Date   : Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:15:21 +0100
From   : joel@... (Joel Rowbottom)
Subject: Retro Reunited: Econet Cabling, Demos, etc.

Hi all --

IF YOU ARE 'DOING' RETRO REUNITED, PLEASE READ THIS.

In the midst of all this address-allocation and table-worrying, has anyone
spared any thought for who's going to cable this up?

Once we start hitting something large it's not going to be a simple
string-it-and-wing-it job using bits and bobs of DIN splitters. We saw
weirdness at the Stoke show, and with quite a few stations it's probable
that *something* is going to start acting 'oddly'.

Now, past experience of exhibiting Beeb setups at shows is that the
equipment is provided but the devil is in the actual details of who is
wiring it up and who's doing a demo. It's easy for us all to stand around
and get cliquey with this but ultimately there's a pile of people coming to
see what's going on, so we need to be in a position to impress them without
faults and without thinking 'oh arse, we should have packed X Y and Z'.

For a starter, decisions need to be made on the following Econet subjects
(I am not the best person to make these decisions):

- Terminators and clock box need to be volunteered along with spares.

- Socket boxes need to be wired in.

- Someone is going to have to provide cables.

- Cabling needs routing properly, strand from ceiling or gaffer tape. Cedar
Court frown on unsorted cabling, and we don't want anyone pulling stuff off
tables or worse still injuring themselves.

- It needs testing.

- I understand we might be able to get in on Friday to wire up and test,
but we should assume at least 3 people need to be there at 8am on Saturday
to get wiring, test, and run.

Showing up with a tangled mess of pre-wired stuff probably isn't the best
of ideas if we want this to look good and attract enthusiasts.

REMEMBER IF YOU ARE VOLUNTEERING NETWORK STUFF, IT NEEDS TO BE THERE AT
START OF SATURDAY AT THE LATEST, AND WILL BE IN SITU UNTIL TEARDOWN AT THE
END OF THE SHOW. This includes the fileserver the demos are running off! It
would make sense for this to be someone local, or folks who are stopping at
the hotel (or next door at the Premier Inn).

On top of this, we need stuff to demonstrate: at the very least CAVER
hasn't got a volunteer yet. Ideally we would have a "*I AM GAMES" set up so
that we can run those on the Beebs because after all it's a gamer
convention. Can I also suggest we settle on a game or two with a whiteboard
of "show high scores" - suggest Monsters, Chuckie Egg, and something else.
Granny's Garden also on the Econet please.

I have a distinct lack of tuits (round or otherwise) until the beginning of
September. I may get a day or so to set up the MDFS but as I stated in
another mail the Saturday is a bit mental for me so it may be a matter of
showing up, setting up, driving back to Wakefield. I'm at the event all day
Sunday from opening to teardown.

Comments appreciated.

Cheers


j