Hi All,

Planning is underway for the 2012 version of Amiwest. I wanted to reach out to the online community to solicit feedback on what worked and what did not from 2011. In 2011 we introduced a few new items as a trial in hopes they would improve the show for all. So now is your chance to let us know what you want to see.

For example:

What did you think of the focus on the seminars?

How was the video and audio quality for remote viewers?

What is your favorite part of the show?

What should be added to the show?

What can be removed?


Expect to see changes to the amiwest.net site and annoucements on the prez blog in the comming weeks.

Cheers,
Bill "tekmage" Borsari

@tekmage

Quote:

tekmage wrote: What is your favorite part of the show?

Spending a weekend with a whole bunch of people that just "get it".

Quote:

What should be added to the show?

Boing shoes?

Online blimp cam?

Bathtubs full of ice and beer?

;)

Quote:

What can be removed?

United Airlines?

;)

Seriously, has anything been put on the website for this year's show? Wanna post the URL to it for the unwashed masses? Have dates been set?

Thanks,

PJS

@tekmage

Just reviewing last year's after show comments.

Almost 100% acknowledged that the audio was significantly better 2011 vs 2010.

The video shot on the floor was fine, but the focus should be on improving the quality of the video for the large screen, which we all acknowledged as being difficult to read. If we can achieve higher res, that would be great.

Robert mentioned talking to Ryu about hosting A/V files in the future. That should probably be addressed sooner than later. This became an issue after the show, due to use of blip.tv and all the issues that come along with that.

Improve Skype if possible. It was mentioned by Robert that he could not capture the Skype (and therefore upload the A/V) due to lag, amongst other things.

From Brian's perspective, get confirmation on exhibitors attendance and schedule of events earlier, so the show can be advertised and perhaps draw a larger live audience. Either way...earlier commitments lead to less work juggling schedule close to show time.
In the same vein, I'd advise sending out invitations earlier, so people can plan ahead.

#6

Last edited by number6 on 30-Apr-2012 at 01:30 PM.
Last edited by number6 on 30-Apr-2012 at 01:22 PM.
Last edited by number6 on 30-Apr-2012 at 01:16 PM.

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@tekmage

Just make sure that nebook+AOS4 and x1000+AOS4.2+SMP demo is there and the world will come.

_________________
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// For freedom, for honor, for AMIGA
//
// Thing that I should find more time for: CC64 - 64bit Community Computer?

@KimmoK

You mean the OS4 world

number6 wrote:
Quote:

Robert mentioned talking to Ryu about hosting A/V files in the future.

I gave Ryu all those Amiwest 2011 video files back last December.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug

@tekmage

for me the most interesting aspect of the amiwest conferences is the presence of matthew, trevor, steven, ben hermans and the friedens, and others who drive the platform. the news they bring and the announcements they unveil, for me, make the trip worthwhile. i also really enjoy meeting with other amigans and learning about new software to try on my amiga NG system.

i did enjoy the seminars last year, some more than others. what i'd like to see is more representation of available amiga software. for example, although pagestream is available for purchase, there is no NG system there running the latest version. i'd love to see folks demo netsurf, the digital universe, hollywood, and other 'commercial' software currently available.

by the way -- for any developers out there --- i'd be more than happy to run demos of your software on my SAM at amiwest this year if you're interested.

-- eliyahu

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@pjs

Quote:

Seriously, has anything been put on the website for this year's show? Wanna post the URL to it for the unwashed masses? Have dates been set?

Yes.

Quote:

AmiWest 2012 dates March 21, 2012 04:38:30 Posted By amigaprez People want to know about AmiWest 2012. The confirmed show dates are Friday, October 19 through Sunday, October 21, 2012, at the Holiday Inn Express Cal Expo, last year's venue.

The new blog link:

http://apps.amiwest.net/blog/

#6

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How about a seminar session on each current NG Amiga like the X1000, SAM 460, etc.... in action. One that focuses on the big screen of what it can do.

It is nice to see the small booth at the show for hands-on and folks go over and putz around on it but would be cool if someone that really knows the X1000 and Amiga OS very well (Solie, Trevor, etc...) and how they have it all loaded up and can show the rest of us what type of action it can handle.

I seemed to have missed out on flow of beer at last years show.... was there some? I guess after the banquet I went to bed too early. Would be nice if we can have flow of beer after the banquet so we can loosen up and get to know one another better.

Other than that, I had a great time last year.

