[Coco] Fest Ideas was Aaron's apology and Coco Contest Results

Tue Apr 30 17:05:05 EDT 2013

I agree with Aaron. The auction has served multiple purposes - to recoup costs for the Fest, to benefit members, and to draw Fest attendees. It already troubles me that anyone would be purchasing items in the auction simply to dump them immediately for profit on eBay or elsewhere. There is no way to prevent this of course. If the goal were simply profit, the club could simply list all items in an online auction and bypass the fest entirely. I don't have a problem with someone acting as proxy for other members, but I don't think the club need be directly involved or burdened with responsibility for that. Trying to coordinate various online media and their associated delays would impact the auction flow. The feeds have all been done on provided networks in a best effort fashion. That said, there may be opportunity for more interaction via the web for other purposes, such as having a live presentation to the Fest by a remote member. Or, we may be able to more formally have the live feed manned by volunteers during the FEST since Aaron can only currently be in a max of 3 places at once.

I'm in no way trying to lock out people from the fest or the auction, just agreeing that its a slippery slope for the reasons above and we could quickly have more online people than actually at the Fest. That could place an unenjoyable responsibility on a small group at the Fest.

Cheers,
-Mike R

On Apr 30, 2013, at 4:07 PM, Aaron Wolfe <aawolfe at gmail.com> wrote:

> A few thoughts about this....
> 
> First and foremost, I think the primary goal of any internet services
> must always be to encourage physical attendance to the fest.
> 
> There is a balance point between extending some of the fun to those
> who just cannot make it and giving people an excuse not to try their
> best to attend in person.  If we can find it, the online activities
> will feed the fest.  However, these same things might degrade the fest
> or the experience for those who do attend if we are not cautious.
> 
> There is no doubt the video feed could be improved.  In past years I
> have done walkarounds and done more with moving the cam to different
> interesting areas.  This year I simply did not have time to man the
> post as I would have liked to.
> 
> I honestly have mixed feelings about the idea of internet bids in the
> auction.  I am glad that the people who Allen helped to acquire some
> hardware this year were able to participate because I know they are
> "real coconuts" who will make great use of the items, and in some
> cases I personally know these were items they struggled to find in the
> past.  However, as was mentioned elsewhere, opening bidding to the
> entire internet could easily attract the same opportunists who control
> ebay and who have ruined the fun for other platforms.  The auction has
> always been a unique opportunity for those who make the effort to
> attend and I think this "perk" is quite valuable.
> 
> I like Allens idea of accepting bids only from Glenside members.  I
> think I would take things a step further by specifically not having
> any official method offered to remote members for casting bids.  This
> is not to say that internet bids would be forbidden, simply that to
> bid you must make the arrangements yourself with someone you know at
> the fest.
> 
> Well.. just my opinion.  I'll help to provide whatever services are
> generally agreed upon, just wanted to express some concern.
> 
> -Aaron
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 8:47 PM, Bill Pierce <ooogalapasooo at aol.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I wasn't at the fest, but I saw more people in the chatroom than I ever have and all eyes were on the video feed.... ESPECIALLY during the auctions!
>> Allen Huffman was grascious enough to make a few "proxy" bids for people in the chatroom which I thought was awsome! And so did the ones who won their bids. I think a lot of money could be raised in this manner as the Fest is really just too far to travel for many of us with the economy the way it is.
>> With this said, I have a few suggestions/requests for next years fest.
>> 
>> Have someone IN the chatroom who's at the fest to relay auction items and bids. There were times the cam came through a little slow and bids would have been way behind if only the cam were used. Also, the sound was bad if the cam was too far from the auctioneer.
>> 
>> Have a PayPal account set up for immediate payment of items. If payment doesn't come through in due time, item goes back up for auction or to last bidder before the winner.
>> 
>> Do regular "walk arounds" with the cam during non activity times to let chatroom people see the items for sale. If they are interested, have the vender email or come in chat.
>> 
>> Venders make a website with items listed that will be offered. That would help with knowing what the venders have.
>> 
>> Again, a paypal account would be the way to go for the internet sales.
>> 
>> Have a cam for each room used. There were times the cam was sitting on the table staring at the door and everyone was in the other room. I know this could get a little much, but it's a thought.
>> 
>> These ideas could raise a lot of money for future fests as well as benifit the vender's pockets :-)
>> 
>> Just some random thoughts...
>> Bill P
>> 
>> Bill Pierce
>> My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
>> https://sites.google.com/site/dabarnstudio/
>> Co-Webmaster of The TRS-80 Color Computer Archive
>> http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/
>> Co-Contributor, Co-Editor for CocoPedia
>> http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
>> E-Mail: ooogalapasooo at aol.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Frank Pittel <fwp at deepthought.com>
>> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>> Sent: Mon, Apr 29, 2013 8:28 pm
>> Subject: Re: [Coco] Aaron's apology and Coco Contest Results
>> 
>> 
>> Allen,
>> 
>> I have to agree that this years fest was unusual. There was an energy and
>> excitment I haven't seen since I started going
>> to the fest. If you look at the posts on the mailing list and conversations on
>> the coco IRC channel you can see it. There's
>> new hardware being designed and built as well as new software being written!
>> 
>> The Other Frank
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 07:16:35PM -0500, Allen Huffman wrote:
>>> 
>>> On Apr 29, 2013, at 7:00 PM, Glen VanDenBiggelaar <glenvdb at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Aaron, Even though we have never met in person (you or John for that
>> matter), I was (as you know) watching the live stream as you made the so called
>> comment. It appeared to me anyways, that you were making a good natured
>> "ribbing" toward John, and there is no way anyone who was watching should have
>> or could have taken it any other way but two old friends needling each other. I
>> am not sure who took offence to it, other than someone who was telling someone
>> else about it and no seeing the whole thing in context. I wouldn't worry to much
>> about it, you did a fantastic job trying to bring the even to us, who could not
>> be there. Allen did a great job filling in also. I, for one, want to thank all
>> the effort it was for you to do what you did at the fest and the side projects-
>> I, at least, appreciated it, and if someone got bent out of shape for you having
>> a bit of fun with John, then they need to get a life.
>>>> -thats my 2 cents (for what its worth).
>>>> _ again, thanks.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I don't know if there was any offense, but he clarified after I asked him what
>> the deal was. I was at the show, but I missed whatever inside joke started it
>> and asked him for some details. Without seeing it in context, and just reading
>> those words, I figured others might have been confused too. I certainly was
>> puzzled at why the whole fest started picking on Linville ;-)
>>> 
>>> This was a weird Fest. I was there, but was learning about stuff going on by
>> reading the CoCo list or chat room. I missed the last two years, so don't have a
>> point of reference, but it sure seemed like a ton more happening this year than
>> many recent ones I did get to. Very neat to see.
>>> 
>>> I would like to rig my LED sign up to the internet next time so folks in the
>> chat room can get our attention or send messages if they need to. It might also
>> be useful for more merchants to have the chatroom loaded so folks who cannot
>> attend could still contact them about buying their goods.
>>> 
>>> -
>>> Allen Huffman - PO Box 22031 - Clive IA 50325 - 515-999-0227 (vmail/TXT only)
>>> Sub-Etha Software - http://www.subethasoftware.com - Established 1990!
>>> Sent from my MacBook.
>>> 
>>> 22nd Annual "Last" Chicago CoCoFEST! April 27-28, 2013. Lombard, IL.
>> http://www.glensideccc.com
>>> 1983 CoCo BBS ported to Arduino? Sure. Telnet: allenhuffman.dnsalias.com:2323
>> (nights)
>>> 
>>> 
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