Revision - Behind the Easter Party

Exclusive: Main organizer D.Fox speaks about Revision. Hugi dives into the World behind the leading Easter party!

Written by Magic of Nah-Kolor
Photos given especially for this article by D.Fox
Revision logo drawn by H20

Prologue

Hugi travelled to Germany to meet up with D.Fox, the main organizer of Revision. What is it exaxtly what D.Fox has been doing on the demoscene and for Revision in particular? "I am D.Fox, I live in Germany and I've been active in the demoscene since Evoke 1997, which was my first demoparty. My focus was 3D graphics and I did quite a lot of releases in the 1999-2002 timeframe. I occasionally worked on demos with different groups and am still actively participating in the Basshut Happy Hardcore Christmas EP's, which come out irregularly :-) I started helping out at demoparties in 2000 but didn't really got into it until the Ultimate Meeting 2002 which I have been co-main organizing since 2006. Besides that, I worked on all editions of Breakpoint, helped Franky and the Belgians with Rewired and also

co-organized a British Demoparty called 'Sunrise' in 2011. In 2003 I started writing PartyMeister - a software which helps organizers to streamline their competition- and presentation workflow. Regular demoparty visitors probably know it for voting and uploading their releases", D.Fox explains and continues about his work for Revision: "For Revision, I'm doing the job of main organizer, which sounds much more glorious than it really is :-) That means I take care of the project- and team-management, outside communication, finances and many other things. That being said, I don't do that stuff alone - I also delegate a lot to my partners-in-crime, especially Styx and

Madame, who are also deeply involved with the day-to-day work."

The end of Breakpoint, Welcome Revision!

D.Fox worked on all Breakpoints. Before the focus on Revision in this article I thought it would be good to take a look at Breakpoint. I mean what happenend with Breakpoint? Why was Breakpoint held for the last time in 2010? What happened in the time period after Breakpoint 2010 but before Revision 2011 was announced to be the new Easter party? D.Fox kindly projected a light on all these questions. "From what I know, it was an

unanimous decision from all the team leaders of Breakpoint, that 2010 would be the last one. I was quite sad about it when it was announced on the mailinglist", D.Fox explains and continues his story from the very first point in time where he got thoughts on the new Easter party location! "In January 2010, I was invited to a big political event in Saarbrücken, which took place in the E Werk - an old industrial hall which has been rebuilt into a concert and event venue. Standing in that hall, I thought 'well, this could work as a new location for an Easter party'. In the weeks before Breakpoint 2010 I started to talk to some local politicans, asked for quotes from the landlord and reserved the E Werk 'just for

fun'. Also, I called a couple of my fellow organizers to check how they felt about building something new. Until March, this was nothing more than an crazy idea - then things became real very fast :-) At Breakpoint, we discussed it intensely and I started to analyze if it was at all possible to pull it off. That actually took a couple of months: Convincing the city, talking to suppliers, possible sponsors, putting a team together and so on. It was way too much to talk about here, but I can tell you that it was an enormous learning experience :-)", D.Fox explains and continues: "In August, during Buenzli, we were at the point where we said 'Fuck yeah - we can really pull it off' and began

planning the details. Signing the hall contract, working on a name, drafting logos, making brochures and, of course, planting rumors everywhere we went. Starting with November we rolled out the biggest and most complete marketing campaign that has ever been done for a demoparty. You know the rest :-)"

Revision was held for the very first time in 2011. And in retrospective, in the eyes of Hugi, it was a big succes! Many visitors, good organisation and great releases. Alhough perhaps missing that one release miles ahead of others like Elevated or Debris for example. When asked how D.Fox looks back on Revision 2011 he answered: "I can say that it was the single

most fantastic thing that I've ever been involved in." Which immediately raised the question inside my head: Why? Why was it the single most fantastic thing D.Fox ever been involved in? D.Fox explains: "That's a hard question to answer. It's a feeling that started during Hoffman's Saturday night DJ performance. I remember walking with madame from the outdoor area to the stage and, on that way observing many people talking, drinking and having a great time in general. I realized then that all the work we did in the past 13 months, transformed into everything we imagined it would be - and more. It was a perfect moment."

