PAX East Coast: 2010
Friday, August 1 2008 - 12:59 PM
by: Tycho

That's closer than you think.

We promised to bring PAX out there years ago when we spoke at MIT, but it takes us all year to plan and execute one of these. We had a venue chosen at one point, settled on a date, but eventually had to accept that we weren't capable of doing both.

People sometimes call PAX "The New E3," but that never sat right. It's better to say that PAX is everything E3 isn't. We made it the opposite on purpose - public instead of private, fun instead of work. It's about people who make and play games, instead of the games themselves. This is all pretty obvious in retrospect, but for some reason no-one else had done it. It deserves to be on the East Coast. Frankly, it should be global. I'm working on it.

We couldn't do two shows by ourselves - we tried. So we needed a suitor, someone to share the load. We had our choice, really, because you have made PAX the show that everyone talks about. In the end we chose Reed Exhibitions, who had just done the New York City Comic Con - people had good things to say about it. They also did the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo. Maybe you haven't heard of the second one, but I understand it was quite a party. There are podiatrists who went last year that are still sobering up.

PAX is now a partnership. We still run the show, determine all the panels, choose where it takes place, select the bands, pretty much everything. We are its conscience. Reed provides the logistical muscle. So, that's what's going on. An East Coast show is only the beginning.