Anybody have tickets for sale? I'm at expo.

Just show up to the party. I'm sure there will be a ton of scalpers just outside the doors ....

Which entertainer is not going to make it to Stern's party? I heard Stern announced that someone couldn't make it at today's factory tour but couldn't hear who it was.

Rumor is mindy the monkey wont be there.

I have 4 tickets for the stern epic party Text 630-440-5190. $40 each. I will be at Expo for Batman meet and greet at 3p.m.

Yup, I spent 30min there and then left. Gave away my wristband to a friend in line and the best decision I made was catching an Uber back to the Expo.

Got back to Expo with ample time to actually play pinball and get a decent meal from JJP for free. Time was much better spent at expo.

Still pissed there was no Mindy the monkey. That was actually #2 reason I went to the "epic" (not epic) party. Figured I would be able to actually play some pinball, hang out with a monkey, and if there was enough pinball to hold my interest then stick around for the Ed robertson show. This party was the biggest fail of Expo.

I hope Stern has a stern talking with whomever the PR gurus are that put this together.

Was quite fun, only complaint is I wish there were more machines set up to play.

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Man that sucks for you guys that paid and went to the party. To me, from reading other posts, it sounds like Stern wanted to have their own little "praise Gary" party and found a way to get it paid for. I'll never trust Jared's use of the word EPIC again.

& I'll bet the Pizza was way better there than that cardboard they sold @ the Viper

I should have known after his failed attempt at making a viral video about BBQ sauce that this party was going to suck. Not sure who is worse, him or Jody.

I unfortunately agree with this and so did everyone I was with. A celebration for the 30th anniversary of a pinball company that was basically devoid of all pinball makes no sense. No appetizers, no drinks, not even a drink token for your $35+ admission. The event was just bizarre. We were all expecting a pinball celebration. If I wanted to watch a woman swallow coat hangers and balloons, I'm sure I could pull up a Youtube video for that. We left early and found some real Chicago deep dish pizza and headed back to the hotel.

The most memorable part of the night was during Eugene Jarvis' roast of Gary when he said to the crowd, "How many of you suckers in here dropped $15k on a f#cking attract mode!?!?" The look on Gary and Joe's faces when he said that was priceless.

yeah, I am not a deep dish guy normally, but the JJP free pizza was superb!

Also, was nice to finally get the joke about "Deep Dive" was actually in reference to the great deap dish za.

Gary and Jody probably had the club bouncers kick his ass out for that one. BANNED!

I thought he started out pretty funny, but he went on for way too long about Gary's boat.

Mindy died a couple days before.

LTG : )

she didn't miss anything

no monkey was the reason that I skipped the party altogether and gave my ticket away. yep, gave it away. I figure I only lost a portion of the money paid for the ticket, because a) the pizza from the JJP seminar was very good (and free!), I got to chat with ed robertson during the show (really nice guy) and kick back and relax back at the hotel. also, waiting in a line 100+ people deep for an autograph from ernie hudson is not my idea of a great time

in my opinion, after skipping it but hearing what others had to say, I kind of felt like it was more a "stern is throwing a 30th anniversary party for gary (but you, the customers and fans of stern will be the ones footing the bill). I think that they kind of pulled a fast one making the event with a cash food and drink bar. that initial flyer made it sound like food and drink were included

Sad but true. I rarely laugh out loud when reading Pinside but this was one of the funniest posts I ever read.

Exactly.

I enjoyed it, but this is accurate. It was a celebration of Stern, not a thank you to past or future customers. They owe me nothing, so I was able to enjoy the party for what it was. Even with giving away my second ticket. There are however, plenty of pinheads that have spent $5,000+ on Stern products. If I were in that situation, perhaps my expectations for the party would have been different.

the line to meet Ed was never more than about 20 people and he was such a nice guy!

party was great I enjoyed it

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Mindy isn't dead. She has her own Facebook page. It was her trainer/owner "dad" that died.

From her Facebook page.

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Best. Post. Ever.

Still pissed about paying for Gary's private party. Tried to get a refund on tilt.com; no response.

I really enjoyed to factory tour; this party left me with the complete opposite feeling towards Stern.