The Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award

Sometimes, in life, the biggest things are a best kept secret until you can surprise the person with what they are getting.  And sometimes, those secrets are harder than hell to keep secret from the person involved, especially if they themselves are heavily involved in events surrounding the secret itself.
 
That was the case prior to and during Big Bang 2010.  We had a secret and that secret had to be kept from one man until Saturday night.  That man was Walter Day.
 
All of us involved, Josh and Liz Bolinger, Dan Canny, Dave Derington, Sean Eike, Josh Gettings, Roger Jones, Terry McNitt and myself all knew about the secret and kept it from Walter until it was revealed at the Induction Ceremonies.
 
The Secret:  The Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award
 
Why was it such a secret?  We didn’t want Walter knowing that he was going to get an award at the induction ceremony.  We knew he would say he didn’t deserve it.  He had already knocked down all suggestions of being inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame itself, but we still felt for everything he had done in his lifetime, that he deserved to be recognized.  Thus, he was the first recipient of the Walter Day Lifetime Achievement Award.
 
The engraving on the award reads: “Honoring those who’s life’s quest changed lives of the Video Game Culture forever.”
 
Friday afternoon, the awards, designed by Sean Eike of Parker Signs and produced by the same company, arrived.  Walter saw the awards arrive and pulled one of them out to show one of the inductees.  OOps...one cat was out of the bag, but that wasn’t so major.  As soon as Walter was gone, I started making calls talking about the Special Package that we needed to remove from the premises.
 
Shortly after, a box was seen being carried around by Josh and Liz, wherever they went.  Eventually, it was called “the baby” because of someone saying they were carrying it around like a baby. But even then, the secret was maintained. 
 
Saturday night, the final award was getting ready to be presented.  A video, complete with a song written and sung by Dan Canny, was presented in explanation of the final award of the night.  The video embedded below gives insight as to why this award was created and given to Walter.  After the video is a brief interview with Walter regarding his receiving the award.
 

 
Grace: Did you suspect, at any time before the induction ceremony, that something was kept secret from you?
Walter: I had no inkling that there was a secret that was about to be sprung upon me. I was completely caught by surprise. When I wasn’t included in the induction ceremonies, I thought that was a little unusual, but was greatly relieved that I was going to get the chance to just sit back and not have the responsibilities of the ceremonies weigh on my own shoulders.  The award was completely from the great beyond; completely unexpected. I now realize the Induction Ceremonies were strategized to keep me out of the mix so that I would not learn of the surprise award for me.
 
Grace: Dan wrote and sang an amazing song dedicated to you and your life story.  Did you have any idea about that being in the works?  What were your thoughts when you saw the video and heard the song?
Walter: I had no idea that Dan even sang and played the guitar. He may have mentioned it to me, but it had completely slipped from memory. The song was a complete surprise, the videotape was a complete surprise and the award was a complete surprise. I was impressed with the singing and the great melody. It was an amazing gift.

Grace: What were your feelings on getting the award?
Walter: I was deeply moved.  I felt appreciated for the first time in a long time. But, I also realized the award belonged to all of us, because the IVGHOF was the product of a lot of people stretching back in time nearly 30 years.  So, if I had any presence of mind when I was on the stage, I would have accepted the award on behalf of all of us, but I was too flabbergasted to think clearly.
 
Grace: Now that the first year is past and Big Bang and another induction ceremony is planned for next year, where do you see the event going?
Walter: Ottumwa is the crossroads of the gaming world. It will become the Woodstock, the E3 and the Disneyland of the video game world. All roads will lead to Ottumwa and the IVGHOF will be its centerpiece, existing to serve the worldwide videogame industry. The Big Bang itself will probable double in size for the next few years and finally become, in my opinion, the first gaming event to exceed 100,000 attendees in a four-day period.

Grace: Any additional comments?
Walter: In regards to the Lifetime Achievement Award, I am absolutely, humbly flattered that my name is attached to this award. The recipients who receive this award in future generations will probably create amazing transformations in the field of competitive gaming and I am honored that my spirit will be there, embodied in the award, to both thank them and congratulate them for their service to the world of electronic entertainment.
 
We at EOGamer would like to offer Walter our congratulations on receiving this well-deserved award and for taking time to do this interview.  Thank you for everything you’ve done for the world of gaming.