# The Complete Texas Pinball Festival Exhibitor Guide

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2022-02-22  
**Duration:** 16m 2s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFQu3Dh3tws

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy provides a comprehensive operational guide for exhibitors at Texas Pinball Festival (TPF), covering registration, loading procedures, exhibitor perks, and practical tips for preparing and maintaining machines during the three-day event. The video walks through the entire exhibitor process from sign-up on TexasPinball.com through load-out, emphasizing proper logistics, machine preparation, and community participation.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Exhibitor games must be set to free play for the duration of the show — _Stated directly from TPF registration rules on website_
- [MEDIUM] If exhibitor maintains 100% uptime, game will receive at least 250 plays over the weekend — _Cary Hardy's personal exhibitor experience prediction based on years of participation_
- [HIGH] Saturday night 12am-2am is exhibitors-only time in the game room — _Described as official TPF procedure with wristband verification_
- [HIGH] Each exhibited game includes one TPF swag bag containing stickers, USB drive, flyer, hand sanitizer, pin, coin, and other merchandise — _Detailed inventory shown on-camera from current swag bag contents_
- [HIGH] Loading dock area is significantly more crowded on Sunday during load-out than during initial load-in — _Hardy's observation based on multiple years as exhibitor_

### Notable Quotes

> "The quickest way to make sure TPF no longer can be held here is to try bringing your games through doors like this. The only place that you're going to be bringing any machines through is through the large roll-up door."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~9:45
> _Critical logistics instruction emphasizing venue relationship preservation; using side doors could jeopardize future TPF events_

> "I'm going to be completely covered so if there is adverse weather conditions no worries there you're going to be covered to be able to unload your machines"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~7:15
> _Venue advantage highlighted for exhibitor planning_

> "I typically bring at least two games so that way me and the wife will be there for the entire weekend for free."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~14:30
> _Personal exhibitor strategy demonstrating how exhibitors can maximize free passes_

> "It's surprisingly exhausting how three days of non-stop pinball action with others and being around all the loud noises and everything, it can get on you."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~24:00
> _Honest characterization of exhibitor experience at major convention_

> "No, do not bring your vehicle into the loading dock bay, park it and then go and get your games all broken down. Have everything ready to go."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~25:30
> _Critical logistical efficiency tip for load-out procedures_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Major annual pinball tournament and exhibition event held in Dallas; features exhibitors, competitive play, and vendor booths |
| Cary Hardy | person | Pinball content creator and multi-year TPF exhibitor providing operational guidance |
| Marco Specialties | company | Pinball parts distributor and vendor offering exhibitor discounts (30% pin buddy with TPFBUDDY code, 20% pinballs with TPFBALLS code) |
| TexasPinball.com | organization | Official TPF website for exhibitor registration, rules, and showrunner contact |
| Internet Pinball Database | organization | Online resource for looking up machine manufacturer and year information |
| Titan Pinball | company | Vendor contributing merchandise to TPF swag bags |
| Little Shop of Games | company | Vendor contributing pen merchandise to TPF swag bags |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Texas Pinball Festival logistics and operations, Exhibitor registration and sign-up procedures, Machine preparation and maintenance for exhibitions, Loading dock procedures and venue access
- **Secondary:** Exhibitor perks and incentives, Practical tips for maximizing exhibition success, Community participation and exhibitor networking

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Hardy is enthusiastic about TPF and the exhibitor experience, providing detailed, helpful guidance with genuine appreciation for the community. Tone is supportive and encouraging throughout, though he acknowledges the physical exhaustion involved.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** TPF actively supports exhibitors through dedicated swag, early access, exhibitors-only social time (Sat 12am-2am), and vendor partnerships (confidence: high) — Documented swag bag contents, early morning access for machine maintenance, Saturday night exhibitor-exclusive hours, Marco Specialties promotional partnerships
- **[community_signal]** Strong exhibitor community culture at TPF with experienced participants returning annually and sharing expertise (confidence: high) — Hardy's multi-year participation, detailed best practices from personal experience, peer community orientation
- **[event_signal]** Texas Pinball Festival confirmed as major annual event with substantial exhibitor infrastructure, venue partnerships, and organized logistics (confidence: high) — Detailed venue layout, loading procedures, exhibitor packages, and multi-day programming described with operational specificity

