Reno Symposium Schedule

Friday, September 11. Walking tours and Welcome Reception

• Add-on Virginia Street Neon History Walking Tours (just a few tickets left. Pre-tour dinner recommended at the Whitney Peak Cafe or Liberty Food & Wine, walking distance to the tour start.
• The walking tour ends at the Welcome Reception and soft opening of the Light Circus Nevada Neon Museum in the National Bowling Stadium, 300 University Way, Reno. Light refreshments, special neon mocktails and cocktails.

Saturday, September 12. Symposium presentations, panel, lunch, quiz, films, and guided museum tours

• Doors open at the Light Circus Museum
• Presentation by Peter Laufer and Sheila Swan on their ground-breaking book Neon Nevada, first published in 2011, expanded edition published in 2024.
• Presentation by Steve Spiegel and Kathy Kikkert of Los Angeles about the cultural intersection of neon and bowling centers in California
• Ask-a-Bender Panel with Shawna Peterson, Ames Palms, Libby Cahill, and Bill Concannon
• Neon Pub Quiz with Andrew Danish, Dave Waller, Todd Matuszewicz, Al Barna, and emceed by Eric Lynxwiler
• Guided museum tours with Will Durham
  Concurrently in the Bowling Stadium Theater there will be an on-going Reno film and ephemera presentation program by Bay Area Preservationists: Al Barna, Randall Ann Homan, Stephen Coles, Katherine Rinehart, and Heather David

No-host group dinner at Reno Public Market Food Hall & Bar, easily accessed by local transit from the museum. Something for everyone and enough room for all 70 of us.

Sunday, September 13, Symposium presentations, panel, lunch, film,, and guided museum tours

• Doors open at the Light Circus Museum
• Presentation by Rolando Pujol of Retrology (New York City) on highlights of a multi-state Route 66 Roadtrip
• Presentation by Todd Matuszewicz about the Incomplete Square neon public art in Denver
• Rescuing Neon Decade by Decade, a panel discussion by Dave Waller (Neon Williams, Boston), Jude Cook (Ignite Sign Museum, Tucson) and Will Durham (Light Circus Museum, Reno)
• Screening of the feature film “NEON” by Lawrence Johnston in the Bowling Stadium Theater (1.5 hrs runtime). This film features interviews with many members of the neon illuminati!
• Goodbyes and guided museum tours with Will Durham for anyone who missed the day before