Puck yeah!

Being born and raised in Columbus Ohio for the first 21 years of my life. I could make the following outsider recommendations. Have the show in Columbus because it is smack dab in the center of the state and centrally located to everything in the midwest. There are SEVERAL locations there and several hotels. There is a reason large corporations have their conventions there. Have load in on Thursday evening 4-10pm and Friday morning 10am-4pm. Have the show start Friday at 5pm until midnight?. Saturday hours 9am until midnight or slightly later. Sunday 9 or 10am until 4pm. This is what happens successfully at Texas Pinball Festival every year. Why would you chance the show when there could be in-climate weather. Have the show in late April / early May (after or before spring break) or have the show as one of the last shows of the year in late September or sometime during October. Why would you have the show where there are very few options to eat, far from the interstate and worse of all, have bathrooms worse than facilities at camp ground locations in Wayne National Forest? I would love to fly from DFW to Columbus, get a cheap hotel, (Red Roof Inn or somewhere near Morse Rd. and Sinclair Rd.) and enjoy some pinball!

Being born and raised near Buffalo, NY, I'd make the following recommendation:

Have the show in Buffalo, NY.

Being born in Bum Fu ... never mind

It's in the organizers best interest to get these things right. People on this message board are still going to go, doesn't matter if the food is made by people as dirty as the bathrooms.

But the general public? Nobody wants to go into a shithole that families don't wan't to spend time in due to poor facilities or leave and come back for food. Lots of people don't care enough to do that.

For a 25 year old single guy, sure. But try getting a family together, packing them all back in the car, going out, and then doing it all again all because the organizers didn't think to partner with a food truck that probably would have been more than happy to serve some great food. By the time that happens, either the kids, or the wife, or all of them aren't in the mood to go back. Guaranteed.

You have to cater to everyone in order to grow something like this, and some of the stuff we don't care about are things that a lot of other people do.

I was there on Friday afternoon.
The games all played well
Minimal waiting lines except for WOZ
Bathrooms were better than last year.
Took my Daughter and she was $5. Not bad !
Wish there were a few more games but again all the games worked so quality over quantity.
I would prefer Friday-Sun but I have been there before and just go on Friday as Saturday the games are leaving.
I would like a better venue but there is a certain Je nes sai que about the place !

I thank the folks that put it on. It is low key and fun. I will be back !

Keep the same venue.

Keep the drain cleared in the men's bathroom and the place is perfect.

Really didn't expect the show to move to April or May...Just a couple weeks later in March, for instance there are no shows the weekend after this one. I get the cold weather, I too live in Ohio, we were prepared to load and unload our games in the extreme cold...though it was also cold inside the venue, it was more the trip home that was the problem. If the show doesn't move back, and there is a chance of bad snow hitting during travel time to and from the show chances are we will not be there again, not going to take the chance. For example, this weekend in Cuyahoga Falls it is supposed to be in the 40s and 50s. I know there is no guarantee, but that's an example of the difference even a week later could make.
The days of the show work although it would be nicer if Sat. could be a full day, but it doesn't really matter if they add Sun. because then folks will complain that they should leave it open longer on Sun. The fact that vendors and games were being packed up on Sat. was partially due to the weather that was coming in. Also since the show does end on Sat. the venue is anxious for everyone to leave so they can clean...we have been there in the past where the owner is literally walking around hinting for everyone to leave so if vendors waited till 8 to pack up no one would be out of there till after midnight... in hindsight I should probably have packed my games up early and headed home Sat. night instead of leaving them up till 6, then breaking them down, getting them loaded and being worn out and tired while driving (it's a 5 hour drive for us) we waited to leave till Sun. morning... then more people would have been disappointed because there wouldn't have been as many games to play. So it is one of those you can't please all the people all the time deals...
We have been to all 10 Ohio shows, and it seems that each time the show is as early as it was this year there has been weather issues, this year was the worst. Would hate to have to miss 1 due to weather, but it will take some serious thought if there is weather pending if we will take the chance again. I know of several Cincy some MI, and even some Canadian folks that didn't make it to the show because of weather. I appreciate the job Mike and Marvin do putting the show together. I know it takes alot to pull it off, and it is a fun show that I enjoy each year, but after this years trip home, not sure I can do that again.

Phoebe

Have it in Erie, right in the middle of Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. We have several beautiful and affordable venues as large or larger than Emidio Expo Center. Hell, I've thought of starting one here due to its central location between these cities, except I have nine of that damn thing called........time.

Fine buffalo or rochester

Did the roof leak?

image.jpg

Looks like an old fashioned fort that we used to make as kids.
Howie

That metallica was something indeed Only played it once but it was probably my favorite. I was too busy tournamenting to have time to play all the games though. fri-sat-sun is the way to go!

