Huntley, IL
Hello everyone,
I wanted to take a moment and thank the so many people that helped make the free play area as great as it was.
First, I want to thank Mike Pacak for working with me to get the rooms available. I also want to thank him and Rob Berk for putting on Expo for 30 years! Thank you for your hard work and efforts to put the show together.
Several people helped move John's 45 games pre-expo into the Pinball Express truck. A very sincere thank you to the following folks for their help:
John, for his games, and support getting them out and back in to his house. His family and friends were instrumental in making his awesome EM collection available to us at the show. Also, if you ever want to land a plane on Lake Shore Drive, John is your guy.
Also, the following CPM members helped break down and load games into the truck:
Vince Loeffler
Alan Darby
Eric Priepke
Liz Priepke
Rob Kokot
Dino Naber
And help at expo:
Rick Rassmussen
Karl Marsicek
Yancy Blaylock
Vince Loeffler
Before the show starts, the rooms need to be setup, and work needs to be completed with the hotel.
Thank you to Dino Naber and Vince Loeffler for helping to layout the rooms and work with the electrician to get things setup.
There were many people putting their backs into the work at the show. The Chicago Pinball Mafia not only supported the show by bringing around 20 games, they also helped staff the Free play area, helping with game loading, setup and break down, registration, moving games and so on. A very special thanks to these folks for spending so much time to help make the show great:
From Chicago Pinball Mafia:
Angela Giovannone
Alan Darby
Craig Comparato
Dino Naber
Eric Priepke
Joe Duider
Karl Marsicek
Ken Walker
Liz Priepke
Mike Gaspar
Nikki Duider
Rick Rassmussen
Rob Kokot
Vince Loeffler
Vincent Giovannone
Yancy Blaylock
Also, several non-CPM folk pitched in to make things go well:
Jeff Barney
Rich Polk
Gene Hwang
Ken Walker
Other Rich (Joe and Nikki's friend, sorry I don't know his last name)
Jacob Naber
Josh Naber
Also, there were many times I saw expo attendees, basically pinball strangers, helping to move games, put legs on games and the like. I am proud to be in a group of such great individuals!
We were able to get over 180 games into the two free play areas (and the hallway) this year. A huge accomplishment!
Coupled with the vendor hall area having over 50 games, there was a significant amount of machines to enjoy and see! That is around 230 games!
Last, I simply must thank the community for all the games they brought. The turnout was fantastic! I know how much work it is to get games to the show, and it is truly appreciated.
Some of the folks who brought games for everyone to enjoy:
4 or more games:
John Pederson (for bringing 45 games)
Phoebe Smith
The Cincy Pinball League (Phoebe and CPL brought over 20 games, again!)
Brian Bannon (14 games)
Matt and Jeremy Fleitz (over 10 games)
Mike Mahood
Chris Meyers
So many people additional people brought games to the show, one or two, that is it hard to mention them all. Here is a partial list:
Joe Duider
Nikki Duider
Herb Enzmann
Ken Walker
Greg Ohara
Troy North
Scott Ramsey
Brian Baker
Mike Gaspar
Chad Dentandt
Yancy Blalock
Craig Comparato
Jayson James
Robert James
Mike Fox
Vince Giovannone
Vince Loeffler
Mike Schudel
Josh Sobczynski
Rob Kokot
Mark Salas
Jeff Barney
Chris Gray
Erik Kaufman
Dino Naber
Chris Meyers
Mike Good
Keith Doyle
Jay Schneider
Chris Frame
Roy Fash
Jim Seward
Derek Fugate
Dave Hegge
Charley Schuerholz
Justin Kalinowski
Robert Hoffman
Mark Combs
Alan Darby
Howie Lajiness
Joel Dekker
Jay Brand
Gavin Miller
Jay Rine
Pat Green
I personally want to thank everyone for the extraordinary efforts in making this show so wonderful, and helping set a record for how many games we had available at expo. Your support of expo will not be forgotten, and is so greatly appreciated.
Warmest regards,
Andrew Barney
