Tech Olive

We got the chance to quickly sit down with Derek Morgan, founder of a Chicago-based LAN party business known as Gamers of Chicago, Inc., and speak with him in general about his success as a young entrepreneur. Continue after the break for the complete interview.

TO: How are you today?

DM: Doing good, yourself?

TO: Decent, thanks. I’ll start off by asking, how did Gamers of Chicago get started?

DM: Gamers of Chicago started out as a LAN party group. For the first couple of events, we had under 10 people attend. A few months later, attendance started climbing. Once it started getting more popular, we decided to start charging for the events, getting sponsors and eventually got the Gamers of Chicago name incorporated. So we’re officially called Gamers of Chicago, Inc., but we advertise as just Gamers of Chicago.

TO: You must be proud being an entrepreneur at such a young age. How old are you exactly?

DM: I’m 16 at the moment and I was 15 when Gamers of Chicago became incorporated.

TO: Wow.

DM: Yeah, I’m quite proud of this, as are my parents.

Above: Giveaway items that will be passed out to lucky GoC LAN gamers.

TO: How many LAN parties do you host in a typical year? What’s the average turnout rate?

DM: 2008 was the year we had quite a few events. We had about nine events. It was a nice year. We had our first overnight event, we hit the venue’s capacity several times, and have quite a following now. 2008 was also the year we got incorporated.

TO: Is it just you that runs Gamers of Chicago or are there other staff on board?

DM: It’s just me that runs Gamers of Chicago, but I have staff members though. Usually a group of guys that attend the events, help out, promote and stuff.

TO: What’s the best LAN party you’ve ever hosted?

DM: I’ve loved every event, but one of the best ones would have to be the June ’08 event. It was our first overnight event and it was a BBQ LAN, so we grilled out earlier in the day, swam (since the venue had an outdoor pool), and then we gamed all night.

TO: That definitely sounded like a pure blast. So you gamed ALL night?

DM: Pretty much. We had a White Castle run, had some consoles setup, played some PC games, then some people went to sleep, Haha.

Above: GoC gamers posing for a group photo.

TO: So you mentioned you might be doing something for the Modern Warfare 2 release? What are your plans with that?

DM: I’m asking around if anyone would be interested in such an event, most are, so I’m trying to see if I can get something out in time.

TO: So no official plans yet, I assume.

DM: Nothing official, yet.

TO: Well, we look forward to hearing about it and we would love to see some photos of the event!

DM: I’ll keep you posted.

TO: Thanks for your time, Derek!

DM: No problem, thanks for the interview!

To learn more about Gamers of Chicago and upcoming events, visit their website at www.gamersofchicago.com.