- My Heroes -
©1999 - Donald A. Thomas,
Jr.
all rights reserved - http://www.icwhen.com
(Revised 08/27/99 )
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by Donald
A. Thomas, Jr.
Typically,
I try to be very careful when using
emotionally-charged descriptions of events. Such
depictions can come across as mushy or
disingenuous. Just the same, I think it will be
impossible to ignore emotions to describe Classic Gaming Expo
99 (CGE99). It was more than just
revisiting friends or having Ed Loggs daughter
ask me for my autograph. It was more than the
award presented to ICWhen.com
by Walter Day of Twin Galaxies
during the Friday night celebrity dinner. Although
I admit those things are memorable, they fall far
short to describe the shows brilliant ambiance.
John
Hardie and Keita Iida have been video game fans
for a very long time. I remember them contacting
Atari Corporation in Sunnyvale, California
frequently to learn about what we were working on.
They were always receptive to any freebies we
might send them and always interested in any great
deals that Atari had not yet advertised. That may
not be an unusual story. Atari received thousands
of such letters and phone calls every week. But
not too many fans planned their vacations to visit
Atari or took time off from work to attend a cross
country trade show in which Atari was an
exhibitor.
These
gentlemen regard the video game industry as a
magical kingdom. The pioneers of the industry are
their greatest heroes and there is no boundary,
financial or otherwise, that holds these men back
from their greatest pleasures in life
Classic
Video Gaming. I think that is where the true magic
begins. The magic that captivated the hearts of
CGE99 organizers was shared with everyone who
attended.
For those who are not interested in
classic video gaming, what John and Keita have
done has little meaning. Personally, I understand.
I would have little interest to meet a room full
of archeologists at some type of bone and fossil
exposition. Notwithstanding, what these guys have
done is no less than remarkable. For the first
time in video game history, a gathering of the
industrys most noted pioneers has taken place.
Not at some private resort. Not in a mansion
accessible only by limousine. But at a place and
in a venue advertised to the public. These men and
women put aside their personal and corporate lives
to attend a special event organized by a group of
young, energetic and inexperienced show promoters.
Not only did CGE99 attract the industrys most
noted personalities, but the floor was swarming
with lights and cameras from media opportunists
hoping to interview even half of the dozens of
names that attended the show.
Not many of us will fully appreciate the
obstacles that confront a trade show organization
of any size. Usually, a trade show is funded by
some greater source of cash, but CGE99 was fully
funded by the remaining college funds the
organizers had saved
in many ways the show was
funded by their allowances. And the expenses are
great. There are scouting trips, there are t-shirt
and caps that must be paid in advance. There are
Las Vegas event fees and hotel expenses. There was
the fully paid celebrity dinner hosting well over
100 people. There are the special favors that some
guests demanded, not appreciating the fact that
the organizers were paying for them from their own
pockets. There were equipment rentals and catering
guarantees. Not to mention, time off from work and
phone bills into the hundreds of dollars.
If the financial issues are not enough,
theres the sinister side of individuals whom
try to ruin the success of others. There were the
online controversies. There were unproven
accusations by people who should know better.
There were newsgroup posts forged in the name of
show organizers and there were a few people bitter
that CGE99 was not an opportunity to make a lot of
appearance fees.
Personally, I am very proud of Keita
Iida, John Hardie, Sean Kelly, Don Rogers, Larry
Anderson and the numerous other volunteers who
contributed to this years show. No, Im not
really proud of them as much as Im proud to
know them as a new part of history that is in the
making. In my view, they have earned their
positions as members of the video game industry as
much as any of the guests that attended. These
guys are now my true heroes.
I look forward to sharing next years
show with my heroes.
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Visit ICWhen.com for
over 160 exclusive photos from CGE '99.

Keep an eye on us.
