Quoted from Xylog

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BK's restoration has begun!

Man you're fast.  I've been working on one (that is still in pieces being restored) for almost three years now (or so it's potential owner keeps reminding me)... Meeting Xylog and spouse and sharing in your excitement was truly one of the highlights of the show for Kari (my booth helper) and I!  

Quoted from Monkeybug

I wondered why there was no console items?  I don't see why the two can't co-exist with some vendors selling classic carts etc... It would attract the console crowd and possibly introduce them to pinball/videogames and conversely, it seems that some arcade collectors also collect videogames.

That would work.

We'll have to wait and see what the verdict is on Nick and Mike running it again.

Ok Adam, point taken. I spent all my winnings on cocaine and hookers tonight.

you must have been hanging out with Alex Lifeson!

Yes, many thanks to everyone who helped out putting on this show, it was my first of any sort and I had a blast. Great to meet a lot of MAACA members also.

Quoted Text

Are there any big antique shows? What about comic book/sci-fi conventions?

There are two comic conventions that I know of-I can't remember who runs the spring one, but the one in late august is the Hobbystar show (Fan Expo), and it's a comics/scifi/anime/toy show.  There's probably some crossover between the communities, but I don't know if there'd be enough to justify getting in on them.  The shows are also much larger, and held downtown at the toronto convention centre.  

I'm beginning to think that the right location for a Pinball show is Niagara Falls.  Built in "kitch" tourist audience.  The purists here will travel. Food, hotels, attractions, casinos.  Can be scheduled as a tour bus attraction. Close to the border.  People will see it as an opportunity for a weekend "pinball" mini-vacation.  I'm relatively close to it.  Good location rain or shine because people have to travel anyways.  You know, all good.

Maybe twin with the Rochester Show and move it there.  Ideas are just that, ideas.

Quoted from websherpa

I'm beginning to think that the right location for a Pinball show is Niagara Falls

This sounds like an excellent idea !   To be held in the fall  ?
Is there a decent hall on Lundy's Lane that would offer free parking and cheaper to rent than downtown
or than Toronto ?


Cheers,
- Sylvain.

Quoted from websherpa

Maybe twin with the Rochester Show and move it there.  Ideas are just that, ideas.

I definitely had more fun at the Toronto Show.  The Rochester show was free to attend, so I'm not sure how they made it work.  I liked the Toronto show better cause everything was in free play and you didn't have to ask the guy standing near the machine to unlock the coin door to get it started.

I would be all for a venue change to something less expensive (although I have never rented space so I have no idea how much the stuff costs).  If it was held a little more in Toronto proper, would it get more passer-bys coming in?

I definitely liked the mix of games at the Toronto show.

Yes Wayne but we're now getting into a higher cost venue.

Look at Allentown...it has proven attendance year after year and a far greater number of vendors within the US. Still, they hold it at the Agriplex, hardly a high end venue.

The Niagara Falls show was done at an vacant shopping mall.

Pinball players are not to concerned about the venue so long as it is accessable. We here in Canada have a far more limited group of possible vendors in pinball related items.

So, I envision a church auditorium or a vacant factory somewhere near a major highway. The factory might work better since electrical service will be more suitably available.

Quoted from wbradley

Yes Wayne but we're now getting into a higher cost venue.


The Niagara Falls show was done at an vacant shopping mall.



So, I envision a church auditorium or a vacant factory somewhere near a major highway. The factory might work better since electrical service will be more suitably available.

That's where I was headed, not at a convention space proper (not sure how you interpreted that from my post) but an"Off Cliffton Hill" location, short term space, back to basics, but close enough to the "action" that it's accessible and still a part of the action.  I think the organizers are well aware of the possibilities, but Allentown has history and a build-up that the Toronto show does not.  Start again with a small venue in the right location, one that has a built-in audience, a parking lot for a boot sale (flea market).  Close enough to the border to make it accessible to more US vendors. Reasonable costing motel facilities, more restaurants and attractions.  Niagra Falls can be expensive for tourists, but not if you plan it right and venture away from the strip a bit.

I can't think of any Toronto venue that would be better than the International Center, except perhaps the CNE (during exhibition time) <- I suggest a tournament there to drum up public awareness of an upcoming event (again, whose got the money for dat?).  But there's little point preaching to the choir, the local collectors will go anywhere within reason, it's attraction of the out -of-towners, and the non-collectors that would help put the show on the map.  Otherwise just hold it anywhere with a parking lot (high school, church, legion, etc.) - keep it small and let it grow.  But I reason that a smaller town location than Toronto might be a better choice because with some annual regularity, that town might want to get behind its promotion for tourist value (well Niagara Falls doesn't quite fit there).

If it doesn't come together, I'll be tallking to Nick and Mike about having it right here at the Waterdown High School.  Pinball central.  Near here is where all the pinball action is.  !

Hangar. Really. There some of them peppered around Ontario empty, left over from the British Commonwealth Air Training plan. Someone bought these lands from the government. They just don't have use for all of the space that came with it.

Big, drive in access, lots of parking including grassed areas. As you say the Agriplex gets frequented because the show has run consistently for years. This would have to be a grassroots effort, but it would appear there are enough folks willing to pitch in to get it off the ground as long as the up front costs are minimal.

Allentown certainly isn't the center of the universe and yet they have made a go of it there. I am thinking something like Centralia Airport or Downsview Park might have the kind of unfinished space required.