Date: 24 Feb 2001 Joe wrote: >>Good for you. >>But How is this going to affect your planning for the Pokefest? Rob~ replied: >Good point. We're already at least two months behind schedule. As official representative of the Pokefest Planning Committee, I am at liberty to release the following information about the event: The main room of the fest shall consist of a multitude of booths, each dedicated to a specific aspect of poking. There will be a booth dedicated to each part of the body that can possibly be poked, as well as some body parts that can only be poked under special conditions. There will be booths for hard pokes, soft pokes, team pokes, poking contests, tool-aided pokes, special poking techniques, inter-gender, same-gender, and inter-species pokes, et cetera. By going booth to booth, a festival-goer may experience the entire range of poking possibilities. Of course, while many will welcome the variety, we realize that poking (or being poked) in the same way, beyond the point of reason, also has its charms, so we will be providing Repetitious Poking booths as well. The most highly-anticipated exhibit is the Infinite Poke ring. Infinite Poking is an advanced technique where a team of highly-trained pokers, by poking a person in specific ways, force them to move in certain directions, where another poker is waiting. Skilled practitioners can make their subject stagger back and forth in a wide variety of artistic patterns. Our Infinite Poke team will select a subject from among the festival-goers on the first day of the Fest and poke him or her into the Infinite Poke Ring, where they will be kept for the entire fest. Adjacent to the main hall is the Rumpus Room, where attendees may go to try out their poking techniques amongst themselves in relative quiet. A hallway beyond the Rumpus Room gives access to dozens of small rooms, where people may retire to for private poking sessions. Remember: although we have set aside a specific space for amateur pokers to practice amongst themselves, this does NOT mean that fest attendees aren't encouraged to poke anybody they meet in the main hall, as well! The final day of the Pokefest is the Poke Royale. All exhibits will be cleared from the floor; all present will be issued protective eyewear. When all attendees have been gathered together in the main hall, the lights will be turned off, a horn will sound, and the poking will begin! And in addition to everything which I've just described, Mad has arranged for a number of surprises which will be occurring throughout the festival. Naturally, I am not allowed to reveal them yet. But I think I can safely tell you that they will involve poking. So make sure to reserve your tickets as soon as we decide when the Pokefest will be held. We don't think you'll want to miss it. Joel T.