GATHERING 94

(The truth ...)


This text file should explain, why The
Gathering94 did not turn out to become
the  party  we  expected.  The file is
written  by Dr.Outtasight and contains
the truth and nothing but.

   Feel free to check around to verify
the contents.






The background
--------------

 Rykkinnhallen was rented from "Baerum
Verk   I.L."   represented  by  Morten
Hansen.   Morten  Hansen  seemed  very
interested  in The Gathering 1994.  It
seemed   like   he   would  do  almost
anything  to get The Gathering 1994 to
Rykkinnhallen.

   Rykkinnhallen is in some economical
difficulties, and it's no secret, that
the  arrangers  of  The  Gathering saw
this  as  an  opportunity  to  cut the
price.

   The  contract  price  for the whole
building  except  the 4 sleeping rooms
was 63.000,- NOK.

Before the hall was rented we received
a  blue  print  of  the whole building
with all the electrical installations.
All  single  power outlets were marked
16  Amperes (3520  Watts). Between the
two  halls,  a high power outlet would
give us 1400 Amperes (308 kWatts).

The lockers're intended to be used for
sleeping. The first floor of the large
hall  was  intended  to use for tables
all they way round.

Parts of the cafeteria was intented to
use for the arcade machines.




The catastrophy
---------------

Thursday, 1994 24th of March 12:00 the
local  fire department called and told
us  to  cancel the party.  Impossible,
we  told  them - only four days before
the  opening.   The  rest  of the time
between  thursday  and  the opening of
The  Gathering  24:00 Monday 28th, was
used   in   meetings   with  the  fire
department and Baerum Verk I.L.

   The  fire department in told Baerum
Verk  I.L, that  they  had  made a Big
mistake.  The law says. that the owner
of  the  hall  has  to notify the fire
department  well in advance of such an
arrangement.
Baerum Verk I.L had forgot this.
The result
----------

After numerous meetings we finally got
an  OK  from the local fire department
via  fax.  We never received this fax.
The  fax was locked in Morten Hansen's
office at Rykkinnhallen.

   The  electrical system which we had
payed  an  authorized  electrician  to
draw  was  discarded since we were not
allowed  to  pull  cables  through the
fire doors.  The 1400 Amp outlets were
located  between the halls right below
the  video  room and it was impossible
to  get  the  power  in  to  the halls
without   crossing   the  fire  walls.
Inside  the hall, the blue prints from
Rykkinnhallen showed 16 Amp outlets at
many  locations  around  the new hall.
When  we  hook  equipment  to them the
fuses blew at 10 Amp.

   The lockers were locked by the fire
department  and  could not be used for
sleeping.  All guards  were ordered by
the fire  department to wake everyone,
who  tried  to  sleep inside the hall.
The fire department came to check this
two times each day.

   Friday 16:30 a tent was rented from
O.B. Wiik for 48.800,- NOK.  We called
Baerum Verk I.L to check how large the
parking  lots  were, so  that we could
match  the  space with the size of the
tent.   According  to  Baerum Verk I.L
the  largest  space available was 40m.
When  the  40m long tent arrived early
tuesday  morning,  it  turned out that
the  largest  available space was 25m.
We  of  course  had to pay for the 40m
tent even though we used only 25m.

  The janitors were payed 20.000,- NOK
for  having  two  persons  from Baerum
Verk  I.L  present 24hrs a day to help
with  cleaning, electricity and so on.
Two  janitors  were present during the
day (when most of the party attendants
were  sleeping).   One  of  them spent
most  of the day selling snacks in the
entrance,  while  the  other  one  ran
around collecting empty bottles (which
he  earned  quite  a bit of money on).
During  the  busy  hours of the night,
only one cleaning lady was present.

   The  video projector was rented for
10.000,-  NOK.   A drawing of the hall
was  sent  to  the  rental company and
they OK'd it over the phone.  The deal
included four screens, two for the big
hall,  one  for  the small and one for
the  video  room,  the  projector  and
various   VGA   to   composite   video
converters and video amplifiers.  When
the technician turned up told us, that
it was impossible to get a good signal
on both screens in the big hall.  Also
that  it  would be impossible to get a
signal  at all in the small hall.  Not
that  it  mattered  since  we  weren't
allowed to pull the coax cable through
the doors anyway. The VGA to composite
video  converters  did not manage most
of  the  VGA modes used in demos.  Not
even in  DOS  without  running  TSR's,
which  slowed  the  machine down.  The
projector  had a problem with some bad
circuits  when  it got warm.  The bill
for all this was 14.000,-

   The arcade machines had to be moved
out  on  the  first  floor  since  the
cafeteria  guy refused to have them in
his  cafeteria.   He claimed he needed
the  space  for  more  tables.   These
tables were of course not set up.

