As has become a tradition at Lanwar events, artist Jeral Tidwell of www.humantree.com designed the official Lanwar 17 logo that was used on event t-shirts and to promote the Tournament.

Louisville, Kentucky might be the last place that comes to mind when you think of "hotbeds" of LAN gaming. Although we didn't see much bluegrass on our trip to Kentucky due to the snow and extremely cold weather, we did find an eager and excited crowd of gamers. These hard core gamers attended this sold-out event for the opportunity to spend 31 consecutive hours playing their favorite computer games on a high-speed, enterprise-level network that was constructed specifically for this event.

The Lanwar events in Kentucky, which are held at the University of Louisville campus in the Student Activities Center, have become very popular. Louisville is best known as the home of the `Louisville Slugger,' after the baseball bat manufacturer. However, the incredible growth of Lanwar events in Louisville has put the city on the map as one of the hottest LAN gaming spots in the U.S. Louisville is also the site for a number of prestigious conventions, in large part due to its convenient location in the middle of the eastern U.S. and its excellent convention facilities.

However, even with these advantages, a little bit of a push was necessary to make it happen, but you, our readers, didn't let us down. Shortly after our article appeared on the Fragnation LAN party , many of you emailed me about the upcoming thriving event known as `Lanwar' that might be every bit as good as the Fragnation event that we attended and wrote abouut. Having previously attended the Fragnation LAN event just days before Christmas, I was not exactly up for another road trip.

If you want me to attend your LAN party, the first thing you must do is give me a good reason why I should be there. In the case of Lanwar 17, that reason came from David Makin, who is the regional sales representative for AMD in the Louisville area. David called me on the telephone and spent considerable time covering the many reasons why Lanwar is such an excellent event and one that I should attend. David told me, "The fun level is high and they really pack the place! This is an event that you don't want to miss!" David's coaxing, along with strong, positive recommendations from several others raised my interest in checking out this event.

Before the road trip could commence, however, David and I needed to talk to the event organizers to determine whether I would be welcomed to cover the event. Troy "Burden" Schwartz and Dawn "BBabe" Schwartz are the two lead forces behind the Lanwar events. (We sit down with Burden a little later in this article for an interview to discuss what it takes to host an event like Lanwar.) After talking with the organizers, it was clear that I was not only welcome to attend, but they recommended that I come because of the excellent time they felt I would have at the event. We agreed that I would also be an added "attraction" by hosting two Question and Answer sessions at Lanwar 17, giving the attendees a chance to ask questions about computers and/ or technology. After this was decided, two days later we mapped our route, loaded the truck, and headed off on a Friday afternoon to Louisville, Kentucky and Lanwar 17.