From Wired News:
Star Wars Fans Amass in Indy
09:17 AM Apr. 22, 2005 PT
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Force was strong in Indianapolis on Thursday, and tech companies smelled the opportunity.
Celebration III, a fan festival exalting the Stars Wars franchise, attracted nearly 30,000 people to the Indiana Convention Center, as well as several sponsors and exhibitors ready to sell to the well-heeled, tech-crazy clientele.
A fan-centered event, Celebration III's program includes droid races and robotic workshops, as well as an appearance by legendary director George Lucas himself.
While most of the high-profile events take place between now and the convention's closing on Sunday, vendors opened for business Thursday afternoon to waiting lines snaking through downtown Indianapolis.
Organized by Gen Con, a game event company, the convention follows similar gatherings in 1999 and 2002 in the run-up to new installments in the Star Wars canon.
Between autograph sessions, gaming tournaments and some special sneak peaks of scenes from the upcoming Revenge of the Sith movie, event-goers could play yet-to-be-released Stars Wars video games, load exclusive Stars Wars ringtones and participate in network games on special Stars Wars -themed computers.
As for the sponsors, this super-sized Stars Wars fan club is full of well-heeled tech guys to sell to. Key spots in the exhibit hall went to toy kings like Hasbro, but souvenir manufacturers were hardly the only group reveling in the fandom.
"We understand in 2002 that 2.6 million workers called in sick for IT staffs on the day that Episode 2 came out," said Nate Bauer, an agent for the Best Buy-owned Geek Squad, a 24-hour technical support firm. "This is the perfect fit for us."
GeekSquad sent a team of 13 into the exhibit hall to provide help with laptop computers -- and to advertise a special promotional event in May. As the black-tied employees aided the brown-robed guests, they talked up an upcoming eBay auction in which bidders can vie for a Geek Squad agent to fill in at work on May 19, the release date for Sith.
Cingular Wireless garbed its associates in Jedi tunics and handed out press kits that rang out the Stars Wars theme when opened. Special phone packages with exclusive Star Wars wallpaper and sound effects were on sale.
"The brand is recognized and loved by people of all ages," said Joe Burbank, vice president of marketing for Cingular, in a statement. "Fans of the Stars Wars saga will appreciate the virtually anytime, anywhere access they'll have to their favorite Stars Wars moments and characters directly from their Cingular handset. I think it's safe to say we've got the hottest wireless ticket in town."
Chipmaker AMD hosted LAN tournaments, which attracted hundreds of players to play Battlefront Republic Commando or Knights of the Old Republic II. Everyone played on an Alienware Aurora Stars Wars Edition PC.
Most unsurprising was the presence of LucasArts, the franchise's game arm, which set up several game consoles and previewed content from unreleased video games. Publicist Hadly Fitzgerald said fans at Celebration III were playing demos of Battlefront II before copies had been released to the technical press.
"We're thinking thousands will visit the booth in the next four days," she said. "We do a few other conventions, but obviously this is a really special one."
In addition, the Revenge of the Sith game and the newest version of Star Wars Galaxies were loaded for game play.
The opportunity to play the unreleased games was relished by the fans.
"I'm just getting a great chance," said Shane Manning, a 14-year-old who trekked in from California and was enjoying the Battlefront II preview. "I didn't expect this."
Those in the exhibition hall said they know how to give fans what they want because most of them share a love of the franchise.
"I am a geek and I love this stuff," Bauer said.
Star Wars Fans Amass in Indy
