I'm being told by those in charge of this stuff that the final pre-order dates for tickets and rooms is fast approaching, with just under 2 quick months to go now before the show's 10th anniversary.
As I mentioned before, if you guys are planning on staying both Saturday and Sunday, there is a special rate of $25 for both days only available for those that pre-order. As for the show itself, chances are we won't pre-sale out... While the show does well, we've always struck a good balance between events/exhibits and the number of people at the show. We don't want to pack in as many people as possible and then watch things like lines and bottlenecks reach their breaking point... That's no fun for anybody. However, pre-orders are an important process for everyone since it allows us to immediately invest in upgrades for the show this year rather than waiting until the next show.
What we can sell out of are things like rooms, our upcoming Friday Arcade: Factory to Floor Tour, and the aforementioned T-shirts. I'm being told that our room reservations are already far beyond what they were in '10 which is interesting because more guests stayed at the Sheraton last year than we ever had in a year at the Olympia Resort. I actually did mine this morning because working on the show so much I actually forgot I needed to get a room for me and my guys, hehe.
Rates are $89 a night and includes free internet this year, for a total savings of about $30 a night off the regular Sheraton prices.
As for the Arcade: Factory to Floor Tour, I'm not sure how many of you are interested in the arcade and pinball aspect of the show, but this tour will allow our guests a rare look at Stern Pinball's facilities as well as arcade manufacturer Par-Tec, Inc., the guys responsible for making all of those really cool Raw Thrills arcade games like H2Overdrive and the really cool Terminator: Salvation deluxe cabinet. The tour then stops off at GameWorks to eat as well as giving you a chance to free-play any of the two-story arcade's incredible assortment of games for two hours. Finally, the show comes back to the MGC Friday night, likely in time for your pre-show dinner as well as our Friday night tournaments and parties.
This is also a final opportunity for you guys to get one of the limited-edition MGC 10th Anniversary T-shirts. The shirts were designed by a popular local artist and IMHO look really nice! There will only be as many T-shirts printed as there are pre-orders, and the shirts will be available in time for you to pick them up the first day of the show. Shirts are available up to size 3XL, which is unfortunately the size I'm pre-ordering, hehe.
On one final note...Is anyone here interested in putting on a mini TurboFest this year?
I hadn't visited this forum as much as I once did and I therefore missed a few PM's about doing a TurboFest this year. Now I'm being told that a lot of folks have cooled off to the idea when they didn't hear any word back from me.
If someone is still interested in giving the Turbo some extra love at the show this year, I believe I could give you guys a table next to the Jagfest this year. Jagfest could probably help you guys watch your stuff so you wouldn't have to stay at the table all day, and I could probably get you guys a cover for the systems for some added security. Any interest? Otherwise I do have a pretty good showing for NEC in our Console Arcade, but it wouldn't be "TurboFest," and I'd love to do another one for our 10th anniversary!
Later.