Who's Metallica? Would like to know if those are 5050's or 3528? One strip or two? and 60/meter? Just Curious.

I thought the show was great and I had a really good time all weekend. Of course there are always improvements that can make the show even better.

What I'd like to see: (probably some repeats)

1. Machines to stay until close. It seemed as if half the machines were gone on Saturday by 4. People are paying good money to attend and it doesn't seem fair that they aren't getting their money's worth on the last day especially.

Not saying they have to be there all 3 days, but it'd be nice for the machines to be there until close on the day they are there. I know some people don't want their machines beat on after they buy it, but these machines were made to be played in commercial venues and really, if the machines breaks that quickly after you buy it, I hope you have the seller's number.

2. More representation from other vendors the likes of Marcos Specialities, Pinball Life, etc. I appreciate the vendors that did make it there, it's always nice to see Cointaker's LEDs, I was able to buy a playfield for my Firepower, and a WPC schematic. It would be nice to be able to stock up on some common parts, like shooter rod springs, rubber kits, PINBALLS, flipper kits, etc. I didn't mind that vendors packed up early add they had a ton of things to load up. But maybe post their hours of booth operation?

3. Signs posted in multiple locations about basic pinball etiquette. Just a couple of simple guidelines such as if there is a line behind you, play one game and let the next person in.

4. Special incentives for Phoebe to keep coming. Joust was a crowd favorite yet again. Her Congo was fantastic, and that Metallica was some great eye candy. Her contributions to the Ohio Show would be sorely missed if she ever decided to not come.

5. If the machines are there, they should be on Free Play. There were a few machines there I didn't get to try because there were no credits. Some weren't for sale either. Some exceptions, obviously, like the Chrome Edition T2 that was there for a couple of hours.

6. Machines should be mostly playable. Break downs happen, boards are touchy, but there were a couple of games that just weren't in good condition, Black Knight 2000 for example. First time I had the opportunity to play one but the ball wasn't always making it onto the playfield on plunge, drop target bank wasn't working, and a drain didn't always register. Good project pin, just not show-ready.

7. New pins about to be released or just released represented. Last year there was WOZ. I was hoping to see Mustang this year. It was nice to see Star Trek.

8. Tournaments for the not so good players. I didn't bother attempting to qualify in the tourney because I know I can't compete with the big dogs. If there was a C or D division tournament, you might be able to coax some ordinary Joe's to take a chance in the tourney.

9. Camera rig and monitor set-ups for the main tournament. Give the A players a chance to showcase their skills for everyone to see.

Venue related:

Better food. We left all 3 days to eat because we HAD to.

The lighting levels were good, as stated you could see perfectly at the vendor booths, and the game area was fun enough to enjoy the pinball light shows. However, the light fixtures were from like...1980. T12 lamps were phased out years ago and a commercial expo center should be somewhat up to date with lighting, power needs, etc.

Bathrooms are in need of remodel. Better this year, but still beat up.

Overall, I had a great weekend and can't wait until next year. Hopefully I'll be able to bring more than one machine next time.

Just got back from Louisville - they had 122 pins this year - over double last year. Quite impressive.

So you just completely missed my booth then?

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

I was there for three days and I almost missed your booth! I thought I had seen everything there was to see, until I saw someone walking around with a couple boxes of 555s in their hand. I asked them where they got them and they pointed me in your direction.

I agree as well. Most desirable day to attend is Saturday yet it's the day everyone is hauling everything out the door in the afternoon. Not sure what the preference/needs are for vendors, but as someone attending the show, I'd much rather see it open on Friday, peak on Saturday (without stuff disappearing in the afternoon), and let things start to roll out the door Sunday.

This has been a complaint every year for as long as I can remember. We're always told it's because people have outside lives, family and many have to be at work on Monday.

But they are open on Thursday....

IMHO if you commit to do a show, you do a show. That means being there set up in full force until the official close of the show. You will never see my booth broken down before the end of a show.

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

Be thankful to all the guys and gals who brought games for you to play, no matter how long they are there. Want to play more, get there earlier.

It's like a car dealer closing at 2PM. Makes no sense to me!

If "work" or "personal life" was in the way, then do the show Sat and Sun and skip Thursday.

Uh, yeah I did get there earlier. I am thankful for those that brought games, and I arrived there at opening time on Saturday. I also paid $20 admission, so there should not be vendors and games packing up well before the end of the show day.

how long did you stay?

I got there at 10AM. First time at ANY pinball show. Didn't know what to expect.
Paid my admission, played some games. I don't think I played 20 games. So that's over $1/game for me to play.
I bought a few things, but not nearly as much as I was hoping to bring home.
I had to leave to eat, and then I left when the owners started packing up machines. Its hard to enjoy a machine when you have the owner watching over your shoulder waiting to pack it up.

