Includes those that were "present" via the streaming. So how many were actually there?
100?
There might have been close to 100 that attended, but not more than 60 to 70 at any one time, and more like 50 most of the time.
Last year's buffet dinner had around 40 something people and this year was about 65, so about a 50% increase. I was disappointed that there were not more people that attended this year, given the announced guests, the fact that it is THE 25th Anniversary of Amiga and the number of new recent announcements and changes that could be seen first hand at the show, not to mention the best prizes given away this year, compared to most other AmiWest shows in the past. Personally I was hoping for at least double the number of people to show up this year.
I am now glad that I did not have room, or time to pack more items to sell at the show, as I would most likely just been bringing most of them back with me again.
I also want to address any complaints that some have made regarding the show being nothing more than an AmigaOS4.x promotion opportunity. This has not been the case the last couple of years and I felt quite welcome, displaying MorphOS2.x for the last three years, but this year's show did have an obvious slant toward OS4.x due to the guests that chose to attend and the interest in the soon to be produced for beta testing of the AmigaOne X1000. If however this trend turns out to be a recurring theme at AmiWest in the years ahead, to the exclusion of other Amiga alternatives, I will need to re-evaluate my support and attendance plans.
No matter what the show looks like next year, I will not be involved with the Amiga Game Competition in 2011. The number of participants this year was very dismal and without the interest, it is just not worth the time and effort to put it on.
To everyone that did not attend, you should have come. We are a tiny community that will not survive if more people do not get involved and provide some kind of support to developers, dealers and hardware manufacturers.
