Virtual/online-only gaming conventions (Long Island Retro)

[socrates63]

Are there any noteworthy online-only classic gaming conventions in the near future? Did you attend any recently? How was your experience?

Little over a week ago, I attended virtually the online edition of the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo. It was my first virtual convention. Ticketing went smooth. Online experience was also smooth.

Being online only, it actually allowed me to "attend" more panels than usual. I usually only have a few hours to spend at a convention, so between shopping and browsing, I can only squeeze in a couple panels at most. I must have attended seven or eight panels and browsed the shopping area. My highlight was attending live Dan Kitchen's talk on his upcoming game Gold Rush.

For the immediate term, online conventions are what we're going to get. I'm briefly sharing my experience to encourage everyone to support your conventions and expos if they happen to transition to online only.

I grabbed this Centipede marquee style pin to bring a little physicality to the virtual experience. Hopefully, I can attend a Long Island RGE in person in 2021 or 2022.

[RickR]

You know, I haven't heard of on-line only conventions.  What a great idea.  Please make sure to share the news if you hear of any others. 

 

[HDN]

I have never been to a retro video game convention before.

[socrates63]

11 minutes ago, RickR said:

You know, I haven't heard of on-line only conventions.  What a great idea.  Please make sure to share the news if you hear of any others. 

 

I wasn't paying much attention to these things and only found out when Kelsey Lewin mentioned that she would be on a couple of panels. That's when I looked into it, and since it was only $10 to attend, I said why not. It was a good experience so I'm wondering whether there are any more coming up. 

For those who may be wondering, Kelsey Lewin is co-owner of Pink Gorilla gaming stores in Seattle, and she's a regular contributor on the Metal Jesus Rocks YT channel.

[socrates63]

14 minutes ago, HDN said:

I have never been to a retro video game convention before.

Harry, I highly encourage you to attend one, big or small. My first one was Seattle Retro Gaming Expo, a surprisingly very small event. Meet local gamers and collectors and local gamers who resell. I attended Immortal John Hancock's talk at last year's SRGE, and that inspired me to get back into Atari 8-bit and led me to acquiring the 800 and 800XL.

The big daddy in my part of the country is Portland Retro Gaming Expo. I've been to it twice, and that's a ginormous event. It was at 2017 PRGE where I started to reconnect to Atari. I think I mentioned that in my introduction post.

[Justin]

That's more or less what I've wanted the forums to be, between the scheduled events, contests, marketplace, and "show off your game room" threads. Especially events like the Summer Pizza Festival. That's the future.

[TrekMD]

I've been doing Comic Cons online of all sorts but I have not heard of any video game related virtual conventions.