The first event,[3] in August 1996, was held at the Best Western hotel in Garland, Texas, a mile or two away from the id Software company offices. Starting with just 30 people, by the end of the weekend the number of people had grown to 100, as news of the gathering began to spread on Internet chat networks. The Best Western has since been replaced by a La Quinta Inn.
Attendees who had brought their computers along to the event set up a small, impromptu network, in one of the hotel meeting rooms, playing mostly Quake I and Doom, testing deathmatching skills. A small tournament was held, with winners taking home T-shirts as prizes.
The highlight of this first gathering came on the eve of the last day, when the entire id Software team showed up at the event in a surprise and most-welcome visit, stopping by to chat with the participants. John Carmack, lead programmer for Doom/Quake, participated in a 30–45 min. group chat with attendees on the porch of the hotel. Some ideas discussed during that chat eventually made it into Quake's future public releases. This "Carmack's Talk" grew into a yearly keynote speech that lasted through 2013.
