UPEW 2011 Appreciation
localroger
Posts: 3,452
I just want to let the Parallax people and the other attendees know that UPEW 2011 was an absolute blast, and it was an honor and a privilege to meet all of you and to see the Parallax facility and the wonderful presentations, robots, and other things the other guests like me brought. Thank you Parallax for this wonderful opportunity.
(on edit: OBC might not be a "Parallax person." Thank you OBC for making all this happen.)
(on edit: OBC might not be a "Parallax person." Thank you OBC for making all this happen.)
Comments
John Abshier
-Phil
and a very big THANK YOU to all the gang that manages to pull this off every year.
As always thanks to OBC, all Parallaxians, (and Ken and Chip specifically), Tracy Gilliland (Matt's son) for the awesome "un-offical unauthorized UPEW" laser etched glass mug, and all of those folks that remembered to drop their cans and bottles in to the recycle bins for my daughter's college fund!
Who won the QuadRover ??
Yall Rock ! in Rocklin !
Peter
I love the Parallax tour. Matt Gilliland is a very enthusiastic Parallax employee--and who can blame him? I didn't realize until the end of the tour that he is the author of the Microcontroller Cookbooks. I meant to thank him for those books. They really helped me when I was first figuring out the Basic Stamp. But the tour ended abruptly when everyone dashed out to see the paintball gattling gun demo.
I got a free copy of the PE Kit Lab book so now I can show people my name in the acknowledgements.
I got a pink Barbie watch for my niece for two bucks.
I had not seen the Saleae Logic Analyzer before. It is very impressive software.
Joe Grand's post-raffle presentation was a (NSFW) riot.
And, of course, Chip and Beau's presentation is priceless. Especially when you see them incorporating input from their users into the design.
If I might make a few suggestions:
Have presenters get GoToMeeting set up before they come up to present. It would help the presentations stay on time and we wouldn't all have to watch someone go through setting up GoToMeeting a half dozen times.
Since this is a Propeller Expo, use the parallel processing power of the two presenters during the raffle. Have one go get the next item while the current one is being drawn.
Please print names on both sides of the badges. Badges are like buttered toast: they are blank-side-out 75% of the time. The first name needs to be larger and the badge should include the wearer's forum handle. If you'd like, I'd be happy to design a new template.
Looking forward to next year's event! Hope to have my new StingRay that I bought doing some interesting tricks by then. I fully intend to have some projects to show off also.
The raffle was great. Already put to use the Prop Starter kit that I won!!! Parallax always goes over the top for customer service, thus I am working hard on getting more people into using the Prop!
Matt Stemple
ms
I too had a blast - the one regret I have is that I didn't get a chance to identify all of you by Forum name - I really like the idea (SSteve!) of putting Handles on the badge. I'll put that down for next year :-)
And you're right, every time I looked at my badge, it was "blank side out"...go figure.
I apologize for "running out" to the paintball gun during the *tour*! (I was the one that was supposed to get the air compressor set up and hose connections - they caught me flat-footed!
Thanks all for coming - It was a great event !
-Matt
I took well over 700 photos at UPEW, way more than I thought. It will take a little while to go through them all.
Rich H
The biggest request is the name badges. We switch to using Eventbright's system which includes the name badges to remove the humor error factor. (me). I'll see if there is a way we can export the raw data (comma delimited) for use with some better software in the near future.
The biggest laugh I had at UPEW was at Matt's expense, he was out there adjusting the signs on the target range while we were shooting "air" from the empty gun. As I stepped up, I noticed Matt, and yelled, "Hey, There's still some paintballs in here!" while I pulled the trigger. Matt Gilliland can really move when he needs to!
Yeah, I'm a trouble maker at heart..
Yes, those MUGS were awesome! We got three of them! Are there any left? I'd love a couple more.
BTW, @Matt, what's with the "Unofficial Office Donut List" in your office?
OBC
If the errors are funny why remove them?
Yes! Mugs are still available - thanks for your support of (my 10 yr old boy's) "Inventors College Fund"!
"Unofficial Donut Exchange West" (UDEW) was my response to a "crackdown" on Company provided "junk food".
Short story: I used to buy donuts weekly for the company. After a while the company decided that it should pay for the donuts. So, I would buy the donuts and get reimbursed each week.
But then we had a "company wellness meeting" and the company decided that it shouldn't be in the business of buying "junk food" for everyone. So the donuts got axed.
Well, I like donuts. Many others here like donuts. I created the UDEW as an un-official 501c3 organization which charges $1 per donut to participants. The donuts only cost 89cents each, so there is an .11 profit per donut (no tax on donuts here). The extra eleven cents accrues, and by the eleventh week, we (participants) get "free" donuts.
We're now on our 12th week, and "happy as clams" - no more "imperial entanglements"
And that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. :-)
-Matt
'Great story! My morning wake-up previously consisted of caffeine and sugar. But my company (of one) recently went low-carb. As much I enjoy the benefits, I LUST for donuts! Mmmmm, donuts!!!
-Phil
OBC
-Matt
-Phil