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Appreciation and Thanks — Parallax Forums

Appreciation and Thanks

WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
edited 2015-02-04 20:59 in General Discussion
Just a quick post to say how much I appreciate Parallax and the Community here on the Parallax Forums.

Thanks to Parallax for all the great products, amazing customer support and the wealth of information and tutorials provided here and on the main site.

Thanks to everyone here for sharing your time, talent and knowledge. I love visiting here to share ideas, to discuss the hobby I love so much and hear what everybody is doing, figuring out, buying and learning.

Thanks for bringing a world of info and knowledge to my little corner of Louisiana. Some things just need to be said out loud (or typed) every once and while!

See you next post...

Comments

  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2015-01-27 20:29
    Amen, brother Whit!

    I haven'the been contributing much lately but the community and friendship is unbeatable!

    Thanks, Parallax for hosting us!
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,254
    edited 2015-01-27 21:03
    Ditto. Parallax and all you forumistas are the best. It's always great to see what different people are doing. When the forum was offline for nearly a week last November, I missed you folks!

    Whit, thanks for being a great guy and pointing this out. You da man!
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2015-01-28 00:05
    Whit,

    You're a gentle, kind, and resourceful soul who has graced this forum for as long as I can remember. Thank you for your steadfastness, calm sobriety, and insightful contributions to this wonderful community! And thanks to Parallax for bringing all of us together. In Small Town, USA, like-minded technophiles are hard to come by. This forum is the perfect antidote!

    -Phil
  • stamptrolstamptrol Posts: 1,731
    edited 2015-01-28 05:24
    Well said, Whit.

    There's a good feeling knowing there are many talented folks waiting in the wings to assist with whatever is holding you back.

    Cheers,
  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,045
    edited 2015-01-28 05:29
    Whit wrote: »
    Some things just need to be said out loud (or typed) every once and while!

    :thumb:
  • User NameUser Name Posts: 1,451
    edited 2015-01-28 10:42
    1,000,000 years ago a fellow engineer at IBM had taped to his file cabinet a Xerox of Lucy van Pelt wearing a sour pus expression and saying, "Smile and the world smiles with you. Crab and you break the monotony."

    Seriously though, this is a pretty great place. Many thanks to the Gracey brothers for footing the bill...and exhibiting such tolerance!
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2015-01-28 10:49
    Whit wrote: »
    Just a quick post to say how much I appreciate Parallax and the Community here on the Parallax Forums.

    Thanks to Parallax for all the great products, amazing customer support and the wealth of information and tutorials provided here and on the main site.

    Thanks to everyone here for sharing your time, talent and knowledge. I love visiting here to share ideas, to discuss the hobby I love so much and hear what everybody is doing, figuring out, buying and learning.

    Thanks for bringing a world of info and knowledge to my little corner of Louisiana. Some things just need to be said out loud (or typed) every once and while!

    See you next post...

    Whit,

    I think about this every day.

    There are so many smart people here willing to share. I have learned 10 times more on this forum than I learned in school back in the 80's.

    Thanks to all the contributors, and especially Parallax for hosting this great forum.
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,386
    edited 2015-01-28 13:40
    As this is partially directed to Parallax - you're welcome thank you very much on behalf of our team!

    When you love what you do you'll hardly work a day in your life. I think Parallax team has had this experience, especially those of us who get to work with the hardware, electronics and people who enjoy it in the same way. The real heros in Parallax are people you may not see on the forums, but let us who frequently blabber claim too much of the recognition:


    Accounting
    Carolyn
    JJ
    Mary Beth

    Engineering / R&D
    Jeff
    Chip
    Daniel
    David

    Support
    Chris
    Zakia
    Miguel

    Human Resources / Admin
    Bonnie
    Mari
    Adriawna

    Marketing
    Jen
    Ken

    IT - Web
    Bump
    Jim

    Manufacturing / Shipping / Kitting
    JenF
    Robin
    Sherice
    Paul
    Tiffany
    Terrell
    Kenneth
    Chris
    Mark
    Two temp staff (they have names, we've met once recently!)

    Sales
    Kristina
    Julia
    Chantal

    Education
    Courtney
    Stephanie
    Andy

    Purchasing
    Karen
    Linda

    Contractors
    Gordon
    Michel
    Jon
    David
    Steve
    Mike
    Luis
    Blaine
    Kryzstof
    Michael
    Brett
    Roy
    and a dozen others. . .

    Community
    100,000 of you

    It's a big ecosystem that you're part of when we think about it. And I believe that ultimately Parallax is a crowd-sourced company, with you at the steering wheel. Chip does a powerful job driving a bus with all of you yelling commands, too.

    Ken Gracey
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2015-01-28 14:28
    For those of you who haven't had a chance to visit Parallax, try it sometime. There are the nicest people there. They work hard, seem to have fun in the process. I'm sure some of that comes from the Graceys who seem to set a great example and certainly attract others of like mind. Keep up the good work.
  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2015-01-28 18:51
    Mike Green wrote: »
    For those of you who haven't had a chance to visit Parallax, try it sometime. There are the nicest people there. They work hard, seem to have fun in the process. I'm sure some of that comes from the Graceys who seem to set a great example and certainly attract others of like mind. Keep up the good work.

    Right on the mark Mike! I got to visit a few years back and had a blast. Got the royal treatment from everyone there too! I would love to to make it to a group event or "Unofficial" Expo sometime too and meet some of the folks here on the Forums face to face.

    @Ken - Thanks for posting the "credits" for the whole team. Thanks to them all!

    Glad this got some views - thanks to all for the kind words too.
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,386
    edited 2015-01-28 19:59
    Chip and I are talking about a big gathering at Parallax in the near future. I'm waiting for him to say "schedule it" - which starts a six-month countdown. These words will be spoken when the following things happen:

    - Propeller 2 code is running in full on the Parallax FPGA 1-2-3 Development Board
    - Manual layout of Propeller 2 is done by Treehouse Designs

    My best guess is that we'll be hosting a gathering at Parallax with tri-tip, salmon, robots, Propellers and UAVs by the Fall. Oh, and you too. Lots of you.

    Ken Gracey
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2015-01-28 21:01
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    My best guess is that we'll be hosting a gathering at Parallax with tri-tip, salmon, robots, Propellers and UAVs by the Fall. Oh, and you too. Lots of you.

    That's great news, we've really missed our annual trip to Rocklin.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,254
    edited 2015-01-29 08:45
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    My best guess is that we'll be hosting a gathering at Parallax with tri-tip, salmon, robots, Propellers and UAVs

    In. I'll bring flamethrowers, laser trackers and dangerous toys. And more hats if need be.
  • Dave HeinDave Hein Posts: 6,347
    edited 2015-01-29 09:11
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    Chip and I are talking about a big gathering at Parallax in the near future. I'm waiting for him to say "schedule it" - which starts a six-month countdown. These words will be spoken when the following things happen:

    - Propeller 2 code is running in full on the Parallax FPGA 1-2-3 Development Board
    - Manual layout of Propeller 2 is done by Treehouse Designs

    My best guess is that we'll be hosting a gathering at Parallax with tri-tip, salmon, robots, Propellers and UAVs by the Fall. Oh, and you too. Lots of you.
    I was almost ready to give up hope on the P2. Now I can't wait for Fall to come -- I'll circle it on my calendar. Let's see, Fall starts on September 23, and ends on December 21. So maybe Chipmas was really intended for 2015, and not 2014. :)
  • ValeTValeT Posts: 308
    edited 2015-01-29 10:22
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    Chip and I are talking about a big gathering at Parallax in the near future. I'm waiting for him to say "schedule it" - which starts a six-month countdown. These words will be spoken when the following things happen:

    - Propeller 2 code is running in full on the Parallax FPGA 1-2-3 Development Board
    - Manual layout of Propeller 2 is done by Treehouse Designs

    My best guess is that we'll be hosting a gathering at Parallax with tri-tip, salmon, robots, Propellers and UAVs by the Fall. Oh, and you too. Lots of you.

    Ken Gracey

    Mr. Gracey,

    What about us fellows on the East Coast? Maybe there should be an East Coast meeting at the same time so we can start a hangout to Parallax HQ......
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2015-01-29 10:28
    ValeT wrote: »
    Mr. Gracey,

    What about us fellows on the East Coast? Maybe there should be an East Coast meeting at the same time so we can start a hangout to Parallax HQ......

    We had our first in August in Boston:

    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/153672-Unofficial-Propeller-Expo-North-East-Boston!-If-I-build-it-will-you-come

    How far are you away?
  • ValeTValeT Posts: 308
    edited 2015-01-29 10:42
    Publison wrote: »
    We had our first in August in Boston:

    http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/153672-Unofficial-Propeller-Expo-North-East-Boston!-If-I-build-it-will-you-come

    How far are you away?