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## Transcript

 The convention entrance. The loading bay. The roll-up door. These are only a few of the things that you need to know. But before we get into all of that, let's get you signed up. So the very first thing you need to do is head to TexasPenball.com. You will be welcomed to the homepage right here. And at the top of the screen, you will see Exhibitors Get In Free. You're going to click on this. On the Exhibitors page, it gives you a nice little description of what the exhibitors are and what they do and how the show basically is what it is because of exhibitors. and then below is the registration and the rules that go along with it. Please read this carefully to make sure that you are able to abide by these rules. For instance, Exhibitor Games must be set to free play for the duration of the show. So that's just something to keep in mind. Read this first before you sign up to make sure that you're able to follow through. Once reading this, everything looks good to go. We will begin the signing up process. Fill out the information below. Now, if for whatever reason you don't know the year of your machine or even the manufacturer, feel free to visit the Internet Pinball database. This is just an example. Let's say, for instance, the Getaway. If I don't know anything about that, I will type that in for the search, and I will see that the year is 1992, manufactured by Williams. So, just extra little information bits there for you in case you do not already have it. Once you fill out the information below, all you have to do is click the Buy Now. As you can see, it's $0.00. You will be brought to your shopping cart. Now, if this was the only game that I was bringing, then I would put in my email address, click I Agree, and then Check Out, and then I would be done. But, if you have multiple games, then you will need to go back to the Exhibitor page and add another game, and click Buy, and then that game will also be added to your shopping cart. This is where you will also need to add any other purchasable items from the TPF online store, like extra tickets or t-shirts or anything like that. Then you will officially be done with the signing up process. So now what? Well, you signed up, so now you just wait for the best show that Pinball has to offer. Monitor your emails, they send them out accordingly. you'll be getting notified about the loading and procedures or anything like that so you should be good to go just patience is key something that you could do in the meantime is play the game or games that you're going to be bringing make sure that they are fully functional nothing is worse than getting your game to the show and it not being enjoyable for others because it doesn't work. Get it cleaned up. Wax it up, you know, get it on the outside all thing. You don't want it being all dusty and everything while it's at the show. You want to be proud of what you're bringing, guys. So put a little TLC into what you're bringing to the show. No harm in that. But if you have concerns about your game even like breaking down and not knowing what you're going to do if that happens at the show, there are technicians on hand as well as a number of us pinball enthusiasts that are very knowledgeable on said systems that may be able to help you out if you can find an ask us I tilted The convention center is connected to the hotel so finding the loading area shouldn't be too difficult for you. You're gonna be able to back your vehicle or trailer all the way into this area right here where obviously the carpet starts is where your car should stop but the lucky thing about that is is you're gonna be completely covered so if there is adverse Carl Weathers conditions no worries there you're gonna be covered to be able to unload your machines but there's gonna be tables set up around here for volunteers to assist you further and you're gonna give them your name and what games that you are bringing the store is closed right now but it will be completely open to the convention center when TPF is beginning you will see that there are going to be multiple lanes marked ABC or 123, and you're going to be told which lane to put your games into. You're going to unload your games, place it where they tell you to, and then immediately get your things, your truck, your trailer, and get out of the way. I cannot stress this enough. Whenever you're parking out here to unload your games, it's not there to be parked and stay. it is there to park, unload, and get out of the way. So let's say for instance you're like me and we'll be bringing a trailer but you are absolutely horrible at backing a trailer into a tight spot. It's not actually a tight spot but sometimes there are two trailers side by side. I will admit that I am absolutely horrible at backing a trailer up correctly. So what I typically do is I will park somewhere on this road, unload here on the street, and wheel it in on a dolly that way. That is also another option. Alright, so you have unloaded your games, tools, whatever you need to bring into the convention center, placed it in the corresponding spot as told. You have now moved your trailer or truck to the trailer parking zone, gathered your exhibitor package at the front desk. So as you walk into the convention center, this is going to be your main entrance right here. These doors will all be open to go into the convention. That's where you're going to be at. Now, directly over here to my right is where you're going to be able to pick up your exhibitor badges and everything like that. There will be all kinds of volunteers behind here ready to take care of you. So after you're done dropping off your machines, you're going to be parking your car, and then you're going to come directly over here to get your exhibitor package. Now what? Now you can go through the front entrance of the convention, gather your games, ask them where they need to be set up, and they will direct you accordingly. Now you're going to be tempted to bring your games through doors such as these. This is the exact thing that you should not do. The quickest way to make sure TPF no longer can be held here is to try bringing your games through doors like this. The only place that you're going to be bringing any machines through is through the large roll-up door that I've already shown you. All right, guys, let's take a moment to talk about the perks that you're going to be obtaining as the role of an exhibitor. With every game that you bring, you will be getting one of these TPF swag bags. The contents of it, we'll go over that in just a second, but let's first go over this right here. So this is completely optional. This is if you want to be entered into the best of show category, where basically your game is going to be compared to every other game that wants to win the awards that are for like the best of show best 90s 80s 70s and stuff like that there is a an award that goes out at the very end of tpf so this is again completely optional you do not have to put this on your game the best place for this when you have it is to put it on your back glass some people put it on the apron underneath the glass that is up to you but definitely make sure it is visible so the judges