Third day of Notacon/Blockparty

[RobertB]

     On Sunday I awoke, after having only 3 hours of sleep.  The previous night I told people that I would be in the game room by 10 a.m..  Packing my suitcases, I hauled them down to the game room and officially checked out of my accomodations.
     It was very quiet in the game room.  Most of the gamers were either asleep, were down at the final Notacon sessions, or had departed the event.  A few still wandered into the room and played with the C= equipment.  Fellow Commodorian Kirk Lenigan, who I met at Notacon/Blockparty last year, came in, and we talked Commodore a bit.
     Noon was the Blockparty demo awards presentation, and I went down to the main room to see if my amateur video won anything in the Wild Compo.  Nah.  Not even in the top 3.  Well, I am sure I will find out later where it placed.  Jason Scott presented the awards and promised a bigger, better Blockparty for next year.  "Froggy" and "Tyger", co-organizers of Notacon, wrapped up everything, detailing some of the nitty-gritty of the show.  346 attendees, $28,000 in expenses; $25, 000 in admissions and sales (therefore, $3,000 in the hole).  They asked for more donations to alleviate the red ink.  However, they still considered it a great success, considering that they did not have major sponsors this year.
     With the end of their talk, I rushed back to the game room and started dismantling all the C= stuff on the table.  Jim Mazurek helped out, as I crammed most of the gear back into the one check-in suitcase.  Nate of Notacon came over and donated a nice-looking 1581 drive to me.  It was complete with box, instruction book, and power supply.  I told him that we had a TOGA user who would be able to utilize it.  Unfortunately, the suitcases had no more space in them, and I asked Jim to hold onto it and then mail it to me.  Rob O'Hara, author of the books, "Commodork" and the new one on collecting arcade games, did not come to retrieve the books that were on display on the C= table.  Jim took the Commodork book, and I took the other, both of us saying that we would Paypal the book money to Rob.
     Jim helped me bring everything to the lobby, and I called for a hotel shuttle bus to bring me to the Tower City RTA station, which had a train going to the airport.  Jim offered to bring all the C= gear next year to Notacon/Blockparty; his driving the gear in from Chicago would be easier than me flying the equipment in from California.  Jeri Ellsworth also came into the lobby to wait for a ride.  She gave me a hug and thanked me for the video presentation.  Finally, the shuttle bus came.  I waved to Jim and Jeri and walked onto the shuttle bus for the train station.

               Truly,
               Robert Bernardo
               Fresno Commodore User Group
               http://videocam.net.au/fcug
               July 25-26 CommVEx v5 - http://www.commodore.ca/forum and click on ComVEX

[RobertB]

     I still don't have my photographs of the C= table at Notacon/Blockparty organized yet.  But as soon as I do, I will send them off to Dick Estel for posting on-line at our website.

                Should be sent at the end of the week,
                Robert Bernardo
                Fresno Commodore User Group
                http://videocam.net.au/fcug
                July 25-26 CommVEx v5 - http://www.commodore.ca/forum and click on ComVEX

[Paul]

Awesome!  I'm looking forward to them.

[RobertB]

     Yesterday, my last photos and those from Rob O'Hara have been sent off for posting at our site.  However, Dick Estel is on one of his motorhome journeys right now and won't get to those pics until he gets back. 

                  Ah, wandering the highways and by-ways of the U.S.A.,
                  Robert Bernardo
                  Fresno Commodore User Group
                  http://videocam.net.au/fcug
                  July 25-26 Commodore Vegas Expo - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex