[Coco] CoCo Fest video and chat

[Frank Pittel]

On Mon, May 01, 2006 at 05:57:16PM -0500, Roger Taylor wrote:
> At 01:34 PM 5/1/2006, you wrote:
> >There are an endless number of excuses on why one could not make it. Some 
> >indicate money, schedule conflicts, etc. All valid at some point in time 
> >but after 25yrs, people that have never attend a fest, that means it is 
> >not a priority.
> >
> >The web cam is OK for people overseas or the ones that don't not attend 
> >every year. It seems there is emphasis put on this technology so that 
> >people don't have to attend. Believe me the web cam is nothing like being 
> >there.
> 
> 
> 
> Mark,
> 
> Well, I won't flame you or anything, but there's a flip side to the coin 
> you tossed onto the table.  Here's my take:  First, I'll comment about 
> attending the fests and sitting at home watching, then I'll comment on why 
> the crowd may be reducing, or not.
> 
> Some people simply cannot attend the fests.  Some people want to go, but 
> can't produce the money at one time or by saving during a year, etc.  Some 
> people have demanding jobs.  Some people spend their vacation time from 
> their jobs going to places that appeal to the whole family.  Some people 
> cannot justify going to a fest; some people can.
> 
> You know as well as I that over the years it has become more of a challenge 
> even for the big names who have attended past fests, let alone the small 
> guys who dabble with the CoCo.  I'm sure that if a fest came to their 
> neighborhood or close enough for a simple drive over and not a flight, 
> things would change.
> 
> My take on the webcam is that now we have a way to show something to both 
> those who cannot attend, and those who have wondered what they are missing 
> and can now see what they can look forward to next year.  I saw comments in 
> the chat room from people who saw the crowd and said they were going to try 
> to go next year.  So, a webcam is not a reason to sit at home, but just a 
> look into the event for anybody interested in 1) going next year, 2) seeing 
> people they know but couldn't meet this year, 3) just plum 
> interested.  Everybody can sit and have their own reason for watching, but 
> I guarantee it's not just one, and all the reasons are positive.
> 
> Ok, how much advertising is now going into getting the word out about the 
> CoCo Fest?  A simple message to the mailing list once or twice is Not 
> Enough.  This isn't going to help draw a significant crowd that we're 
> expecting.  To whomever is organizing the fests each year, the work may not 
> be enough in getting the word out with details about what the visitor can 
> expect.  In the past, I've placed messages at the top of the front page of 
> CoCo3.com and I still plan to do this since that page alone gets hundreds 
> of hits a day and is seen by CoCo users from all over the world, even the 
> lost ones who didn't know we were still doing this stuff.  This is a great 
> place for notices like this because the Google ranking is excellent and the 
> site turns up high for most CoCo searches.
> 
> Ok, that's free advertisement there, but what about efforts to do more than 
> just post a message to a web site or mailing list.  Members of any club 
> involved in organizing events like this should all get together and help 
> boost interest in different ways.  It's sorta like how you buy stock in 
> your own company you work for.  It sucks to see that money going back to 
> them from your paychecks but obviously it's for investment reasons.  Invest 
> more time and money in getting the word out the right way for the CoCo 
> Fest, and I promise that more people will attend.  This year I've heard 
> very little about the upcoming fest and any searches on the web usually 
> turn up old notices about fests 3 or 4 years ago.
> 
> There's also been suggestions to start holding festivals that attract more 
> than just CoCo users.  This would create some competition and attract those 
> who are into more than just the CoCo.  There are many people our age or 
> abouts who dabbled in it all back in the 80's and would love to walk around 
> a huge room full of all of that stuff and see what's being done to keep 
> those computers alive, including the CoCo, ofcourse.
> 
> I really think in order for the fest crowd to get bigger there has to be 
> more advertising and more computer models of interest.  That's my take.

I agree that something needs to be done about the level of advertisment for
the fests. As mentioned earlier I first learned about the fest last year by
accident. I did a google search on the Coco and found your site. That was
where I saw your "ad" for the cocofest. So at least one person found the fest
from your site! :-)

I think the date and timing of the fest should be well known to subscribers to
this list should be well known. I would be interested in knowing if anyone on
this list didn't know about the fest. What we need to do is find a way to reach
out to people who like myself used a coco and for any of a number of reasons stopped.
They won't hear about it from your web page because they don't know about it.
It would be nice if Radio Shack would be willing to put up fliers in their stores
for the fest. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting though. :-)

I don't agree that the solution is to have more fests around the country. With the
fest in the Chicago area which is centrally<SP?> located and relatively easy to get
to drawing somewher in the area of 50 people. What expectation is there of getting even
that number in San Antonio or other city? I think we need to face the fact that the
number of people interested in going to a coco fest is shrinking rapidly and that
the remaining user base isn't large enough to support multiple events.

Frank