[games_access] E for All Expo wrap up

[Reid Kimball]

Hi all,

I wanted to let you know in more detail how I thought our time at E for All was.

It was wonderful in my opinion. We met many great people who are
sympathetic to our cause and didn't know we existed. Not a minute
after I walked into the expo are for the first time did I walk by two
people who were in motorized wheelchairs to play a game of Quake4
against Fatal1ty, a professional competitive multiplayer gamer. I hung
around and asked them how they came to the show to play against
Fatal1ty and they said it was through the Make a Wish foundation. I
told them about our group and asked they stop by. The next day they
did and their parents were very appreciative of our efforts.

We had two women from the "Army Recreation Machine Program" who told
us that many Iraq war vets come home with tragic injures and could
benefit greatly from using games to lift their spirits but find it to
be difficult due to the lack of accessibility features.

Michelle and I met with the president of the new Entertainment
Consumers Network (www.theeca.com) and discussed ways we can cross
promote and support each other. Check them out, I'm impress with what
they are doing, we can learn a lot from them.

I met with several PR reps from companies like Namco and THQ talking
about game accessibility. Small world moment of the expo was when I
was talking with a Konami PR rep he said he used to work with id
Software and they were talking to him about possibly doing a story
about someone who made a mod for Doom3 to make it more accessible to
the hard of hearing. I said, "That guy was me!" It's a small world in
the game industry.

We met so many people and the industry and so small, I can't see how
going to a show like this isn't valuable. With a little more planning
we can make future expo appearances pay off even more. Great job to
everyone involved and a huge thank you to Michelle for making it
happen. I believe in the coming weeks we should see some articles
online about our presence there.

-Reid