Bungie FanFest

*Most of the information in this article comes from Bungie's FanFest posts from 2003.*

*"A Bungie FanFest is about meeting and mingling with other members of our fan community, hanging out with our team, learning more about the games you love and what went into making them, playing games, winning swag prizes and there are always special surprises in store for those who attend.  Oh and there is usually booze for people of the appropriate age."* - SketchFactor

The **Bungie FanFest** were a special gatherings of Bungie fans that took place at Mac World Expos, E3s, and Penny Arcade Expo.

Miguel Chavez (a.k.a. Freewill) of Bungie.org is known as the "father" of the FanFest and "Bungie's Official #1 Fan" back in 2003 by Doug Zartman. According to Miguel, he "started the whole mess" with the first organized gathering of Bungie Fans which coincided with the Mac World Expo in 1999. *Myth* & *Myth 2* were the games of choice and since Bungie catered to the Mac audience, leveraging this event with the Expo seemed like a perfect fit.

The original idea came to Miguel shortly after the 1998 MacWorld in New York. During conversations with Zartman, Miguel swore to get this event off the ground and he had the support of Bungie. When the event finally came, Max, Doug and a few others "showed up a little late, a little unsure of what to expect." Miguel adds, "Little did they know that for some of us, they were rock stars." Though the guys only stayed a little while, "near the end they warmed up to us and the whole thing and we had pictures taken as a group." Bungie represented and bridged the gap between developer and fan. Oh, and they also brought prizes.

"The funny thing is that most of the prizes they brought were just more copies of Myth 1 and 2... we didn’t need any more copies," explained Miguel.

## FanFests

### Bungie FanFest I

* **Event**: Mac World Expo
* **Date**: January 7, 1999
* Approximately 20 people took over a local internet café and despite having only about 7 machines that actually worked; the event was a "success in spite of itself." - Miguel
* This is where *Halo* was first announced

### Bungie FanFest II

* **Event**: Mac World Expo
* **Date**: January 5, 2000
* "Lots of Myth playing but all eyes were on Halo information. We moved up to a better location, Club-I." - Miguel

### Bungie FanFest III

* **Event**: Mac World Expo
* **Date**: July 21, 2000
* "The first New York Fest. I rented out half of a Magic the Gathering card shop complete with a projector and large screen." - Miguel
* This was the one and only appearance in the U.S. of Hamish Sinclair, the "grandaddy of all Bungie Fans"
* One and only release of the *Marathon Story Page* t-shirt
* Take 2 Interactive appearance

### Bungie FanFest IV

* **Event**: Mac World Expo
* **Date**: January 12, 2001 from 6-9 PM
* **Fee**: $7 USD
* **Special Guests**: Matt Soell and the Bungie Online Team
* Included Door Prizes and a Fan Trivia Contest
* Matt Soell's 'State of the Union' address
* Meet *Myth 3* developers
* Play *Marathon* in the LAN area

### Bungie FanFest V

* **Event**: E3 2001
* **Date**: May 16, 2001
* "The FanFest is now hitting a higher mark." - Miguel
* Swankier locale, better equipment, more giveaways
* First glimpse of Silent Cartographer and Blood Gulch

### Bungie FanFest V.5

* **Event**: Mac World Expo
* **Date**: January 9, 2001
* "Bungie Munchies... no longer being a Mac-only publisher made it hard to justify spending money during a Mac-only event. Being stubborn, I arranged for a large dinner party at a very nice Italian restaurant in downtown Manhattan. Lots of folks attended and Peter Marks came to represent Bungie." - Miguel

### Bungie FanFest VI

* **Event**: *Halo* Launch Party - Chicago, IL
* **Date**: October 2001

### Bungie FanFest VII

* **Event**: E3 2002
* **Date**: May 24, 2002
* The first official Bungie-sponsored 7th Column Event called the "Seventh Column Convocation"

### Bungie FanFest VIII [2003]

* **Event**: E3 2003
* **Date**: May 15, 2003 from 7-11 PM
* Play Halo PC and win prizes
* *Halo 2* personal viewing, talk to the Bungie Team, and get behind-the-scenes info.
* Trivia Contest
* "Search for America's Biggest Halo Fan" Contest
* mrsmiley created a documentary of the FanFest.

### Bungie FanFest 2004

* **Event**: E3 2004
* **Date**: May 11-13, 2004
* Play *Halo* and *Halo 2*
* Actors David Scully and Tim Dadabo Q&A
* Lorraine McLees custom-sketched art
* New Red vs Blue short

### Bungie Halo 2 Launch FanFest

* **Event**: Halo 2 Launch Party - Seattle, WA
* **Date**: November 8, 2004 from 1-5 PM
* **Admission**: FREE!
* Play Halo 2 Multiplayer hours before anyone else in the U.S.!
* Mingle and chat with members of the Bungie development team
* Get a cool commemorative gift (while supplies last)
* See segments from the Halo 2 bonus DVD
* Win cool prizes! We'll be having an ongoing prize raffle and giving away all sorts of cool stuff including actual copies of Halo 2!
* A special treat from our friends at Red vs Blue

### 2005

* Due to Bungie not attending E3, there was no official FanFest event.

### Bungie FanFest 2008

* **Event**: Penny Arcade Expo (PAX)
* **Date**: August 29-31, 2008
* The FanFest was postponed indefinitely due to Bungie's plans not materializing as expected, but that it will return "when the time is right and it will be glorious."
* While the FanFest may have been postponed, Bungie still had special events on the show floor. Each day had special signings with Bungie Employees such as Lorraine McLees, Marty O'Donnell, and Joseph Staten, a special signing with Jen Taylor (voice of Cortana), and trivia that included limited-edition Halo prizes.

## Resources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bungie.net (via archive.org) - FanFest Flashback - Part I (June 3, 2003)
2. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - FanFest Flashback - Part 2 (June 10, 2003)
3. ↑ Bungie.org - Bungie Fanfest IV, 01.12.2001
4. ↑ Macworld - San Francisco Bungie FanFest planned for next week (January 1, 2001)
5. ↑ Bungie.org - Bungie Fans Trivia Contest and Answers
6. ↑ Bungie.org - Bungie FanFest V (E3 2001) Movie Mirrors
7. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - State of the Seventh Column (May 30, 2002)
8. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - FanFest Filling Fast (April 5, 2003)
9. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - BungieFanFest 2003 Chapter
10. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Bungie FanFest 2003 Chapter News (April 2, 2003)
11. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Microsoft Halo "Search for America's Biggest Halo Fan" Contest Official Rules
12. ↑ YouTube - 2003 Bungie FanFest Documentary
13. ↑ Bungie.org - Bungie FanFest 2004 - Information Posted (April 9, 2004)
14. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - FanFest 2004: The Report (May 18, 2004)
15. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - FanFest! Save the Date! (October 28, 2004)
16. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Halo 2 FanFest Update! (November 2, 2004)
17. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Halo 2 FanFest & Midnight Madness! (November 8, 2004)
18. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Bungie Weekly What's Update (April 8, 2005)
19. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) Bungie Weekly Update (June 27, 2008)
20. ↑ Bungie.net (via archive.org) - Bungie @ PAX (July 24, 2008)