July 24th, 2008, 01:58 AM
Well, the first (of many hopefully) GEEX show is over. After a huge investment from MediaOne, and countless hours spent getting sponsors, exhibitors and speakers we can call the first year a great start! Just over 12,000 people walked through the event, and more than 180 gamers brought their PCs to the LAN party area to join in the 3 days of gaming fun. Many companies that opted for the "wait and see" approach to supporting a first year event, felt their choice was inaccurate and pledged their support for future events! There was even an exhibitor that purchased booth space on Thursday, following their overall high satisfaction with how well the layout was constructed and how much the the show added that much needed viewer participation.
The tournaments went quite smooth, each starting within minutes of the projected time. There were only a few issues with the machines sponsored by Geekbox Computers and Landing Zone, but were easily solved and things continued as they should. Vansilli added a very entertaining element to the tournaments with his extraordinary talents in match shout casting. Congratulations go out to team Chaos Crew for winning the DotA tournament, team Geekbox Computers for winning the TF2 tournament, team SureShot for winning the CS Source tournament (of course), and watFallOut for smashing the competition in TrackMania Nations Forever!
Many thanks to all those who made this event possible, namely MediaOne of Utah for putting up the investment and taking the risk. I hope the Utah gaming community was overall satisfied by the show, and I can't wait to see this event grow into what a gaming convention should be. Alliant Event Services did an excellent job of putting together the tournament stage and handling all of the visual elements of the show. Palit Multimedia came through at the last minute to provide excellent products for the TrackMania and TF2 tournaments, many thanks to you My[LiT]lePony (David), your assistance will be very much appreciated in the coming years as this event matures. The electrician from the Salt Palace did well, not a single power problem! Landing Zone and Geekbox Computers for their generous lending of PCs and Monitors to the tournament stage (the monitors are on sale for cheap, if you are looking, contact the Sandy Geekbox store for details and availability).
Soon, we will be starting a GEEX section in our forums dedicated to the goings on at the future events. We will provide insider information to many aspects of the show, and attempt to get consumer feedback directly from the dedicated gamers that attend our own LAN parties at the U of U. Thanks again to all for the continued support of Protocol 42, and for spreading the word and making a first year gaming convention a great success! We're looking at the South Towne Expo Center for next year, so stay tuned!
The tournaments went quite smooth, each starting within minutes of the projected time. There were only a few issues with the machines sponsored by Geekbox Computers and Landing Zone, but were easily solved and things continued as they should. Vansilli added a very entertaining element to the tournaments with his extraordinary talents in match shout casting. Congratulations go out to team Chaos Crew for winning the DotA tournament, team Geekbox Computers for winning the TF2 tournament, team SureShot for winning the CS Source tournament (of course), and watFallOut for smashing the competition in TrackMania Nations Forever!
Many thanks to all those who made this event possible, namely MediaOne of Utah for putting up the investment and taking the risk. I hope the Utah gaming community was overall satisfied by the show, and I can't wait to see this event grow into what a gaming convention should be. Alliant Event Services did an excellent job of putting together the tournament stage and handling all of the visual elements of the show. Palit Multimedia came through at the last minute to provide excellent products for the TrackMania and TF2 tournaments, many thanks to you My[LiT]lePony (David), your assistance will be very much appreciated in the coming years as this event matures. The electrician from the Salt Palace did well, not a single power problem! Landing Zone and Geekbox Computers for their generous lending of PCs and Monitors to the tournament stage (the monitors are on sale for cheap, if you are looking, contact the Sandy Geekbox store for details and availability).
Soon, we will be starting a GEEX section in our forums dedicated to the goings on at the future events. We will provide insider information to many aspects of the show, and attempt to get consumer feedback directly from the dedicated gamers that attend our own LAN parties at the U of U. Thanks again to all for the continued support of Protocol 42, and for spreading the word and making a first year gaming convention a great success! We're looking at the South Towne Expo Center for next year, so stay tuned!
