selling off some of the python estate items. (and they weren't cheap

Whose Tales from the crypt is that? Looks gorgeous.