TJ

@amigasociety

Quote:

I seemed to have missed out on flow of beer at last years show....

Friday night, I told you last year the party starts Friday night.


@pjs

Quote:

Bathtubs full of ice and beer?

And...and a hot tub full of babes, be fun testing those power & reset buttons..

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@all SACC members,

I think that more incentive and excitement must be generated to somehow get more attendance.

Hopefully there will be more new announcements to be made and new hardware to be demontrated, but those kinds of things are out of the control of the show organizers, so they need to think of other things that will attract more attendance. Then, what ever announcements and hardware demonstrations that show up will be bonuses to what the organizers plan in advance.

We can't depend on the commercial vendor(s) and hardware manufacturer(s) to carry the whole load of generating interest in show attendance. I know this is a difficult task, but if SACC starts now and becomes very proactive and aggressive in brainstorming ideas on what can be done and what kinds of things might create that little bit of extra interest that will bring more Amiga/OS4/AROS/MorphOS users to the show.

Even though I am the proud owner of my "First Contact" X1000 computer and glad that I can now run OS4.1.5, efforts need to be made to keep the show open and welcome for all parts of the Amiga community, and these efforts need to be more than just a statement that all Amiga related, or inspired platforms are welcome.

Over the last few years I have been attending the show, I would say that the focus of the show has been geared more toward OS4.x, so perhaps if more efforts were made to interest and encourage more AROS, MorphOS, and original Amiga 680x0 computer users to attend, the turnout would increase. It is generally agreed by everyone that the majority of Amiga users are still on their original 680x0 Amiga computers, so one way to increase attendance would be to increase the number of parts of the AmiWest Show that would appeal to 680x0 Amiga users.

This is just one idea of who needs to be targeted more this year and in the future. Another reason to try to target these 680x0 original Amiga users, is because they are the potential new customers for all three of the other Amiga inspired platforms and these are the people that will bring new money to your commercial vendor(s) and sponsor(s).

My main point is regardless if you agree with my other points, SACC needs to do the brainstorming, either behind closed doors, or out in the open with public input as well.

More people attending, equals a better show. I hope I can make it there again this year. It is a lot of fun.

Edit: (just look at all the posts in this thread so far and you can see that from the comments, it sounds like an AmigaOS4.1 show, not a show that wants to welcome Classic Amiga users, AROS users, and MorphOS users, just as equally as OS4.1 users. I have attended and know that all those other groups are welcome, but I am writing about perception that is being formed from the comments in this thread. My only concern is how do we get more people to attend AmiWest 2012 and not about any particular platform or group of users.

Last edited by amigadave on 01-May-2012 at 06:06 AM.

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Amiga! The computer that inspired so many, to accomplish so much, but has ended up in the hands of . . . . . . . . . .

@sundown

Must of been after 10pm? I think that is around when I retired for the night.

I will take some no-doze this next time and stay until I see brews flowing. Hehehe

Tj

@amigasociety

Friday night, starting around 4-5pm, has been classic repair night, They usually bring in finger food for us. Robert Goodlett (goody) has been bringing down some beer from a micro brewery from the Seattle area for the last 2 years, we usually indulge Friday night along with the food. Its a great time to just sit around & enjoy the company before the show starts on Saturday. Sunday, after the show, a bunch of us go out to dinner, about 20 last year, good food & a beer. Means I have to stay 3 nights in Sac to really enjoy the weekend.

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@sundown

Doh... I was not there Friday night. Misread your message.

I will make it a point to stay Friday and Saturday this next time.

tj

@amigadave

Since I've been part of AmiWest before there was one... I'm out of ideas

What are your suggestions.

Keep in mine: Money, money and of course money.

We are open to suggestions!

M

@OlafS25

We mean ANYONE who wants to come and enjoy!

@SACC-dude

Quote:

SACC-dude wrote: @amigadave Since I've been part of AmiWest before there was one... I'm out of ideas What are your suggestions. Keep in mine: Money, money and of course money. We are open to suggestions! M

I gave my idea already. Have the SACC membership meet and brainstorm for hours, or even during several different meetings between now and a couple of months from now.

My other suggestion is to start a thread on each of the Amiga related forum sites and ask the members of those sites what they would like to see, or have at this year's AmiWest Show that would make them want to attend. Tell anyone participating in such an online forum brainstorming session that any suggestions cannot cost the SACC club any additional money, because there just isn't any money to spend on the show, so the suggestions have to be possible without costing the club additional money that they don't have.

