Sydney Pinball Expo 2010

[Retropin]

Well i got free reign of all the pins at 8.30am - only one not working - Centaur... which actually was the one i wanted to play most.

There was not a pin that didnt get constant use throughout the whole day - honestly.. as one player finished - another took their place. Those machines were running hot.

As i walked round i smelt one burnt transistor from a locked on coil. Most machines if you had been there at the end of sat night had tickets on them stating - out of credits. The techs could not get to the machines due to the amount of people present.
 Centaur kept blowing solenoid fuse - not enough time to fix it despite a new coil being put in place - only machine to not work at all.

Lack of air flow - my fault... i had the side door right next to me and i deliberately had it shut to stop the bloody wind blowing all my stuff about and to prevent non payers from entering.
 Stale air - Wottos fart.
 Commercial guys were invited but had to contribute to set up costs - this was declined.
 Did Expo make a profit?? I doubt it but i dont know
 Did i?? No friggin way..... but theres a year ahead yet and from the interest ive had POST Expo - it will pay itself and then more.

 Within 2 hours of expo being open i asked Rian if next year meant a bigger venue - the answer was a definate YES!

Expo is here to stay.. have been talking to Michael this morning... and ill be on my stall next year and it will be full of merchandise

[PeterW]

I hope this event grows and grows, if it includes an auction then so be it- its ALL about pinball and getting new interest.

I had a blast …….and tell me who DIDN’T come away from there last week wanting another pinball machine – and THAT’S what its all about.

Totally agree with you Wotto.

I only went on the Saturday and absolutely loved it. I thought the range of pinballs there was excellent - from brand spanking new Sterns down to some fairly rough old machines but I loved that too. I get a kick out of seeing an old machine that's obviously been played a lot - it's history in the flesh and it reminds me of the machines I played as a kid - none of them were ever in new condition. And being able to play a brand new Stern was sensational - I just don't see any of these new machines sited anywhere.

I left the Petersham Town Hall with a big grin - I felt like I was a kid again that afternoon, being in a room with so many pinballs and everyone having so much fun.

Can't wait for next year's event! 

[goodolddays]

Well i got free reign of all the pins at 8.30am - only one not working - Centaur... which actually was the one i wanted to play most.

There was not a pin that didnt get constant use throughout the whole day - honestly.. as one player finished - another took their place. Those machines were running hot.

As i walked round i smelt one burnt transistor from a locked on coil. Most machines if you had been there at the end of sat night had tickets on them stating - out of credits. The techs could not get to the machines due to the amount of people present.
 Centaur kept blowing solenoid fuse - not enough time to fix it despite a new coil being put in place - only machine to not work at all.

Lack of air flow - my fault... i had the side door right next to me and i deliberately had it shut to stop the bloody wind blowing all my stuff about and to prevent non payers from entering.
 Stale air - Wottos fart.
 Commercial guys were invited but had to contribute to set up costs - this was declined.
 Did Expo make a profit?? I doubt it but i dont know
 Did i?? No friggin way..... but theres a year ahead yet and from the interest ive had POST Expo - it will pay itself and then more.

 Within 2 hours of expo being open i asked Rian if next year meant a bigger venue - the answer was a definate YES!

Expo is here to stay.. have been talking to Michael this morning... and ill be on my stall next year and it will be full of merchandise

Excellent feedback Gavin and I'm sure you will be busy with "Expo sourced" orders .  

[Ford Fairlane]

I hope when i said that the only thing i was a little pissed about was that some of the machines were'nt working was not taken as a means of bashing the expo. I LOVED the expo and was only trying to relate the experience in total. 

This expo must go on and im so glad to see that people are already planning the next one... bloody awesome!!! If there is anything i can do to ensure the next one is even bigger and better, i am more than happy to help out any way i can!

By the way i read my local rag today and there was a story on the expo  ... I didnt realise Rian was a casula boy just around the corner from me !!

[bossninja17]

My 2 cents worth.
I'd been hoping for a while for a chance to meet "in the flesh" AP members. The expo provided that opportunity and for $5 I got to play some machines, meet up with AP members, have an entertaining night at the dinner ($25 was not bad value) and the only effort I had to put in was to turn up. Not a bad deal. There was a lot of work that went into that expo and , yeah, it wasn't perfect, but jeez it was good.
Tony's idea of a committee and a year's lead time to plan a bigger and better event has my 100% support.

