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DreamHack is a LAN party, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, Sweden and holds the world record (as recognized by the Guinness Book of Records and Twin Galaxies) for the world's largest LAN party and computer festival.

In the year 2007 the founders of DreamHack received a diploma of honor from the municipality of Jönköping for being so important to business, education and society of the local community.

DreamHack history

DreamHack began as a small gathering of schoolmates and friends at a basement in Malung in the early 90's. In 1997 it was moved to Arena Kupolen in Borlänge and became the largest LAN party of Sweden. Furthermore, DreamHack 2001 and the upcoming events were held at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, where it has been since.

Starting the year 2002, DreamHack became a biannual event with DreamHack Summer, aiming for games, taking place in June and DreamHack Winter, slightly more specific for demo scene, being held during the last weekend of November.

The world's largest computer festival

DreamHack Winter 2004 had 5,272 attendees and 5,852 computers connected to the network. This year DH made it to the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest LAN party.

DreamHack is arranged with the help of 350 volunteers, set up in Crew Teams. They work in shifts to provide service for the visitors, like the support crew that have a help desk where the participants can address their technical problems.

The 2005 official 10th anniversary DreamHack Winter was attended by 7,538 people according to the DreamHack organization.

At Dreamhack Winter 2006 the organization tried and succeeded in beating the existing world record for the biggest LAN party. Their goal was to gather 10,000 people there. As of October 15, 2006, ten thousand tickets had already been prebooked according to the ticket system. At 18:33 local time on the first of December, a representative from Guinness Book of Records officially announced that the record had indeed been broken. The new record is 7,752 attendants and 7,788 computers connected to the network. With temporary visitors, sponsors and crew included, the total attendance of DreamHack Winter 2006 was 10,638 people.

DreamHack of today consists of two large arenas where every participant has their own seat at their computer (60 deep and 80 cm wide), but has also developed DreamHack Expo, which is a small fair within and outside of the premises. The event offers demo and gaming competitions, displayed on huge screens, while the expo gives opportunities to view and try the latest technical advances, take part of seminars and lectures, go for miscellaneous competitions or try an outdoor activity like bungee jumping, lasertag and kart racing.

DHS'07 took place June 16 to 19. The event was also hailed as a success and had new special events, specifically having the original Darth Vader actor, David Prowse appear, as well as hosting the world's largest public beta test for RACE - The Official WTCC Game. About six thousand people bought seats, age ranging from 9 to 40 and a ten percent share of females. People arrived from all over the world including USA and the United Arab Emirates.

DreamHack founder and executive Martin Öjes holds a speech at the opening ceremeony since DH01. This speech always ends with:

Rock on!

References

All data comes from DreamHack organization. See their web site including archived edits.

External links

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 [[Image:Dh04w.JPG|right|thumb|290px|DreamHack winter 2004.]]
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 == DreamHack history ==
-DreamHack began as a small gathering of schoolmates and friends at a basement in [[Malung]] in the early 90's. People met to swap [[floppy disk|floppy diskettes]] and show off their skills in [[coding|computer programming]], [[graphics]] and music. Main organizers [[Martin Öjes]] and [[Kenny Eklund]] set up a public arrangement in the dining facility of Malung elementary school in [[1994]] and DreamHack became an annual event.
+DreamHack began as a small gathering of schoolmates and friends at a basement in [[Malung]] in the early 90's. In 1997 it was moved to [[Arena Kupolen]] in [[Borlänge]] and became the largest LAN party of Sweden. Furthermore, DreamHack 2001 and the upcoming events were held at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, where it has been since.
-Right there at the school, DreamHack was a fully featured [[demoparty]] where the contributions were displayed on a ten foot projective screen. DH95 had well respected Swedish demogroups like [[The Black Lotus]] among the visitors, but also [[gamer|those who just wanted to play games]]. The most common kind of computer was the [[Amiga]] [[Amiga 500|500]] and the participants could pay 20 [[Swedish krona|kronor]] to enjoy a ''Drömfrukost'' (Dream breakfast) which consisted of a strong [[sandwich]] and half a litre of [[yogurt]].
-In the year of [[1997]] a bit of [[megalomania]] struck the organizers and they made quick plans for the largest LAN party of Sweden, to be arranged at [[Arena Kupolen]] in [[Borlänge]]. Their plans almost fell on the finishing stretch as nobody pre-booked their tickets and the owners of Kupolen withdrew their verbal agreement to access of the arena. The organizers asked everyone to email or phone in their interest for the event. A thousand emails later the deal was re-established. 700 people showed up to fill the seats of Scandinavia's third largest LAN party at the time. There was also a [[LaserDome]] playground and some other things.
-During the upcoming years the organizers learned about powerchording hundreds of computers and the network equipment expanded from a borrowed mess to high-end gear for them to own themselves.
-The event grew rapidly and Martin could happily announce to the local news that DreamHack pulled as much power as the entire central Borlänge during the same time. In the year 1999 the Arena blacked out and DH became a very dark event for a few hours, as well as the shopping mall on the two lower floors. The visitors played cards, sang together and enjoyed one and then another cold, but free hamburger.
-The following year the number of visitors increased to 2500. Arena Kupolen was now filled to the last bit of space and in spite of new power lines drawn in, DreamHack had outgrown the arena. Therefore, DreamHack 2001 was held at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, where it has been since.
-For that year, DH Organizing tried to boost the [[Demo Scene]] by setting up a ''Scene Area'', a couple of hundred seats where no computer games were allowed though the seats were a bit cheaper. Starting the year 2002, DreamHack became a biannual event with '''DreamHack Summer''', aiming for games, taking place in June and '''DreamHack Winter''', slightly more specific for demo scene, being held during the last weekend of November.
+Starting the year 2002, DreamHack became a biannual event with '''DreamHack Summer''', aiming for games, taking place in June and '''DreamHack Winter''', slightly more specific for demo scene, being held during the last weekend of November.
 == The world's largest computer festival ==
@@ Line 41: / Line 27: @@
 * DreamHack founder and executive Martin Öjes holds a speech at the opening ceremeony since DH01. This speech always ends with:
 {{cquote|'''Rock on!'''}}
+==References==
+All data comes from DreamHack organization. See their web site including archived edits.
 ==External links==
 * [http://web.dreamhack.se/index.php?language=en Official website]
 * [http://www.lanbilder.se/v/dreamhack/ Pictures from all events]
+* [http://www.towelday.kojv.net/wiki/index.php?title=DreamHack DreamHack article at KOJV.NET with writings on DreamHack's history]
 [[Category:LAN parties]]