For me, it was worth the $20 to meet new people.

I will try other shows and see if they are any better or worse. I have a feeling some will be better, and some will be worse.

People have lives outside of Pinball, If they choose to pack up and leave with their machine on Saturday afternoon after being there one or two full days, so be it. The show dates are announced well in advance, schedule a day off for yourself and show up on Friday morning, stay the night and come back for a part of Saturday.

The Louisville show had pretty good success by running Friday through Sunday and closing at 4 on Sunday. Most of us didn't break down until 4. Games slowly started leaving around 2.

Why can't the people bringing games and vendors do the same? It goes both ways.

It doesn't work that way - you force people bringing games to a schedule and you won't have many games. And do I tell the customer that buys one of my pins "no you have to leave it here until the show ends" - f*** that....

Let's say I live 4 hours away, and I buy a game on impulse; I can't really leave the game and then come back on Sunday.

Obviously, I have to take the game when I leave - whenever that is.

-

Let's say I bring 4 games to the show, but my workweek starts on Sundays.

I have to take my games home Saturday - or else I can't bring any games at all.

Agreed that you can't force people to keep their games out according to a set schedule.

A Friday through Sunday show would be better for attendance and make for a bigger show overall. I don't see how taking Monday off work for vendors would be any different than taking Thursday off as it is now. Sunday would definitely have better attendance than a Thursday night.

Quoted from the Ohio Pinball Show website:
"Game must be on free play and available to public until 6 pm."

...would there be exceptions? Sure, it's real life. But every year it's the same - it's not just one or two exceptions. Many games are getting packed up in the middle of the afternoon. It makes the lines longer for what is left, and at that point a lot of players are going to walk as well.

Nobody is saying you have to leave the game until the next day, you are supposed to leave it until the end of the show on that day.

All i'm saying is you know that at most if not all shows, people are going to pack up early, plain and simple. YOU as the show customer should plan on that happening and schedule your arrival day accordingly. People bringing games and vendors make a show, not visitors so you almost have to work around them! Thats the way it should be or there would not be a show.

So vid has to pack up a game at 12 am and get home around 4:30 am?

I think arriving when the doors open was as early as possible. I get there early because I already know how crowded it gets. But around 3 - 4 pm entire sections of games disappear, and what's left is lines at the rows remaining...It's not one or two exceptions.

On the flip side, if someone is driving 4 hours and paying admission to attend the show for the day, that person expects games to be there and the show to be open.

If everyone brought games for 1 or 2 days, the show would be a disaster. Besides not having more than 1/2 the games going at any given time, the show would be a constant loading zone.

What?....this makes no sense. The games are supposed to be on free play until 6 pm... and I already said that I knew there would be exceptions.

Not only that, but I need to unload any games I buy that night so the van is cleared out for work the next day.

Sheesh, pinball; it's a headache.

There are will always be folks that need to leave early for a variety of reasons and it's difficult to enforce this type of rule on everyone.

My response was to Gnatty saying that people bring games and vendors have lives and basically that attendees should schedule a day off and work around the schedule. My point was that the same logic applies to not just attendees, but vendors and game bringers.

You said end of show that day - that means 12 am

What would the show be without Visitors?

My booth was set up until after 5pm on Saturday before we started tearing it down, which is a two hour process and I had everything loaded in the van at 7pm which is only a hour before the show was officially over. Of course anything is still for sale during that two hour tear down time, so please feel free to stop me and hand me some more cash. But I figure if people haven't bought it in two and a half days then there not going to buy it. From my vendor experience three days is too long for any pinball show. Having to pretty much stay in the booth for 12 hours +/- a day makes for a very long show. I'm not crying about it but I'm really not there to play pinball, I'm there for the projects and parts....., to each his own I guess.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, Mi.
269-979-3836

Sorry, I didn't mean that. I meant the end of the day as in the 6pm request by the show rules. We can't get all the games on a Saturday to hang around until 6pm, so I certainly would not expect them to stay until 12am.

Saturday is pretty much a half day show. Might as well shut it down at 3pm

.

But you keep coming back, so it can't be all that bad. If it was, knowing the schedule ahead of time, and with your experience, you'd schedule a day off on Friday, if it really bothered you, right?

Nothing. However the show continually gets larger, visitor wise and game wise. I'd say they are doing pretty well.

Nothing is perfect.

Thursday is as much a workday as Monday. I also think the show should be fri/sat/sun. I would have went up, but had to work early on Friday and it wasn't worth the trip for Fri night and the "half-day" Saturday.