Here's a sample from my archives... I'm sure I have older ones, but there ya go...
#: 291265 S3/Hot News and Rumor
19-Mar-97 06:16:57
Sb: Amiga 97 Report
Fm: Pat Larkin 74246,1077
To: All
This is your far-flung correspondent reporting on yet another great Amiga
show, this time Amiga 97, hosted by the Gateway Amiga Club (GAC) of St.
Louis, Missouri.
Nine members of the Amiga Society of Kentuckiana (ASK) made their way from
Louisville, Kentucky to St. Louis on Saturday March 15 for the first day of
the show; seven by car and two by plane. We got on the road a little before
8 AM and after approximately two and a half wrong turns and one (legal)
U-turn, rolled into the parking lot of the Harley hotel about 1:30 PM (12:30
St. Louis time), just in time, after registering, to miss the Internauts'
Luncheon. *B^( [Having taken a lot of flak as navigator to the Midwest
Amiga Expo (MAE) in Columbus, Ohio last year, I feel completely vindicated!]
*B^) Just as at the MAE, it was windy and _cold_ (there were even some snow
flurries!) so we hurried inside.
We learned at the registration desk that QuikPak had cancelled the day
before. My first reaction was that this was ominous, but later read in the
Dayton (Ohio) Area Amiga Gazette (Eric Schwartz, editor) that this was to be
expected if the buyout weren't complete by show time. The place was already
packed, especially the corridor outside the main exhibit hall, which held
the registration table as well as eight or ten exhibitors' tables that there
apparently wasn't room for inside. Here I chatted with the Schwartzes, Eric
and his dad Ron (may the Schwartz be with you); watched Lamar Morgan,
president of Amiga Atlanta, Inc. really hawk their Tenth Anniversary Banquet
video; checked out the really nice hardware at the Micro R&D booth; looked
longingly at the used hard drives and other great deals at the FASTRAX and
Dan's Deals booths; and bought some utilities at the booth on the end, which
my floor plan has labelled only as "Amiga Items."
I had missed the little side hall where Amiga Report/Legacy Magazine (a new
magazine-on-video Jason Compton is associated with) had their table. I got
there eventually and had a nice chat with Jason and with Pete Storonskij,
author of the bizarre and funny "Nuclear Golf" animation and the new game
Cephalotron (in game/2play on Aminet). Jason spoke of the big Computer 96
show he attended last year in Germany, saying it was HUGE but everyone there
complained about how small it had gotten, but I heard no such complaints
that day!
There were three or four tables covered with box after box of Amiga disk
magazines; there must have been several hundred of them! Bob and Diana
Scharp had some "I (heart) my Amiga" bumper stickers and some cool
color-changing rainbow check mark and smiley-face Amiga mugs at the Scharp
Designs table. I thought it showed real organization that the show chairman
had time to spend at his own booth!
About this time, my counterpart in GAC, newsletter editor William Maddock
caught up with me and immediately went into gracious host mode, giving me
the grand tour and introducing me to all these Famous Names of the Amiga
community. His enthusiasm and easy charm helped me get over that "Wow! I'm
meeting a celebrity!" awkwardness. (Thanks, Bill!)
We chatted with Don Hicks, managing editor of Amazing Computing magazine,
and Keith Siders, who was sharing Amazing's booth, showing his AmiFAST 3000
ZIP-to-SIMM adapter board. I noticed the Jesranis of Columbus's Compuquick
Media Center in the corner booth were doing the same land-office business
they had done at MAE. Next door was the poor HiSoft representative -- the
airline had somehow lost everything but his carry-on luggage, so he had
nothing to show, but there he sat, gamely representing his company as well
as he could under the circumstances. Next it was over to Canada's National
Amiga booth, where I made some dumb joke about "he talks just like 'The Kids
In The Hall!' " (no wonder they think us USAns are weird, eh?), and forgot
to write down the poor fellow's name. Ellen Kazmaier was at SoftLogik's
booth, offering really incredible prices on PageStream, TypeSmith and
several other items. She was a really persuasive salesperson, I'm sure they
moved a _lot_ of product out the door that day!
(Continued next post)
#: 291266 S3/Hot News and Rumor
19-Mar-97 06:17:36
Sb: #Amiga 97 Report
Fm: Pat Larkin 74246,1077
To: All
(Amiga 97 Report, Part 2 of 2)
Kermit Woodall at the Nova Design booth and the people at the Silent Paws
booth were surrounded by big crowds, so we moved on to the Intangible Assets
Manufacturing (I _love_ that name!) booth, where the (apologies to Dave
Letterman) "lovely and talented" Dale Larson was holding court. The GIF of
him on IAM's website doesn't do him justice. Dale did manage to see "Return
of the Jedi" that morning in a theater with a LucasFilm-approved sound
system, which we agreed makes a big difference. Continuing the theme of
great deals, Dale's book "Connect Your Amiga" was going for a great price,
and there were all those great metal Amiga logos lying there calling out
"Take me home & stick me on your computer!" I got a great shot of Dale
holding up the book for our newsletter and managed to score a couple of back
issues of The Amiga Informer as well.
NewTek had a very eye-catching professional-looking booth and always had big
crowds gathered around the Toaster Flyer setup as their talented and
somewhat flamboyant staff put it through its paces. Just to show that whimsy
still lives in the Amiga universe, the Flyer board has a row of eight or ten
LEDs which sit there and light up in sequence, back and forth, back and
forth. I immediately commented on the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica ("By
your command"), but those present under a certain age just looked puzzled
and cited Kit the talking car from Knight Rider.
In spite of the four and a half hours I spent at the show, I never did get
to take a close look at the Compuquick or Oregon Research booths, or talk to
the folks at the OZware or MoneySmart/Grafica Software tables -- every time
I started in that direction something else would come up and off I'd go in
another direction. I decided at the end of the day to make one last attempt,
but couldn't get through the crush of people gathering in the hall for the
door prize drawings. On the positive side, two of our group won items (Nova
Design's ImageFX and Aladdin4D demo video and a Fractal Pro image CD), and
then it was time to go.
Judging from the ticket numbers read off during the drawing, I'd guess over
fifteen hundred one-day and two-day tickets had been sold, with possibly a
few hundred more likely the next day, so I'd have to say the show was a
success. I certainly found it worth the eighteen hour day, the 500 mile
drive and the corny jokes the two cars told each other over the CB radio!
Many thanks to the Gateway Amiga Club for giving this little party and
inviting us all to it -- here's hoping for an even bigger and better one
next year!
Pat Larkin
74246.1077@compuserve.com Amiga Society of Kentuckiana Louisville, Kentucky USA
Please feel free to repost and/or use in your newsletter (& send me a
copy?)
