Yes, a big thank you from Nicola and myself

A great weekend, the highlights for me were the surprise pinball meet at the pub on Saturday (good job the service was so bad, otherwise I would still have that £20 in my pocket! But it did all go to a local charity.), the Quiz at the party was the work of genius (esp the display change part - what was that music?), the drive back to our B&B in Rory's car and seeing Andy bravely attempting to retrieve his punting pole from the river with full commitment (and a change of clothes) on Sunday

I enjoyed the relaxed feel to the weekend, testament to the great organisation and planning. Thanks guys and I am already looking forward to next year.

Cheers

Cris.

Fatboy Slim - Kalifornia

There was a quiz ? Why didn't someone tell me ? I'd have loved sitting down and watching a geek quiz...

Rory's car is nuts. It may have the aerodynamic properties of a brick, but it makes up for it with so much power!

Ah yes, not listened to that for ages. Thanks.

Cheers

Cris.

Back in the US now, and I would also like to extend my thanks to all those that made this event possible.

Here are my pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/robricc/Empeg10thBirthdayParty

And there was me taking it easy so as not to make anyone feel queasy:-) Those were good back roads for the journey back to Cambridge though...a good test of Halogen headlights!

There was a brief moment where I thought the ale might make an unwelcome return. But I found that closing my eyes and concentrating helped!

Thanks to everyone for having had another great weekend.

Here are pictures made by myself and Gaby, sorted by EXIF date order.
Notice the slight clock drift between our cameras.

http://www.macroscoop.nl/~pim/fotos/empeg2008/empeg2008.html

Pim

Didn't anyone catch that moment on their camera or mobile phone?

Pim

Only the aftermath, there are some blurred shots of a damp andym on our photos.

My Dad went to Cambridge and when I told him what had happened on Sunday he told me about a friend of his who fell in after punting and was asked to do it again by a man on a bridge who wanted to catch it on his cine camera!

He was given a pound for his troubles. This was in the early 60's so I'm not sure what that would be today, but I'd imagine it's approx. £15, so, to a student it's probably worth it.

Especially if you're already wet.

Hi.

I'd just like to say how much I enjoyed the weekend. As always, meeting so many friends I see so rarely is a real treat, and the entertainment was first rate. I consider myself very lucky to know so many people from so many places who will take the time to come so far to get together, all because of a stainless steel box of music

It's always a shame when it ends, knowing it's going to be a year before I see most of you again. Still, it gives me something to look forward to!

pca

i'm still ready to arrange a meeting next year, but i guess that i need some "help" from people who hav done it before...

It's local assistance you'll need more than anything, someone to check out venues, restaurants and the like. I don't think there's anyone here that can help you with that.

To me, these days it's a far more social thing than just a sit down technical session (although it still does play a part).

I have to say I really like having it in Cambridge now, there's plenty to see and do there.

well i thought it could be nice to move it from country to country each year

How about every other year in cambridge, every other in some other country (assuming we find volunteer organizers, of course)?

Can't see it would make a massive difference, we had it at Amersfoort for at least 6 years.

sounds great to me...

what i meant by help is more ideas for a program for a meeting (what activity's and so on)

contacting hotels and so on is what i'm lees afraid of

Yet again, that sounds like something that having local knowledge is going to be crucial. Surely you know what activities you can get up to near wherever you decide to hold it.

It's 'a lot' of work and involves paying for a lot of things up front. Everyone who's organised a meet can attest to that.

yep, i can find so many things thati have to choose a few out



no doubt about that, who said everything has to be easy?

So what do you need help with?



It's all very well saying that now.

choose what will suit people most...

about paying up front... well that might be a problem (maybe i could win the lottery or someting)

I think you'd have to approach it from a social rather than a technical angle. Bear in mind the technical stuff is usually dictated by the people who decide to come. Say for instance, there would be no point offering a repairs bench like this year if none of the empeg guys, pca or mlord hadn't already signed up.

Why don't you have a search through the forum, the itineraries have always been published over the years, maybe get some ideas from that?

Can we include countries in North America every once in a while? I'm really sick of not being able to attend because I can't really afford $1500 in travel expenses. Of course, you guys can't readily afford that any more than I can....

We're back in Canada now, and my photos won't be ready for some time yet.

Meanwhile, a big thank-you to Rob Voisey, for yet another extraordinary event! Wow!

And thanks to Hugo for allowing us to rummage through his electronic cast-offs, and to Rory for the bottle of scotch that we have yet to enjoy!

And to everyone else as well. It really great seeing and mingling with you all -- let's plan to do it again really soon!

Meanwhile.. SWMBO & I have now implemented a project we planned after the 2006 meet:

What on earth is wrong with a Canadian kettle ?

The point being, that our 120VAC kettles top out at 1500W, are generally ill-designed, and take forever to boil water.

The UK (and EU) kettles just seem to be much better designed, and operate on 240VAC, thereby allowing up to double the wattage, and much faster boiling times.

• Kettle: UK 4.95
• UK-style switched outlet: UK 2.45
• surface-mount outlet box: UK 0.98
• 240V plug for unused 240VAC stove outlet: CDN$24.95
• Fast(!) hot water for tea: Priceless!

Agreed. I have a US/Canada kettle that works just fine. Admittedly, they're not as ubiquitously available for purchase in North America as I'm sure they are in England, but they're still available.

Edit: I'll have to time mine. Now I'm curious.