Wednesday, January 07, 2009

2008 Hotel California #8

#8. The number 8 event happened throughout the year. But for certain, 2008 was the Year of the Entrepreneur. Many Hotel Californians became business owners. Take a look at who.
Brent Stanley started his own dental practice in Gilbert, Arizona.
Nate Ashcraft started his own legal firm in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Cameron Hulse started his own Orthodontic practice in Carlsbad, California.
Sean Brown bought his own restaurant in Arvada, Colorado.
And my favorite. Shane Simpson started his own 24-hour gaming center in Provo, Utah.
Not taking anything away from the other businesses ventures, I want to focus a bit on Shane’s new start-up Versus. On the 21st of September many of us received this email from Shane (also note his new email address):



Subject: Versus Gaming - Outdoor Event
Provo, Utah just got a little cooler....I opened up a LAN (Local Adult Nerds) Game Center called "Versus" justthis month and its going well. Took about 2 1/2 months to puttogether once everything was lined up and had an event outside topromote the place. The event went out of control. We had about 1,000people at one time and probably 1,500 show up overall! I filled theentire Strip Mall's Parking Lot up. Cops came to shut it down aroundmidnight because it was still growing like crazy. My permit was for200 people. We now have 55 members and around 150 other non-memberswho have come by to play in just the first week!Took some pics of it last Friday for everyone to see. Come by whoeveris around. Hope to see some of ya!www.VersusGamingCenter.com

So, being my normal curious self, I typed in the url and browsed the site and came across this: If you have any questions for us reguarding our computers, games, group rates, birthday parties, or events, feel free to call us at (801)377-1751. Or, you can email us at info@versusgamingcenter.com.

So, I decided to email the information address and see who would respond and if it would get to Shane at all. I didn’t know if he was the one behind the curtain or if he had all his little minions running around and he was just standing around smoking a pipe swinging his chain watch and counting his money. So I sent this:
On Thu, Sep 25, 2008 at 12:22 PM, Jamie Webb <jwebb@cpbgroup.com> wrote:I am inquiring about a birthday party I'd like to throw for a good friend of mine. His name is Brian "the Puppy" "Maddog" Matsen. He LOVES video games and is a bigtime gamer. His avatar is sweet. A black dog biting off the head of a horned toad. I think we'll be a party of 30-40. Are babies welcome? Do you guys have high chairs? Wives will come to watch the kids so me and the boys can dominate the Burning Crusade. By the way, when will you get Wrath of the Lich King? Well, let me know details. Pup and gang are going to celebrate!!!
Jamie


And lo and behold, here is the response I received pretty immediately.

-----Original Message-----From: Shane Simpson [mailto:shanewsimpson@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 12:45 PMTo: Jamie WebbSubject: Re: Birthday Party

Whats up Big Timer? Are you messin with me? Are we really having a
BDay Party for our lil ol' Amigo El Puppy? If we throw a Puppy Party will it be eligible for the Top Ten? I'm looking for ideas as there is only one quarter left. I am still a little perplexed as to why I hadn't made it to number one last year. Seriously, meeting Steve O. and having our pic together! Should I have saved it for a slower year to increase my odds!??!

Hope you and your family are doing well. Miss you Jaime!

How is CO? I actually went there a couple of times this year.


Well, this didn’t make the #1 spot either, but I like the way you think. This did, however earn our #8 spot and huge props for starting a company. I love the Local Adult Nerds. Funny. Next time I’m in Provo, which actually may be next week, I will stop by because I’d love to see the place and I’m addicted to World of Warcraft. And to all the other entrepreneurs Congrats. Especially Sean Brown. Do you guys know the name of the restaurant he bought? Rib City!! Kelly and I can’t wait to go to the Rib City. Genius. By the way, ‘reguarding (regarding)’ is spelled incorrectly on your website, Shane. Just a heads up. Go ahead and flex your muscle and fire whoever made that mistake. Business owners gotta be tough.
Come on back tomorrow for some more of the events that made 2008 special for Hotel California.

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