[furballx]

Jeese, I got my $5 worth just playing Cactus Canyon and 24.  Hobbies are about people as well as products.  Expo was no exception for me.  Met a lot of good people that I have previously know only by net-speak.  Did not buy any parts, but so what (that is what your Paypal account is for  )?   Looking forward to the next one.
Dave

[GORGAR 1]

Great news Expo 2010-hopefully "fireball" is there again as I played heaps of games on that machine and just loved it..Better start saving

Peter...

[mjdoz]

Drove down from Brisbane spent my $5 and was impressed by many things including the number and range of machines as well as the number of people I got to meet in the flesh rather than on the forums.  I was only there from around 9:15 till 1:30 on Saturday but still very much worth the effort to get there.

Things that could have been better / should be considered for next time:

More space - who knew so many people were going to show up - By midday you had be special friends with everybody just to get to the machines

More Techs - they were struggling at 9:30 so had no hope once the place got crowded to keep things running.  With the crowds no hope of getting to the machines.  Both Forum are full of capable people who could assist for some of the time so resources should be easy for simple issues (stuck balls etc) leaving the paid techs for the hard stuff.

Free Play - this is pretty simple to set up on most SS and EM machines (not sure about DMD but most have a built in option) and can be jumpered just for the day rather than have to add credits manually.  Would have saved a lot of effort and disapointment.

Overall a great effort and I am looking forward to the next where I can hopefully atgend the dinner as well.

Michael

[pinballist]

I'm so glad to hear there's another one

Definitely agree that the next one needs to be held at a bigger venue because by about 11am on Saturday you could not even squeeze through some of the aisles let alone get a game on any of those machines.  I was a bit disappointed Strikes & Spares wasn't working or that beautifully restored Star Trek.

Oh and another thing, definitely raise the price of admission to at least $20. Paying $5 cheapened the event IMHO.

Overall it was a very surreal experience and I look forward to the next one :)

[ajlaird]

I'm so glad to hear there's another one

Definitely agree that the next one needs to be held at a bigger venue because by about 11am on Saturday you could not even squeeze through some of the aisles let alone get a game on any of those machines.  I was a bit disappointed Strikes & Spares wasn't working or that beautifully restored Star Trek.

Oh and another thing, definitely raise the price of admission to at least $20. Paying $5 cheapened the event IMHO.

Overall it was a very surreal experience and I look forward to the next one :)

The pricing is a balancing act - I think for the first one the idea was to get as many punters in as possible. A number of my friends in Sydney attended because it was so affordable. The pricing worked in a way that exceeded expectations and so the venue ended up being a bit squashy. But I don't see that as a particularly bad thing.

A jump from $5 to $20 is too big in my opinion. And the pricing should definitely encourage kids to attend with their parents.

[illawarra_steelers]

This will all be taken on board....the question was raised on how can Aussie Pinball raise it's profile at the next Expo?

One suggestion: Are we able to set up a PC with a router and 'go live' at Expo?

[ajlaird]

This will all be taken on board....the question was raised on how can Aussie Pinball raise it's profile at the next Expo?

One suggestion: Are we able to set up a PC with a router and 'go live' at Expo?

A laptop with a mobile internet connection would do the job, only potential problems would be reception inside the building and the bandwidth usage. The advantage would be that people could register straight away and then when they get home activate their account. Also we could have another computer showcasing some of the restore threads and the how-to's, plus the site sponsors. Rather than being live this could be done as screenshots so a slide-show or powerpoint style presentation. And by next year we could easily have more merchandise available, thus appealing to a wider audience.

Re pricing, the more I think about it the more convinced I am that if it goes up then kids should be either free or so close that it doesn't hurt.

[illawarra_steelers]

Agreed Andrew. I should be able to borrow some PC and monitors from work (but I'm about to apply for another job so mighten have access next year).

A Powerpoint slide show would be an excellent idea also on another PC showcasing as series of restorations

The admission price was discussed and will be raised, not to grab more money to cover costs of bringing in guest speakers from the US...

[ROLLERBALL]

Maybe on the friday night before the expo they could have a MickB resto/repair talk and show...may be hard to talk Mick into it though I guess....still he could charge $10 entry or something...

[Wotto]

I should be able to borrow some PC and monitors from work.

A Powerpoint slide show would be an excellent idea also on another PC showcasing as series of restorations

When the time gets closer , ask me if we have any old plasmas at work that we could loan ( 1 ) - now THAT would be a good display for the restore presentations  I can ask at the time.....getting one wouldnt be a problem,,,,,security/ insurance for theft/breakage would concern me though.