Special Announcement - "empeg Owners Meet" in Amersfoort, NL

Posted on behalf of Rob Schofield

On Sunday the 1st October, there will be a gathering of empeg owners (both versions) to meet and socialise and to celebrate a common interest in one thing - the empeg MP3 player!

It's a little over a year since the first Mk1 machines started appearing on doorsteps in the famous blue-and-white boxes, and since that time the excitement has not abated; if anything, it has increased by the day. With the arrival of the Mk2, even more lucky owners have hit the road with the smug grin that comes from taking your entire collection of music with you wherever you go.

It's time to party!

You are cordially invited to join other, like-minded people in Kattenbroek, Amersfoort, at the centre of The Netherlands, from 12:00 on Sunday the 1st of October in an informal meeting of Mk1 and Mk2 owners. This should put it in reasonable range for many people in Europe. All are welcome, as are partners and family - in fact, anyone interested may attend, whether you are an empeg owner or not! Simply turn up on the day. The event will go on for a few hours (until everyone decides to go home). There will be coffee on hand for the early arrivals, and there's a Chinese restaurant, a Cafe and a Pizza restaurant nearby when food becomes important later in the day.

It's going to be primarily a social event, with discussion of the important issues that effect every empeg owner - such as future features, problems, tips, installations, sound systems, that pesky installation issue you can't sort out -in fact anything to do with your empeg (or anything else, for that matter!) so bring along interesting questions and your camera for those all important photos. There will be "official" photos taken, and a web site will go on line in the days following with the best photos of the event (warts and all). This is it - your chance for international fame!

There will be competitions on the day, with special, one-of-a-kind trophies to mark the event. The two main competitions of the event will be judged by partial judges (yourselves!) for Best Sound and Best Installation. The criteria for judging will necessarily be somewhat loose - but that makes it more fun. Let us have a look at your installation and listen to your sound quality - vote for *your* favourite. Who knows, you could win a unique prize. Be the envy of your friends!

Other small activities are planned.

Special Guests!

In attendance from empeg Ltd. will be Rob - reknowned customer operations manager extraordinaire - who will be on hand to answer your questions on how he so effortlessly manages to maintain the exceptional (cue "Martini" advert music) "Any time, Any place, Any where" service that empeg Ltd excels in; he's also going to bring along some interesting demo gear and who knows - maybe even some goodies; at least that's the last rumour I heard from him (Ooops, sorry Rob!). He's going to be there to shoot the breeze with that excellent dry humour we have all come to know and love through his postings on the Unofficial BBS.

Also on hand will be Roger, the wizard programmer in charge of emplode development - no doubt ready to demonstrate his handsome haircut and in-depth knowledge of Beer. Oh, he will also (we hope) be answering your questions on emplode - who knows? Bring along a bottle of beer to bribe him and he might surprise us all....

Directions to the Event

The location for the meet is the car park on De Beurs, Kattenbroek, Amersfoort, adjacent to the Emiclaer shopping centre. The nearest motorway exit is 500m away, AMERSFOORT-NOORD on the A1 Amsterdam-Apeldoorn motorway. Make sure you do not mistake this for AMERSFOORT exit.

>From the West (A1), travel *past* the Amersfoort exit in the direction Zwolle/Apeldoorn. The next exit is Amersfoort Noord.

>From the East (A1), travel through Apeldoorn, direction Amersfoort. At the Hoevelaken motorway intersection, drive on in the direction Amsterdam. Amersfoort-Noord is the next exit.

>From the South (A27), travel up the A27 to the intersection at Eemnes, and head East on the A1 towards Amersfoort. Follow instructions Eastbound (above).

>From the South (A28), head direction Zwolle/Amersfoort. DO NOT leave the motorway at Amersfoort, but continue Northbound to the Hoevelaken intersection. Follow signs A1-Amsterdam. Follow instructions Westbound (above).

>From the North (A28), follow signs Amersfoort/Utrecht. At the Hoevelaken intersection, exit following signs A1-Amsterdam. Follow instructions Westbound (above).

The route will be signposted from the motorway junction (in both directions) to the car park. Look for signs with the "empeg" logo and follow them to the car park. There will be a flag marking the meeting place.

For those arriving by train, the nearest railway station is AMERSFOORT-SCHOTHORST.

At the station, catch the number 12 bus, asking for the "Laan Naar Emiclaer". Ask the driver to warn you where to get off the bus; from the bus stop, you should walk 150m in the direction of the Emiclaer shopping centre. There you should see the meeting flag.

For those arriving by parachute: good luck, I haven't got the Grid reference

In the event of problems, ring (NL) 033-4561181 (Rob Schofield), or e-mail me in advance at: schofiel@xs4all.nl

Things You Should Bring

- Your empeg
- Your remote
- Your friends
- food money
- camera
- a raincoat/umbrella
- a sensayumer
- YOURSELF.

If this event proves popular, it may be repeated again, so it all depends on YOUR support - See you there in Emiclaer!

Note: This meet, while attended by members of the empeg Ltd staff, is not organised by empeg Ltd. Empeg Ltd is not commercially connected with this event.

Posted on behalf of Rob Schofield:

Due to last minute problems with the original venue, we are changing the meeting point slightly to the car park of the Campanile Hotel, Laan Naar Emiclaer, Amersfoort. All other details about the meet remain the same.

For those of you arriving by car, simply follow the signs to the meeting point and look out for the flag with the "empeg" logo.

For those coming by train to Amersfoort Schothorst, catch the number 12 bus as before, but instead of walking to the shopping centre when you get off the bus, walk in the opposite direction towards the Campanile Hotel, which is clearly visible.

Since we will be on site to welcome you from about 12:00, if you have any problems ring (NL)0612-182871.

There will be a few competitions and some excellent prizes, and a particularly fiendish quiz devised by the lads at empeg to test your knowledge of the empeg car player and all things empeg. Good luck - I hear it's gonna be a real tough one!

Rob has kindly arranged for some specially geek tee-shirts which (if you persuade him ) he might give out as prizes and presents - so if you want one of these unique, never-to-be-repeated items, you'd better hustle down to Amersfoort this Sunday!

See you there in Emiclaer!

(P.S. Don't forget to record your start distance before you set off - there will be a prize for the greatest distance travelled to the event, so make sure you reset that trip meter before you leave!)

Note from Rob:

We'll be previewing some of the new features of version 1.1 and some new visuals as well! Hope to see you there!