I don't think any miracles are going to happen, but it can't hurt to ask for suggestions on what might work to increase the number of people that can attend the show this year. Even if we can get another 10 to 20 new people to attend, they might be able to send the word to another 10 to 20 people for next year's show. I don't know what we can do to increase participation and attendance, but we should try something.

It is a great little show, but would be even better if we could double or triple the size of both attendee's and vendors and exhibits.

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Amiga! The computer that inspired so many, to accomplish so much, but has ended up in the hands of . . . . . . . . . .

@thread

add a paypal donate button and fund local paper and radio advertising for a month or 2 before Amiwest 2012 date.

Countdown counters for websites, banners etc.

I would like to see new partners, to see that AmigaOS is pushing new areas and into software houses.

Will Carl S and C< team be attending ? IT reporters ?

Invite local school/college for new users / blood.

Give handouts of pamphlets etc at local shopping mall.

Last edited by asymetrix on 01-May-2012 at 02:40 PM.

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I was a big Amiga user back in the day (sold my 4000 in 1992 or 1993 I believe), and have been following the forums for a couple years now. I've recently gotten a 3000 and 4000T up and running but haven't done too much with them yet.

I thought of attending last year and might consider it this year, but I'm on the east coast and the dates are right around my youngest son's birthday - so it would be tough.

In any case, here's what would attact me:

- Next gen demos and seminars (OS 4.x, AROS, MorphOS).

- Demos and seminars on using classic stuff today (perhaps networking, using WHDLoad, etc..)

Good luck with the show!

@asymetrix

Thanks for providing your suggestions. I am not sure that spending money on newspaper, or radio advertising would be cost effective, but if money could be raised, I have other ideas for it.

I think that valuable door prizes might bring a few more people through the doors to the show. Having Carl Sassenrath and Dale Luck was great the year before last (2010), specially when Carl decided to clear out his basement and sell his gear at the show. If the SACC guys had just known a couple of months before the show, I am sure that they might have been able to double the number of people that showed up, because Carl brought some really great items that several people would have come hundreds of miles just for the chance to purchase some of them.

If SACC can get more well known existing and former Amiga users and developers to show up with some of their gear or software items to sell or auction at the show, it might interest some new people.

I ran the Amiga Game Competition a couple of years and gave away some pretty good prizes, but decided that I did not want to do it last year, but I was very surprised that someone else in the SACC group did not pick it up and run it themselves, as the popularity of the game competition was growing and the year before was the best yet.

I think encouraging more people to bring Amiga hardware and software to the show to buy, sell, and/or trade, actually increases attendance and interest, as the largest number of people in our community is still by far the Classic users on original Amiga computers and through emulation on FPGA, or by using UAE. By getting more Classic users to the show, it also might increase the number of Classic users that get interested in one or more of the Next Generation Amiga-Like platforms.

I know it is hard to generate enthusiasm and participation, but it starts with one person and then another, and then another.......

Most of us are pessimistic about people outside of the Amiga community ever being interested in what we are doing, but I have started to see more examples of this attitude being incorrect.

AmigaSociety is just one example of a currently active member who never used an Amiga before a couple of years ago. Just today I found out about another person who is very interested in MorphOS, who has never used an Amiga before in his life and in fact has never even seen one. He is interested in, as he put it "Non-Mainstream" computing platforms and information about them. Since he already had an 800MHz G4 Quicksilver PowerMac, it was easy for him to try out MorphOS and he really liked what he saw.

I don't believe in "Pie-in-the-Sky" revivals of the Amiga platform to it's former status and glory, but I do believe that with hard work and dedication, some growth could happen and it could help make a difference in our tiny community and how much software we have, or will have in the next couple of years.

Edit: When you are at the bottom, there is only one direction to go and that is up. So stay positive, do what ever you can to contribute to making any part of our community better and maybe something good will happen. Personally, I don't think we are at the bottom anymore, and I think a lot of positive things have already happened, but if we are only talking about numbers of users and number of people willing to make a trip to an Amiga show, then maybe we are pretty close to being at the bottom and need to do something to try to improve those numbers (if we can). I still have hope that we will see some improvement, instead of more decline, even if the improvement is only very small. With all of the hardware that we have to choose from right now, you must admit that things are much better than they have been in some years not too far behind us.

Last edited by amigadave on 02-May-2012 at 06:45 AM.

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Amiga! The computer that inspired so many, to accomplish so much, but has ended up in the hands of . . . . . . . . . .