    Sadly I'm a little farther south of that, close to DC.
  • ajwardajward Posts: 1,126
    edited 2015-01-30 15:00
    Hearty agreement with Whit. Parallax is an awesome company that has allowed me to reawaken my passion to work with electronics. Tho' not "just" electronics, but robotics. I've accomplished some things like my '
    bots, that seemed impossible before.

    Also, thanks to the folks here on the forums that inspired me to the possibilities.

    Love Y'all!!!!

    Amanda
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2015-02-03 15:04
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    Chip and I are talking about a big gathering at Parallax in the near future. I'm waiting for him to say "schedule it" - which starts a six-month countdown. These words will be spoken when the following things happen:

    - Propeller 2 code is running in full on the Parallax FPGA 1-2-3 Development Board
    - Manual layout of Propeller 2 is done by Treehouse Designs

    My best guess is that we'll be hosting a gathering at Parallax with tri-tip, salmon, robots, Propellers and UAVs by the Fall. Oh, and you too. Lots of you.

    Ken Gracey

    See you there in the fall!
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,451
    edited 2015-02-03 17:44
    Hear, Hear Whit!

    Ken -- I felt privileged to meet many of those folks you list when I visited and toured Parallax at the last UPEW. As I've written before, I have worked with a LOT of companies in my 30 year career and it's very rare to find a group so consistently enthusiastic, capable, and focused on creating great products and a positive customer experience. I know my own corporate masters are unlikely to become a big customer of yours, but Parallax has become a hugely important supplier for us. There really is nothing else out there that could replace Propeller based boards for us because nothing else allows such flexibility and design simplicity with the limited amount of engineering resources we have (which is to say, I have to do it all myself). Parallax has made it possible for us to produce things which our well funded and staffed internationally situated manufacturers had no idea were possible. And whenever I've had a problem, Parallax and the forum folks here have stepped up to help. I had used Basic Stamps occasionally in the 90's for little projects but when I rediscovered Parallax and the Propeller through an article on the YBOX2, it was truly a revelation. Thank you all for the wonderful jobs you do and contributions you make.
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2015-02-04 15:10
    +1 Visit to Parallax! Everyone should make the trip. It's a very unique atmosphere with amazing folks.
  • NWCCTVNWCCTV Posts: 3,629
    edited 2015-02-04 17:35
    I would also like to take a moment to just say thanks to Parallax and all the great (and even the not so great) people on the forum. My most recent thanks go to Duane Degn and JonnyMac for their assistance with my Seahawk project. Even though we lost my "12" was a huge hit. My RS strips died so I could not use them. I will post a video soon. I want to try and figure out why a portion of the code failed after 10 WS2812's. Thanks again all.
  • User NameUser Name Posts: 1,451
    edited 2015-02-04 18:00
    I shouldn't single anyone out, but +1 for JonnyMac. No one writes more or better 'borrowable' code than he does. I've cut-and-pasted JM code more times than I can track. It must be the artist in him.
  • msrobotsmsrobots Posts: 3,704
    edited 2015-02-04 20:59
    Oldbitcollector (Jeff) wrote: »
    +1 Visit to Parallax! Everyone should make the trip. It's a very unique atmosphere with amazing folks.

    @localroger and Oldbitcollector nailed it.

    It is like Mecca for the Muslims. The hadch(spelling?) . At least once in your life you have to go down there to Rocklin, California. It's a blast. Parallax is a quite unique company.

    I give an example:

    At he last Expo, the first I attended, I was sitting somewhere and watching the crowd. I noticed a very young man in a very nice suit. 16? 15? The suit looked strange to me but - hmm - he was on a mission.

    He tracked down Jessica and in the middle of all the running Expo Jessica sat down with him, next to me, and started to talk with him over a possible internship. I went away, strolling around and about half an hour later they still sat there and talked. This guy smiled as wide as a barn door. Parallax is a company taking its job serious. They do what they claim.

    But none of the people I met there seems to be serious at all. All quite relaxed and smiling, To me it felt more like a family as a company.

    I worked my way up in my life from way down in the food chain. Lots of different jobs in the last 40+ years. Lots of different companies. The production floor usually shows a lot about the company. As with Parallax. They care about details. Clean. Good Light. Noise reduction doors around loud machinery. Stuff like that.

    So whoever here was not yet at the Parallax Headquarters in Rocklin is missing something in his or hers life. He or she might just not know yet.

    Enjoy!

    Mike
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