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Resurrecting Gnomedex

Hey gang – mind if I have a virtual heart-to-heart with you? As you probably know, life has been very busy for me down here in Southern California. I’m four years removed from Iowa, and eight years into producing Lockergnome. We announced our fourth-annual conference a few months ago, and I’ve watched it blossom into something completely different than what it was in the beginning. I hope you don’t mind my decision to bring Gnomedex back to its roots: the people.
No open bar, no Comedy Central – just a whole bunch of geeks gone wild on their own volition. Since ~50 people had signed up when we were still promoting the “liqueur” angle, we’ll be honoring that offer with drink tickets. It’s Gnomedex 4, plain and simple. Yes, we’ll have parties. Yes, we’ll have speakers. Yes, we’ll have panels. Yes, we’ll have fun. Yes, we’ll have sponsors. Yes, we’ll have WiFi. With these two adjustments, we’ll also keep the original spirit that made our convention so successful in years past. That’s what I really want (more than anything else).
So, there you have it. Gnomedex 2: Attack of the Gnomes. Gnomedex 3: Fellowship of the Geeks. Gnomedex 4: Geeks Gone Wild.

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19 Comments

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I'll be honest – I'm absolutely elated to hear this. While I've never been to Gnomedex before, the main thing that people have told me they enjoyed was just talking to others. The whole “people” aspect seemed like it was getting overshadowed by the booze and the need to entertain the cameras for Comedy Central. That's just my opinion, but I think a lot of people will echo those sentiments. I look forward to meeting everyone there!

Yay! Great move, Chris. I know the Gnomies have always come first for you, and this proves it. People expect geekiness from Lockergnome…it doesn't sound like they'll be disappointed at Gnomedex4. I'll be there in spirit (again) this year, but I have hopes that 5 will be my lucky number.

Exactly what I was thinking, Chris. I was just afraid to say anything, but I'm glad you've made this decision.

GREAT move chris… i am very glad that you are leaving it the way you started it, simple, techy, and fun… the past is always better.. (say 1.8 years ago heh…) love ya man… and ill try as hard as i can to make it

“THEY TOOK THE BAR! THE WHOLE FUCKING BAR!”

Translation: Comedy central backed out of the deal and the hotel pulled the free drink deal due to lack of registrations.

I'm glad to see that the open bar has tanked as it sounded like CP was just turning this into some over-hyped frat party.
I may be wrong but I still believe attendence will suffer because of the proximity to the west coast. Des Moines was at least centrally located and was overall more affordable (from a traveling perspective).
Also Gnomedex was hard enough to justify to many corporate bosses before the “open bar” deal; the “open bar” angle I feel made it nearly impossible for some to justify this conference.
IMO the genies already out of the bottle and as such I'd be surprised if Gnomedex continues beyond this years event. I hope I'm wrong as I've really enjoyed myself at the previous years conference.

sorry CP, I enjoyed 3.0 but you lost me when you went west. simple math really. DSM was a few hours from everywhere… Your conference was good but not 5 hour flight good.

While I have watched the whole Gnomedex experience from afar for a couple years, last year I took the plunge and went. I was never disappointed. But this year when it went west I decided I would not be able to go. While I am sure it would be as good, I simply could not make that happen. For me it was always the Lockergnome crew and the gnomies that came which added to the flavor of what I believe is one of the best experiences. If it ever makes it's way back to Iowa then I'll be there. Good luck with all you do. “Corbin Dallas”

Glad to see the BoozeFest cancelled.
Was the main reason I didn't sign up.
Also, RENO/TAHOE suck for something like this.
How about Beautiful Downtown Burbank????

I'm frankly glad to hear that Gnomedex is back to its roots. As for the complaints for it moving west – I don't know why y'all think you have a leg to stand on. For those of us in the west who flew 5 hours to get to gnomedex the last 3 years. Now its your turn – stop complaining. Anywhere the conference goes it will always be far from somewhere, and don't complain when it isn't as convienent as it had been. Its now more convienent for us, and less for you.
Oh, and Des Moines is not “a few hours from everywhere”.

So, when are you moving back to Iowa?

Great! Now I don't have to be sketchy on the details when I'm explaining where I'm going to my parents :)

Comedy Central backs out. Poor registration response = no free booze. Move to the West coast = retarded move. Gnomedex 4.0 = waste of time & money. Sometimes you just have to learn things the hard when you're a kid.

come'on man. A little harsh don't you think? Waste of time and money? Retarded? Someone needs to grow up (and I don't mean CP). I agree that moving west may well have jeopardized a majority of regular attendees but probably not “retarded”. I doubt woz would have come to DSM.

*shakes fist for only being 13, having no allowance, and living in Canada* Curse you Pirillo! XP
Wish I could make it, but hey always there in spirit. Maybe I'll throw a tetris-a-thon with my friends or something…grr…

way to keep it real chris!!

Howdy folks! I have a few things to say on this subject…
1. The Open Bar. I was really looking forward to this! I rarely get to indulge the combination of 2 of my favorite activities, drinking and geeking. My drinking buddies don't geek much, and my geek friends aren't real big drinkers. However, I'm fortunate that I signed up early, so as long as the drink tickets come through, I'll still get to do it!
2. Location. I really LIKE Reno, and hopefully the rest of you will too. I've never been to Des Moines, so this is no slur to what I'm sure is a fine town, but Reno is a hopping place. Since I live on the East Coast, the distances aren't really all that different in the end. A plane ride is a plane ride. An hour or 2 either way really doesn't make much difference.
3. Comedy Central. OK, this I was looking forward to also, but that's cuz I spent a number of years as an actor and I'm a natural ham! (I believe I'm still the only person ever at the University of Maryland with a dual major of Theater and Computer Science!) I've seen some of the other “Gone Wild” video footage on the net, and I would have no problem flashing my PDA's in exchange for a T-shirt, though I'm not sure I'd open my laptop for the cameras unless I was REALLY drunk…
However, all in all I'm still very much looking forward to GD4. I've never attended a GD before, (though I've been to Comdex a couple of times), so I'm interested in the people, the toys, the speakers, and the programs.
Oh, and the drinks too!
See y'all in Reno!
Regards,
Hedonism

What Do You Think?