Episode 249: NYCPC 2020 cancellation
Levi Nayman talks about the difficult decision to cancel this year's pinball events in light of recent coronavirus precautions. He explains what the next steps will be and looks into the future.
Highlights
- New York City Pinball Championships scheduled for May 2020 is cancelled indefinitely
- All registrations will be refunded in full including Eventbrite fees
- NYCPC organizers have minimal financial obligations at time of cancellation, allowing flexible refund policy
- Levy Naiman personally believes pinball events will not resume before fall 2020
- TPF (Texas Pinball Festival) cancelled prior to NYCPC announcement
- Pinball community is particularly vulnerable to virus spread due to crowded venues and shared equipment
- NYCPC organizers recently formed a proper LLC structure
- NYCPC has become an established calendar event attracting international attendance
Notable quotes
“I can't imagine a community more vulnerable to a virus spread of this type than pinball. I mean, when you really start to think about it, you know, we're all crowded together. We're all yelling at each other because we're in a loud bar. We're all playing pinball. We're all playing the same machines.”
“I think that was the moment when I realized there was not going to be a NYC PC this year...literally 10 minutes after the speech, like Tom Hanks has it and the entire NBA has it.”
“I don't think it's chicken little stuff. I don't think it's overreacting...there's still people on pin side and social media saying this is just a, it's no worse than the flu.”
“It's cool to see something that you just kind of dreamed up at a bar actually happen. It's fun to just be in the booth and scream my head off for two days.”
“The cruise ships are going to be sailing again in April. Disney is going to be open again on March 28th. If somehow this miraculously comes to pass, perhaps we could reschedule it.”
Entities
- Eventbrite· company
- New York City Pinball Championships· event
- Texas Pinball Festival (TPF)· event
- Final Round Pinball Podcast· organization
- IFPA· organization
- Pinball Profile· organization
- Pinside· organization
- Jeff Teolis· person
- Levy Naiman· person
- Fabulous Funetarium· venue
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