Special Announcement - The second European Empeg Owners Meet in Amersfoort, NL

Posted on behalf of Rob Schofield

The second European meet for empeg and Rio Car owners will take place on Sunday the 27th May 2001. The first European meet was a great success, and this year we expect to build on that with over twice as many owners and developers expected to attend.

It's time to party again!

Whether you own an empeg, a Rio, or just have an interest in the car player, you would be most welcome to join like-minded people in Amersfoort, at the centre of The Netherlands from 11:00 on Sunday the 27th of May. This location is in reasonable range for many people in Europe. The event will go on for a few hours and there will be coffee and tea. The bar will be open all day for those inclined and there will also be ice cream outside if the weather's nice. Fingers crossed, it will be really nice outside in the sun.

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! So, bring along interesting questions and your camera for those all important photos.

There will be competitions on the day, with great prizes supplied by Rio!

The two main competitions 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 prize!

There will also be an empeg & Rio general knowledge quiz, and a prize for the person who travelled the most distance for the meet.

After the meet a convoy will be headed out for food, and maybe even a treasure hunt if enough people are interested.

Schedule

Schedules exist to be broken, but here is the rough plan:

11AM - 12AM Arrival, welcome, badges, tea & coffee, wander round and say hello.

12PM - 1:30PM Lazy lunch/buffet/picnic. Sandwiches, quiche, sausage rolls, fruit, beer, ice-cream, etc.

1:30 - 3:30 Inside events (lecture theatre): Life after Rio, Special Annoucements, New Feature Demos, Q & A and quiz to follow.

3:30 - 5:00 Outside events (car park): Judging best sound, judging best installation, car-park demos of airport, tuner, 1.1, etc. Treasure hunt in car park for those inclined!

5:00 - 6:00 Announcements and prize giving for all competitions. Close of day.

6:00 PM Food and drink, socialise for the rest of the evening at location to be chosen.

Special Guests!

The guys at empeg have heard so much good feedback from Rob and Roger, who attended last years meet, that this year no fewer than six of them are coming along. From the development team will be Peter, John and Roger; from R&D management will be Rob and Mike; and from customer services will be Daniel. If they can make the trip we may even get a few extra special guests.

Although the tales of fantastic beer and ribs may have had some influence, the empeg guys are mostly looking forward to hearing your feedback and suggestions, and showing some of the new features that are coming soon. A conference room has been booked at the venue for presentations, discussions and Q&A.

There will be some exclusive first showings at the meet - not least of which will be the long awaited tuner module! As well as being an opportunity to see and listen to the new tuner, it is also expected that the launch date for the product will be announced at the meet. Also on show will be the numerous new features of release 1.1, an 802.11 wireless connection demo and the empeg Mercedes A140 demonstrator.

Directions to the Event

The location for the meet is the Campanile Hotel, Laan Naar Emiclaer, Amersfoort. 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 banner 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 Campanile Hotel. There you should see the meeting flag.

For those of you wanting to travel to the meet by International train (such as the Eurostar, Thalys, or ICE links) it is possible to travel direct to AMERSFOORT as well as the local station AMERSFOORT-SCHOTHORST mentioned in the announcement. At both stations you should catch the number 12 bus to the event. Connections from Belgium go through Rotterdam or Amsterdam (Thalys/NS/BS, Eurostar from Paris, Liege & London); direct ICE connections from Germany (ICE/DB) go through Amsterdam; there are good regular connections from Rotterdam and Amsterdam to Amersfoort and Amersfoort-Schothorst. Normal sleeper cars from Germany, Switzerland and Denmark go through to Amersfoort Central direct (note you will need to book sleeper cars direct with your local train company).

If you require accommodation the Campanile have double rooms, currently at the rate of Fl 135 per night (this is approximately 38 UKP). Book now to be sure of getting a room:

Campanile Amersfoort
De Brand 50
N-3823 LM Amersfoort
Tel. : 033-4558757 - Fax : 033-4552620

Contact Details

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

schofiel@xs4all.nl

Please send me an email if you plan to come so I can get a feel for the numbers, and don't forget to reset your trip meter before you leave - maybe you'll win the distance competition!