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Pre LAN Fest The roots of LAN Fest are dispersed widely, among all branches of the core members. The first record of this is LAN Parties Involving Andy Kipp, Joel Valverde and David and Jeremy Johnson getting together during the Middle School years at the Johnson's Pine Point Residence. These were based around Red Alert I & II, Empire Earth, Worms and Age of Kings. Another early branch of Lanatee came from Josh Carmire, Evan Lovely and Bill Miro got together at the Miro Household and played games of the liking of Medal of Honor. Drew and Jordan both also have had LAN parties in the past, and were eager to expand their ideas. The first recognizable shewings of LAN Fest came at the Apartment party after Bowl Fest V, there were three computers, and two consoles. Many of the good men who now participate in the LAN Fests attended the Apartment Party. 
The Beginning The first true Lan Fest was held at Josh Carmire's house. It involved five determined men who worked much of the night to accomplish very little. The games that were played were limited: Medal of Honor and Age of Kings. But it set the stage for future LAN Fests. The members who first participated in this were Bill Miro, Josh Carmire, David Johnson and Evan Lovley. This fest was very unique because the gamers were split between three different rooms, and not to mention the legend of the infamous rotating hub appeared on this LAN fest. It made for an interesting experience. There was very little gaming done, literally no internet connection and very discouraged and tired members, but set the foundation for later fest's. 
A follow up on a good idea The next LAN fest was held at Evan Lovleys house. The group was still rather small, a group of four including: Josh Carmire, David Johnson, Evan Lovley, and Jordan Chase. It was the first time a Community Hub was invested into and soon after the community hub was purchased, the gaming became very easily. The games became more varied, with the introduction of Battlefield 1942 and Vietnam, but of course all the original LAN games were played as well. Late at night the men in attendance went on a Dunkin run in Saco, one of the few 24/7 Dunkin Doughnuts in the area and sipped on coffee for the rest of the evening. 
The First Modern LAN Fest Seeing the need for expansion, Jordan Chase willingly let the LAN Fest crew use his house for the largest LAN yet, and LAN Fest found a permanent home. This LAN indeed was the largest one yet, hosting to thirteen people at one point. The participants included: Drew Buerhaus, Evan Lovley, Jimmy Mastrian, David Johnson, Nick Dragoni, Jordan Chase, Two of Drews Cousins, Corey Roberts, Jeremy Johnson, Josh Camire, Brad Carlson and Andy Kipp. The Games that were played included: Counter Strike 1.0, Empire Earth, Age of Empires, Battlefield Vietnam and Rome: Total War. A second community hub was purchased, and even with the unorganized-ness of the entire event, it was on the whole a success, but the core members admitted that reform was needed to make future LAN Fests more enjoyable. 
The Fluke This LAN was the first disaster that LAN Fest has had to deal with. The network did not work and some of the key members of the LAN society were missing. The ones in attendance were: Jordan Chase, Jimmy Mastrian, Andrew Groleau, Josh Carmire, Pierce Baberack and Evan Lovley. The only game played with success was counter strike, and that was played over the internet. This LAN left many of its members feeling discouraged. 
Building the Core LAN Fest Five was the most stable LAN fest yet. It was planned well in advance and executed the with great precision. Preperations were made by David Johnson, Josh Carmire and Evan Lovley to get all the the members computers up to date with the correct software so that they would work well on the LAN. Jordans house became host to ten gamers, who would become the core of the Lanatee Society: Jeremy Johnson, Jordan Chase, Jimmy Mastrian, Andy Kipp, Josh Carmire, David Johnson, Pierce Baberack, Drew Buerhaus, Evan Lovley and Nick Dragoni. The games played ranged from Call of Duty, Counter Strike, Age of Empires and Empire Earth. The LAN worked well with very few hitches, but there was a Bowling Fest in the middle, which cut up the gamming pretty badly. But as always, there was room for improvement left and room for yet another LAN fest down the road. 
The Day-LANatee This LAN Fest was held from 9:30AM to around 12:00AM the next day. The reason for this was that the management was reluctant to note that the next day was Easter and people would probably have plans the next day. It included Jordan Chase, Jimmy Mastrian, Evan Lovely, Andy Kipp, Pierce Babirak, Nick Dragoni, Drew Buerhaus, Josh Carmire, Jeremy Johnson, David Johnson, and a newly added member, Joe McCloud. This LANatee gave way to many new games including: Rise of Nations (Thrones and Patriots), Quake III, and Jedi Knights: Jedi Academy. Call of Duty, iSketch, and Counter-Strike were among the regular games played. Setup was fairly quick. People started arriving around 9:30 and we were all set up by 10:30. This LANatee had very few problems (probably the least amount thus far) and the power went out just once. More pictures and videos were taken than ever before, yet the videos need hosting so they aren't available to the public. 
The 3 Month Return Lanatee .7 was a revitalization period. It had been at least a few months since the last lanfest, and the lanners were itching for a place to enjoy video games like they once had. This was a larger lanfest, but defiantly enjoyable. There were a few problems, and it took a bit to get the internet working. The most memorable part of this lanatee was the introduction of CS: Source. The intense graphics and game play kept the lanners content through the evening. Also played was Call of Duty, Age of Empires, and CS 1.0. Lanners in attendance were: Corey Roberts, Jimmy Mastrian, Jordan Chase, Evan Lovely, Chris Ledue, Josh Carmire, Jake Reinhardt, Drew Buerhaus and David Johnson. This Lanatee hopefully restarted the Lanatee tradition. |