Revision 2012

After the successful debut of Revision in 2011 how to move forward from there? Is there any kind of process to make the decision to organize Revision 2012? D.Fox: "With an event like Revision, planning never really stops, it's a continuous process that's always on your mind at some level or another. The decision that there will be more than just one Revision was kind of a precondition before we even started to be really serious about it. The first edition of a big event is always the hardest - and after that one, you have done so much stuff you can re-use in the following years. We didn't want to have a one-trick-pony and be done with it - although I must admit that that thought had crossed our minds more than once :-)"

"With an event like Revision, planning never really stops, it's a continuous process."

Could the number of visitors and the financial success of Revision 2011 be a factor to hold another Revision in 2012? Besides the fact that there is much stuff which can be re-used in later editions, the possibility that not enough visitors show up or there are some financial setbacks could be a key-factor for not holding another Revision next year. D.Fox comments: "We had indeed more visitors than initially anticipated - which was really great and surely contributed to the overall atmosphere of the party. As for financial success - there's no such thing, really. The Revision budget was very tight to begin with and most of the surplus money was given away as competition prizes. Was it really a deciding factor? No. But the knowledge that people liked it and want to return in the following years helps a lot from a motivational point of view."

This article was written 4-5 weeks before easter weekend. D.Fox was right in the middle of a lot of things for Revision 2012. Though he was so kind to help out on this article. Which things

are keeping D.Fox busy for Revision at the moment? D.Fox: "We're currently finalizing contracts with our sponsors and suppliers and are filing official documents with the city. At the same time, we're preparing the final wave of information for our visitors, like concerts and the timetable but also more seemingly benign things like the shuttle transfers from and to the airports, the outdoor-area concept and calculating the amount of beer needed to keep about a 1000 people happy :)"

Although work on this issue of Hugi started in 2010, a lot of articles were written and/or finalised in the last 4-5 months

before the easter weekend. And our aim is to release it at Easter or perhaps 1 or 2 days before. Keeping that in mind at this point in time, at the end of February 2012, what can we expect from Revision 2012? Can you, D.Fox, give some sneak peak behind the curtains and give us some inside information and news? D.Fox: "In the weeks after Revision 2011 we made a big list of possible and necessary improvements for the second edition - some small, some big. Visitors can expect an upgraded sound-system and an improved outdoor area with a bigger food selection and more sanitary installations. All the other features will be back in a more finetuned way and we might have a couple of nice surprises in store :-) We're still working on most of those things with no idea if we can make them happen - so... I can't really say. But we took the improvement ideas from the visitors very seriously and are working hard on giving them what they want :-)"

"Revision managed to become the new focus point of the demoscene quite fast - and that's great!"

Epilogue

Some people might not visit Revision in 2012 for one reason or another. Perhaps they are still not entirely convinced that Revision really replaced Breakpoint. Some sceners said when the Breakpoint saga ended in 2010 they would stop visiting demoparties. Giving D.Fox some free commercial time, why should sceners visit Revision in 2013? D.Fox comments: "As I see it, Revision managed to become the new focus point of the demoscene quite fast - and that's great because that was our goal, really. For many people, the easter party always has been the only time of year when they could meet so many of their friends in one place. It's also a great start for newcomers because you won't find that amount of creative people at any other event."

At this stage Hugi wishes D.Fox and all others involved all the best with the coming 5-6 weeks! Please tell us how they might look like and give some end words for our readers. "The last 5 weeks are the most intense part of the Revision organizing. Which means daily checkups on every open to do, pushing organizers to do their job and lots of communicating between the team and the visitors", D.Fox explains and concludes: "We're also preparing for last-minute organizer dropouts as well as crises of all shapes and colors on a regular basis :-) But that's what we signed up for and all of you showing up to celebrate is our reward."

Links related to this article:

Official Revision Party website
Revision 2012 at Pouet.net

Magic