Gauging interest in a booth for Portland Retro Gaming Expo

[GingerOfOz]

Hey all!

There's been a bit of discussion in the Discord about hosting a meetup at Portland Retro Gaming Expo this year, so I wanted to set up something a little more permanent to gauge interest a little bit better.

PRGE is happening between October 9-11 of this year. It's a big expo in Portland OR that happens every year, and a few community members have attended it in the past. It'd be my first year, but I'm in the area so it would be fun to bring some projects that are a little too big to cart around on a plane.

I'd be willing to foot the bill for a 2 day (Sat/Sun) half booth for PRGE, with a hookup for power. It's a pretty small booth, but the price jumps up to about a grand for anything bigger.

I'd probably bring some miniature Playstaceans to sell and make up the cost. My only concern is having people to cycle in and out, I'm perfectly happy to be behind the booth for 75% of the time, but I don't want to be stressed out about finding time to grab food. It would be great to have 2 people in there as much as possible, so that one person can hold down attendees who accuse us of using emulation, so the other can aggressively lecture them about the capabilities of trimmed consoles.

If you're in the area and want to bring something to show off, or are planning to come anyways, respond below! I'll want to get the payment in for a booth ASAP so that we don't run the risk of getting crowded out.

Hope to see a lot of you there!

 

[Lazr]

I can bring a few Wii/U trims and some stock boards to show off

The only project I have that I could show off at this moment is my Wii U Mini, but that could change.

For projects that arent mine that I could bring:
a Kawaii, a gc nano, a wii micro

i uh, dont have any portables. hopefully someone else could fill that gap.

 

[PizzaPerpetrator]

If I rushed to finish a portable, I could probablyyyy bring something

 

[subierekt]

I could bring my ashida and my tadboy color. Potential maybes, tinytendo, kawaii. My mini pvm, short stack, Neptune. All unfinished but maybe with a deadline I’ll get to it.

 

[leggomyfroggo]

I'm definitely down to show up for one day and show of the Frog and Tad Boys, and the Time Frog.

 

[subierekt]

Also, I’m not sure my job situation will look like then but if possible I could be there most of the time so you can get a break.

 

[GingerOfOz]

All right, a half booth has been reserved! Hope to see lots of you there

 

[Lazr]

HYPE

 

[PizzaPerpetrator]

helll yeah, can't wait!

 

[lasersox]

Thanks for being there! It was awesome to meet you guys.

 

[CrazyGadget]

BitBuilt goes coast to coast!

Only one month after RetroWorldExpo in Connecticut, the BitBuilt crew finds themselves at Portland Retro Gaming Expo for the first time!

I was excited to spend the weekend with @GingerOfOz, @Lazr and @leggomyfroggo, especially since my time with everyone at MGC was limited.

My weekend started off a bit hectic with a missed connecting flight and being stuck in Denver for longer than expected, but my friends and I made it!
We got to see this incredibly backrooms-esque part of PDX airport and had to grab pics on our phones, digital cameras and film cameras:

We got to work on Saturday and showed off our wares, gave our schpiels, and educated the masses on our cult.
Despite being at the back of the hall, we got quite a lot of foot traffic!

Sunday was more of the same, though we got in a little earlier and got to see everyone's.......... booth protection:

My friends got me a Pikmin pin, and while looking for more, I found the holy grail:

I had so much fun this year at PRGE, and I hope we can do it again next year! Thank you Ginger for setting this all up!

 

[GingerOfOz]

I also had a lot of fun at PRGE!

We forgot to take a group photo (oops) but our booth looked something like this with all of us there, just imagine me (but super jacked) standing there behind the Playstaceans

My Playstacean tower. The little metal rack was really nice for density on a cramped table, will probably bring it to future cons.

My pile of portables

Crazy's pile of GameCubes that are definitely GameCubes and none of them actually have a Wii hiding inside

Lazr's Wii U and Kawaii setup. The Kawaii got pulled out of its stand while running multiple times, but it tanked everything.

PRGE was a lot of fun! I think my highlight was someone picking up the Egg Boy and saying "yoooo this is the size of my watch!" and Froggo immediately flexing on them with his real Gameboy watch.

I'll be trying to secure a better booth next year where we can assemble a portable over the weekend like we do at MGC. If you think you might want to take a trip to PRGE next year, let me know now so I know what size booth to target. Dates aren't official yet, but it will probably be early October like this year was. Hope to see some of you there!