With all the votes cast, it became obvious folks took a cautious view of the months ahead, with September 25/26 and November 6/7 becoming early frontrunners. As of March 1, 2021, November 6/7 edged out September as a preferred date.
Along the way, I became aware that November 5-7 is also the 2021 date for the Midwest Gaming Classic. The hugely popular pinball/arcade exhibition event in Milwaukee, WI also contains “The Computing and Gaming Museum” exhibit, where Tandy Color Computers are shown along with other 80’s era home computers and videogame systems. It’s never ideal when conflicts like this arise, doubly so since MGC draws quite a bit from the Chicago area given the location, and I know this will affect some of our attendees. That said, the event offered the least conflicts from vote responses, seemed far enough in the year to hopefully sidestep current travel/attendance issues, and was favored significantly over any other option.
Thus, I confirmed the November 6/7 date with our venue and freed up the other dates. I hope those that find a conflict might consider spending one day at MGC and the other with us. I often attend MGC but it’s something that can be adequately enjoyed over a single day.
The new date does pose a unique challenge concerning our 2022 event, though. Normally, events such as ours don’t book the following year’s venue date until after the current event concludes. This is common, and since everyone typically runs the same play, the same date in the following year is often available. Yet, this year will be different, in that the 2021 show will (hopefully) occur in November, followed by the 2022 show in its regular April timeframe, a mere 5 months later. If that’s the preference, it’d be best to decide soon, to ensure the requisite 2022 date is available and reserved. But, if the community would prefer to see a bit more space between show dates, I could see the show potentially moving back 3-4 months (splitting the 17 month distance between the 2021 November show and the 2023 April show) to early August.
For what it is worth, I prefer scheduling the 2022 show in April, both because I don’t think two shows within 6 months is a significant concern (some folks have already noted they try to attend both CocoFEST and Tandy Assembly in a given year, and those shows are normally scheduled 6 months apart) and also because I think reserving that date is prudent in case circumstances prevent a 2021 in person event (possibly due to weather concerns). Feel free to add your thoughts, as we’ll need to discuss at some point before the May meeting.