CHAPTER10
AOL Gestation
... the least quotable human at the company.
—Washington Post reporter Michael Schrage on Steve Case
To announce Gameline to the trade, Bill von Meister headed for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January 1983. Unconventional as always, he didn't rent a booth in the show at the convention center. Instead, he got a suite in the Tropicana Hotel, set up demos, and hired showgirls to entertain prospective buyers and the press.
CVC also held a drawing for a one-ounce bar of gold; all you had to do was register at the suite. To make sure people knew something big was happening, von Meister spent $5,000 on a huge hot-air balloon that was shaped like a joystick and had "GAMELINE" in big letters down the ...
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