Southern California Macintosh users gathered yesterday at a quaint, almost homespun conference and exposition featuring forty vendors, 24 seminars, and 12 California Mac User Groups. The Southern California MacFair 2002, not to be confused with previously named confabs like the 1999 MacFair LA, took over the Cerritos College Student Activities Center, and Learning Resource Center.
“We couldn’t be more pleased by the local Mac community, the vendors, and especially Cerritos College which helped out tremendously in getting this conference off the ground,” Show Manager Keith Mueller told MacCentral. Citing almost 1000 visitors today, Mueller could be found jubilantly tending to visitor and vendor requests for show guides and directions.
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Notable among the Exhibitors were DiamondSoft, makers of Font Reserve, Now Software, Aladdin Systems, Insider Software, MYOB, ProVue, REAL Software and Sonnet Technologies. Attendees could also find Apple Computer represented by the combined local stores from Fashion Island and Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza. Mac vendors like MacAlly, Unitek and others sold hardware and software at a good clip.
Paul Burns, a Macintosh consultant form nearby Yorba Linda mused over purchasing a USB/FireWire hard drive enclosure at a reduced price special to the show. “Frankly, I’m surprised at the turnout,” said Burns. “The seminars were full, and the facilities were top notch. Besides, it’s a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon among other Mac professionals and users.”
Seminars ranged from Photoshop plug-ins, Introduction to Jaguar, “Making The Move from iMovie to Final Cut Pro,” to instructions on how to create a program in REALBasic. “Where else can you learn how to make a whole new application in an hour? It’s a great learning environment,” said Mueller.
Of course, the now infamous PC dunking stand, manned by a grizzled Clown was the big hit for any children in attendance.
When asked about future shows, the ever ebullient Mueller’s eyes lit up. “Absolutely. This MacFair 2002 is a great success, and we hope to do one next year, with the great support we’ve been getting from these vendors, the Mac Community, and the help from Cerritos College.”