Donnerstag, April 28, 2011

Back from The Gathering and Revision

This is something I posted on Pouet last night on last week's Easter parties The Gathering in Hamar, Norway and Revision in Saarbrücken, Germany.

First of all, the most important thing:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE SUPPORT!

This goes both for me personally, as the feedback for this Award show edition has been incredibly positive, and for the entire Scene.org Awards crew (at least as far as I know). Thank you for...well..everything, from voting to discussing, coming to the show, watching the show on the net and, of course, creating these pieces of art that often still open my mouth and eyes wide.


TO ALL ORGANIZERS AT THE GATHERING

It was an unfathomable pleasure and honor to be working with you, and this goes for both the entire production crew and everybody else I have met at TG. Duckers and Lug00ber, from you I received an amount of support I would've never expected, and I cannot find good words to say how much I am in awe of your efforts at TG.

Production crew, you probably noticed how unexpectedly the debriefing after the Awards show was for me, and hopefully also how much I was glowing with happiness to notice that you had been looking forward to this show as THE MAIN event at TG, and that you'd had an equally good time as we did.

You did very well, and your commitment is outstanding. It makes me very proud to have been at your event.


ON HOSTING THE AWARDS AT THE GATHERING

I was initially hesitant about the idea of hosting the Awards show at TG, for pretty much all the reasons mentioned in this endless Pouet thread. And I think now more than ever before that hosting the show at TG was the very best thing we could have done, not only for TG but for the entire Demoscene. The visitor numbers at Revision show clearly that the marketing efforts paid off, and I'm sure that all the rumpus would've seemed somewhat pointless if there hadn't been a "competing" demoparty that would at times state things like "Forget about Germany". All this couldn't have provided more oxygen for Revision's and its fans' enthusiasm.

The budget question has been discussed at length here but let me add one small detail. In my opinion, the statues are an extremely nice asset to winning an award, and whoever has won one will certainly agree. These statues don't come for free, and I am utterly grateful for TG offering to cover for not only this year's but also LAST YEAR's statues, something that TG really had nothing to do with. Holding an actual statue in your hands is something so much different from holding a mere certificate.

At the time TG offered to host and sponsor the awards, there was no alternative offer. Yes, I know there had been rumors about a German party. I was part of the team that said we'd want to organize a successor party. But it just wasn't clear it would happen for sure, and even if so, said party would have never been able to support the awards financially. Whether this was absolutely necessary or not, I will leave to others to decide, but I think I speak for everybody at Scene.org when I say that we're all very happy we were able to cover for two years of statues in one go.

The only thing you might want to blame TG for is posing the hosting question at a time when "the successor party" didn't really exist. But that's just their choice, and not only would I have done the very same thing but we at Scene.org were even happy that we had found such a hospitable solution so far in advance. Now than ever before I am convinced that TG offered to host the show (at least also) because of their commitment and enthusiasm about the Awards show, something that I, frankly, at times have slight difficulties to see in some circles.


ON CRITCISM ABOUT THE GATHERING

I've heard a lot of rumor about TG but NONE of the people badmouthing TG to me last year had actually BEEN there. I appreciate your loyalty to "the scene" (whatever that is) but talking about "splitting the scene" seems extremely ironic to a scene so small that almost nobody outside of it has ever heard about it. And please spare us all the crap about how much it's like Assembly. I have never been to Assembly myself but I have heard equally many voices saying that there are substantial differences between the two. And as long as you haven't seen both, it's not your opinion to have.

Now, if you have never been to TG there, here's something you need to do before having an opinion. Not only because it's sensible to know what you're talking about, but also because TG has a variety of things you might actually LIKE.

Yes, many teenagers at TG play games. Yes, they might be wasting their potential, and yes, they might look silly to us. They're teenagers. But some -- and I have also been talked to directly after the show by several kids who were excited to start something creative -- have a commitment about even the Demoscene that I sense lacking in some of "us" who spend a lot of time fighting instead of nurturing what some call "the scene spirit".

The TG kids by the way also have a very impressive way of bringing half of their bedroom that might have even put Scamp's endeavors in best times to shame. :) Seriously, it's very impressive to see how committed they are, regardless of what they do. And besides, they're EXACTLY our target group when it comes to keeping the scene alive. We're all aging, and if it's not people among the thousands of enthusiastic teenagers at TG who might become creative any time soon, I don't know who could be.

I strongly encourage everybody to try the 2-events-during-Easter thing just like I did this year with about 10 other sceners, especially if you've never been to TG. It is an utterly enjoyable thing to do, it will very likely strengthen your scene spirit, and believe me, if you really want to be, you will be drunk for a respectable part of the time. They're Norwegians; they've done their homework. :)
On top, when booked way in advance, it's not only cheap but you also don't miss the demo compos at Revision if that's what's keeping you back.