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- Profile -
©1997-1999 - Donald A. Thomas, Jr.
all rights reserved - http://www.icwhen.com
(Revised 08/27/99 )
©1998 Donald A. Thomas, Jr. all rights reserved
Donald
A. Thomas, Jr. (curator@icwhen.com)
has been a dedicated Atari
products user and recreational coin-op gamer since the early
eighties. He officially joined Atari Corporation in
November of 1989. Previously, he worked as the Advertising
Director at the Federated Group, a 65-store chain of electronics
stores once owned by Atari. For the first several months, Don
worked for the Tramiels as the Portfolio Marketing Manager. While
at Atari, he applied his best efforts to help product launches
including the Portfolio, Lynx, Falcon,
ST Book, Jaguar and a variety of other hardware
and software products. In his most recent years at Atari, Don was
the Customer Service Marketing Director until the tearful end
when Atari sold its assets to JTS in 1996. One of Don's biggest
accomplishments is the development and implementation of a sales
entry and management application for the entire Customer Service
Department. It was installed on deadline and never suffered
downtime. Don is well known as Atari's "official"
spokesperson and for his Internet-based "Crazy Don"
sales during the final months of Atari's autonomy. Don currently
holds a prestigious position in the gaming industry and is
publicly accessible through his web domain (http://www.icwhen.com).
I.C. When offers a comprehensive
chronological history of video games and computers which Don has
developed over the past few years.
COME CELEBRATE THE GOLDEN AGE OF
ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT!

The "Father of
Videogames" Ralph Baer demonstrates the
"Brown Box" which he developed in
1967
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Are you nostalgic about Atari,
Intellivision, Apple II or Odyssey? Do you appreciate the
accomplishments of programmers, hardware engineers and executives
that brought you many hours of enjoyment in front of the TV,
monitor or at the arcades? Well, over 650 dignitaries, media and
general attendees descended upon Las Vegas on August 14-15, 1999
to attend Classic Gaming Expo '99, which was a grand spectacle
solely devoted to celebrating the history of video, arcade and
computer games.
For those who
couldn't make it this year, or attended the event and want to
look back and reminisce, we will have a thorough recap of the
show, including pictures and video. Additionally, an official
CGE'99 video will be available for sale shortly. Please visit
the CGE'99
Video Page for information on how to order your copy
today. In the meantime, several websites contain CGE'99
highlights and pics, among them being I.C. When, GameSpot
and IGN Pocket.
Moving forward, we
plan to begin preparations for Classic Gaming Expo 2000
once we take a moment to catch our breath. Please check back
periodically as all announcements surrounding next year's show
will be made right here.
Finally, we'd like
to thank everyone for attending the show and helping to make
CGE'99 a major success. We'd especially like to thank Les
Caron, Clint Dyer, Robert Worne, Larry Anderson, Kevin Stazco,
Don Rogers, Joe Santulli, Lee Krueger, William Smith ("Smitty"),
Rob Brown, Leonard Herman, and Tom and Debra Keller for going way
beyond the call of duty in helping out -- bigtime.
See you next year!
- The Classic
Gaming Expo Coordinators
...John Hardie, Keita Iida & Sean Kelly
Journey
Back: Inside the Classic Gaming Expo
The anticipation is over, and Classic Gaming Expo '99 (CGE)
is now a thing of the past. Despite an Internet scandal in which
an important industry leader backed out of a commitment and
accused the CGE team of inappropriate behavior, the show went on
(as all shows must) and a grand time was had by all who attended.
CGE was the brainchild of two die-hard video-game collectors:
Keita Iida and John Hardie. Iida and Hardie's experience in
organizing classic video-game meetings began in late 1995 when
they co-founded NAVA (North Atlantic Videogame Aficionado), which
still meets every six weeks in Videogame Connections, the store
owned by Mike Etler in central New Jersey. In 1998, they hooked
up with Rich Tsukiji, the organizer of the annual World of Atari
conventions. With Hardie and Iida's assistance, World of Atari
'98 moved to Las Vegas and expanded to classic gamers of all
kinds, not just Atarians. However, because of the name of the
event, many gamers stayed away, believing it to be an Atari-only
event.
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