3 Aug
2005
3 Aug
'05
9:34 p.m.
There was once
a show in California called The West
Coast Computer Fair. When it first started it was one
of the most interesting shows I've ever been to. They
had a really nice mix of large vendors and small
companies. Some even just had exhibits without any
specific sales ( they did advertise ).
Interesting, I've never heard of this show before
now. Can
you tell me more about how it was similar to and different
from VCF East 1 or 2?
I really need to see a west coast show to get a better understanding
of VCF events.
West Coast Computer Faire (note the pretentious trailing 'e')
was started as an annual event in about 1997? by Jim Warren
(think Intelligent Machines Journal, Dr. Dobbs, etc.)
He's a big guy, and rolled around the shows on roller skates.
There was no significant differentiation between exhibitors, attendees,
and staff.
The 1st one was San Francisco? (I missed that one)
The 2nd one was in San Jose (and resembled VCF)
The 3rd one was in Anaheim (and started to look like a trade show)
(exhibitors and staff started being differentiated from attendees)
The 4th one was in Brooks Hall and Civic Auditorium (SF) (1st one I
exhibited at)
They also started a spinoff show of "PC Faire"
After a bunch of years in Brooks/Civic, filling the whole place, including
selling booth space in the balcony of Civic, and in the hallway outside
the crappers, Jim sold the show to McGraw Hill.
Exhibitors, attendees, and staff became three separate groups.
Apple objected to the number of non-Apple booths and pulled out. Some
Apple people insist on calling the WCCF "PC Faire", because it was not
exclusively Apple.
After McGraw Hill mismanaged it for a few years, including trying to hold
it in Moscone Hall, they sold the show to Interface Group (Comdex).
Staff became a separate entity, with exhibitors and attendees lumped
together.
If you wanted carpet in your booth, you had to either rent it from the
show management for $75 for the weekend, or pay them $75 to unroll yours.
We had one nut that wasn't a wing-nut in our booth - it cost us $70 to get
caught using a wrench to tighten it.
The show got smaller, and almost as expensive as Comdex; exhibitors became
disgruntled. Some Apple people boycotted the show, and Apple ONLY shows
started up.
Show management stopped respecting seniority for booth selection priority.
I was tied for #1 on booth selection priority, and had a 10 x 10 corner
booth, when they rearranged the floorplan and reassigned all of the space
without consultation with exhibitors.
The show went under.
A number of times, we told Jim Warren that it was time to put the skates
back on.
Wow, that sure would kill the shows. Who would want
a
bunch of union workers who may know nothing about your
system moving it? (I'm thinking mini's and larger stuff here)