know for sure that your game needs to be eligible for said contest. Next up is the for sale and not for sale. This is definitely something that you need to have on your game, whether it be the back glass or down the apron area, because there's going to be a lot of buyers at this show and they're going to get curious and if they're going to want to know if this game that they're playing and that they're enjoying is purchasable. So you want to have that on there so you don't get bothered by people if it is for sale or not. So just to kind of get rid of the white noise that you don't want to hear, label the game accordingly. If it is for sale, say yes it is and have a price on there and your phone number. Not for sale, same thing. But also it's good to have your name and your number on there so that way if your game stops functioning or something's wrong with it throughout the show, the public is pretty good about texting you to letting you know that hey you've got a ball hung up on this area or game is turned off stuff like that so keep your phone in hand ready to go in case you have to go check on your machines so now let's talk about the contents of the tpf swag bag the current contents are a tps sticker usb drive 8 gigabytes a tpf flyer a variety of other stickers from vendors or content creators including myself hand sanitizer a pen from little shop of games Simple Helpful Tool from Titan Pinball TPF Lapel Pin Safecracker Coin Keychain and the TPF Challenge Coin Start your collection now. There will be all of those items plus more. That is just the current swag bag. Just realized that my World Cup Soccer wasn't turned on. Okay. So for every game you bring, you get the swag bag and a free exhibitor pass for the weekend. I typically bring at least two games so that way me and the wife will be there for the entire weekend for free. You will have early access every morning to go in there and give your games a quick little maintaining, whether it be a quick little wax on the play field just to give it that extra durability, get the glass all cleaned up, just make sure everything is good to go for the entire day. And not to mention on Saturday night, 12 a.m. to 2 a.m. will be exhibitors only. Those showrunners will start walking around getting the public out of the game room and making sure that only exhibitors with the specified wristbands are in there. This is the time for us to be exhibitors and really glorify the fact that we all came together to make this show happen. Now let me give you some tips and tricks over my years as an exhibitor and what I kind of recommend that you do the same as well. One, buy a cup holder for your pinball machine. These will be on sale through a number of vendors around the place if you haven't already got them attached to your game. I highly recommend it guys because there's gonna be drinks and beverages that are for sale all around this place and when people go to play a pinball machine they're gonna try to find a place to set their drink. Now we definitely try to refrain people from setting it on the glass. It is not a very commonplace thing to happen but I've seen it before so a lot of the times they will set their drink underneath your game right there between the front legs. But if you have a cup holder it is very unlikely that people will have their drinks around the legs where they can be knocked over and make a mess and stuff like that. So I highly recommend that you get a cup holder for your pinball machine. As a matter of fact, Marcos Specialties is showing their support for TPF and you exhibitors by giving you 30 off your very own pin buddy Just use the promo code TPFBUDDY at the checkout Number two reset the play count on your games just to give yourself a good idea of how many plays your game obtained over the entire weekend. I can guarantee you if the uptime on your game is at 100%, I'm willing to bet that you will definitely get at least 250 plays over the course of the weekend. Another tip is to buy new pinballs at the beginning of the show. I purchased a whole new set for all my games. Marco's Specialties will be giving you TPF fans 20% off their five-pack standard pinballs. Just use the promo code TPFBALLS. Over the course of the weekend, arrive early before the public gets in there to get the glass off, give a quick little wax job on all your games, clean the glass off like I recommended earlier. This is a big help as well as good maintenance practice to give everyone playing your game the best experience. We are now nearing the end of this exhibitor guide. If you've made it through the first few days of TPF and it's two o'clock on Sunday, TPF has come to a close and your games are still rocking and rolling, congratulations. Now it's time to load up and get back home. And I'm not gonna lie guys, at this point in time you're more than likely going to be pretty exhausted. It's surprisingly exhausting how three days of non-stop pinball action with others and being around all the loud noises and everything, it can get on you. And on Sundays, you're just dreading the packing up process in a way. But it's one of those things that it's got to be done. It's part of the whole routine. But lucky for you, the loading up process is actually a little bit easier than the unloading process. It's pretty much the exact opposite of the unloading process. You're going to be breaking down your games, getting everything ready to go. But you're not going to have to so much form a line and a queue and stuff like that. But the only thing I'm going to have to recommend to you is that the loading dock bay is going to be more crowded at this point in time. Because everyone is trying to get out of there at the same time. Whereas the loading process is much more kind of scattered throughout the first day and a half of people bringing things in. But as far as like getting your games and getting out of there, the only tip I really have for you guys and what's going to get so smooth is get your games completely packed up, ready to go. No, do not bring your vehicle into the loading dock bay, park it and then go and get your games all broken down. No, have everything ready to go. Once you have everything that you're taking home in a nice little pile, ready to be dollied out, that's when you're going to be going to get your truck or trailer and getting it over to the loading area. Load up your items in your vehicle and then get back home. And that's it guys. That is pretty much the gist of being an exhibitor for Texas Pinball Festival. Hopefully I have bestowed enough information upon you that this whole process will be easier. If there are any other questions that I have not been able to answer for you, I am sorry. Please contact the showrunners. Go to TexasPinball.com. There is a link there. They will get back with you as soon as possible. If you like what you've seen here and maybe you learned something, by all means, give me the thumbs up. Hit the subscribe button. Ding my dong. That way you can be notified whenever I upload something for your viewing pleasure. I look forward to seeing you all at Texas Pinball Festival. But until next time, peace out. Thanks for watching!

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: f5098c42-fffb-49a5-a3d6-9afc95f031cb*