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THE LAST WORD Ruminations of ATEI T Christopher Caire Features Editor PLAY METER his year's ATEI show in London was my first ever. I came away with the following observations about the show and London itself: • European exhibitors have their game faces on while the show is in session. Their stands (booths) have more of an air of seriousness than I find exists at American shows. By this I don't mean to say that the Europeans never crack a smile, or that American exhibitors do nothing but joke and kid around. There just seems to be an attitude of "We 're here to show product and sell it, not make chit-chat." It must work ; many exhibitors reported writing a lot of business at this ATEI. • Sp eaking of the stands, the individual ones appeared to be much smaller than the boot hs at American shows, as did the aisles. It was amusing to me to see the WMS Europe stand, which had four games squeezed in there, in contrast to the company's huge presence at AMOA and ACME. As for the aisles, if two slightly overweight people were having a conversation in one of them, it was time to take a detour. • Unlike the American shows, where attendees might have a beer-but only at the end of the day, of course-visitors to ATEI kept the bars humming 'round the clock. Budweiser and Beck's appeared to be the beers of choice (gotta do first -hand research, you understand) , which were ideal for washing down roast beef with horseradish and brie with "salad " (lettuce and tomato) sandwiches. A request for a Diet Coke got you one barely above 260 room temperature, because in England ice is as precious as the Crown Jewels. They can dig a tunnel to hook up with France, but produce more ice cubes? Forget it. • Alert to the Europeans: Smoking is bad for your health, or has that news failed to cross the Atlantic. If secondhand smoke causes cancer, the whole continent is in grave danger. • For adventurous American diners t raveling to London, make sure you seek out the Hungarian food at The Gay Hussar in Soho. (It's an old restaurant; "gay" refers to happiness, not sexual orientation.) My lunch was made particularly memorable because the actor Richard Harris burst into the restaurant, his white hair going every which way, and sat at a table right next to me. I couldn't resist telling him that he deserved an Oscar for his work in "The Field" and that his appearance on David Letterman's show was a riot. He was most gracious, despite dousing me with water to shut me up (just kidding). • London has supplanted Paris as my favorite city in the world. The food and wine are better in Paris, but London is every bit as beautiful, charming, and diverse, and the people are unbelievably friendly. Rumor has it that there is a friendly Parisian somewhere in the First Arrondissement, but it's strictly a rumor. • That brings me to my final point. I've been to countless trade shows in America-AMOA, ACME, IAAP A, CES, etc.-and never have I been treated as well as I was at ATEI. The staff bent over backward for the trade press , always asking if they could help us in any way. To Chris Jones, Alex Fierek, Michelle Heal (my afternoon "tea and scones" ladyl , Peter Rusbridge , Charles Henry, and everyone else who made this such a wonderful experience, I give my heartfelt thanks. D MARCH 1994