   The  cafeteria  guy  promised  us a
different main course each day, but as
far  as  we  know  only  two different
meals were sold.  Sossages with mashed
potatoe and "Biff ala Lindstroem"

   The  Travolta concert was cancelled
since  we  did  not  manage to get the
stage on time.  The stage was supposed
to  be  rented from Skedsmohallen, but
the   fire   department   had   called
Skedsmohallen  to  ask  a  few  things
about  us.   This made the bastards at
Skedsmohallen    nervous    and   they
suddenly  refused  to  let us rent the
stage.   Then  we  tried  to  rent the
stage  from  the  same  company  as we
rented  some  of the tables from.  But
by that time they had closed and taken
their  easter vacation.  Then we tried
to  build  a  stage  from all kinds of
materials  we had access to.  This did
of  course not work, and Travolta & Co
got fed up with waiting and left.  And
I don't blame them - I would have left
long before they did.

  The voting disks were not handed out
at  the  entrance since the time spent
in  meetings  should have been used to
copy  the  disks.   We then planned to
hand  them  out  when  it  was time to
vote,  but  most of us were ordered by
the  fire department to act as guards.
The  backup  system  using  a jury was
used instead.













What happens now
----------------

Rykkinnhallen has of course raised the
rent  somewhat.   Actually has high as
83.000,- NOK. We have of course no way
of  paying this.  We'll complain about
everything  we  can  possibly complain
about,  and  hopefully  we'll  get the
prices down a bit.










Next year
---------

 I have seen many party reports saying
that TG 94 was a lame party.  Well, it
was  the  lamest party I have been too
(well, almost).

   The party looked to be the best one
(of  ours)  yet,  but  after the thing
with  the  fire  department everything
went  downwards  from there.  We had a
choice  between  cancelling  the party
and  running  with  a  useless  set of
plans.  I must say that we should have
cancelled. I hope at least some of you
had a good time, though I doubt it.

   In most reports you are discouraged
from coming to The Gathering 1995.  To
be real  honest, I would suggest, that
you  do  NOT  come unless you have all
the facts before you.

  The Gathering 1995 party information
leaflet (if any)'ll be released around
November, and should contain a copy of
all the contracts.
  If anything looks  as if it could go
wrong, please do NOT come !

  We will also give you a 5 hour money
back  guarantee,  which means that you
can stay for free for 5 hours to check
how the party is, before paying.





Who to call
-----------

Morten Hansen,
who is the 'chief' at Rykkinnhallen
 + 47 67 15 00 32

Jan,
who is the janitor at Rykkinnhallen
 + 47 67 15 00 31

Ueland,
Asker and Baerum Police
 + 47 67 57 60 00

Kjelleroed,
Baerum Fire Department
 - look it up




Dr.Outtasight
Head of operations
 + 47 67 57 07 08

               Dr.Outtasight/Crusaders
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE GATHERING


 There is an easy way to describe this
big party ... Disaster, Lame etc ...

- No Fucking Power !
- No Fucking Sleep !
- And Shitty Food !

   When we  first got  here, we had to
battle for a  good place to set up all
the equipment.  Gee ... we got a small
spot in the 2nd hall with NO power !

   But  after some hard  work - we got
granted a place on the aerospace.

Of course we had no power there either
but  I  stole some power cables, which
we  first  connected  next  to  a coke
machine but then they complained about
the  fire  risk and made us unplug it.
Then  we disconnected a quarter of the
hall to get the power.

(Power to the Swedes !)
(We hate Norway !)

   Now to all the nice promises in the
folder.

1.
The cafeteria was supposed to have 
different meal every day. NOT !

2.
Everyone was supposed to get a badge.
We got paper bracelets !

3.
Where the fuck were the voting disks ?
Not here at least !

4. 
Where was promised sleeping hall ?
A fucking tent was raised outside the
building During A Raining Season !

5.
It was forbidden to sleep within the
halls ! So the crew was walking around
and kicking us up from our (Very)
short naps.

6.
Umm, the party net. Well the releases
never got that far ! Due to the fact,
that every computer on the net was
connected with One cable. So when the
first one left after they had showed
the demos etc the net broke down ...
Good net ??? NOT !

7.
All the nag about the fire risk ...
they were walking around with measure
ins to check so the walking space was
right.

  Well, I understand, that it is quite
hard  to  have  such  a party like The
Gathering, but  they  have  done  it 2
times before, so they should have some
experince. If you're planning to visit
The  Gatheing  '95 I strongly suggest,
that  you  think  it over.  Wait until
year 2000 and maybe then they know how
to do it.

   To the record, I can only say, that
most of the dudes here were wannabees.

   Anyway, the time is now 0:35 on the
last day here.

About 30 persons are still here ...
But not for long.

        Prof Do Right/Classic & 2000AD