I am back in contact with Rob Schofield, and we are organising the European meet now. Announcements should be ready within the next couple of days.

The date is confirmed as June 15th, with fun events from the 14th through to the 16th - so make a weekend of it!

Full details soon.

Rob

I think I'd have to sell my empeg to afford the plane tickets.

Any news? (it's only 2 weeks left...)

What Hotel are you guys booking in?
Is it possible to book online?

cheers

Here's a quick summary of the events that we are organising for this year's European meet in Amersfoort.

It will be necessary to charge for the meet (and some of the associated events) this year. In previous years Rob Schofield has taken on a considerable financial burden to host the meet, and in addition SONICblue marketing have made contributions. This year I believe it is unreasonable for Rob to be out of pocket once again, and SB automotive marketing no longer exists! I think you will find the contributions to be very reasonable, however.

The meet will span three days, and everyone is welcome to join us for some or all of the weekend. There will be a signup form on the web within the next few days so we will know how many to expect. Details of the hotel will also be posted. Twin rooms are listed at 63 Euro's per night on the Campanile web site, however I will try to negotiate a group rate.

Friday 14th June

6pm Meet at the Campanile Hotel bar for drinks and introductions.

8pm Dinner at Klauf - a great restaurant and bar with a varied menu, including the most amazing all-you-can-eat ribs. Meal cost with drinks typically 15 - 20 Euro's per person.

Saturday 15th June

12pm Meet at the Campanile, where we will have a private conference room with tea and coffee.

Events throughout the afternoon will include:

Introductions and distance travelled competition
Lunch buffet with beer and icecream
Sound quality, pro install and self install competitions
Presentation from the SB guys - check out Rio Central, and be the first to see our MP3 DJ concepts
Sound Quality Tweak competition - how good are you with the EQ?
Techie Q&A featuring the geeks from SB
The time honoured empeg knowledge quiz
Raffle with fantastic prizes including a Mk.2 empeg Car player signed by the empeg team

SB guys expected at the meet include Rob, Mike, John R, John G, Peter and Roger. We also hope that Patrick (former empeg hardware designer) will be there with prototypes of his new tuner module kit!

The expected charge for the entire afternoon including lunch buffet and entry into the raffle and other competitions is 20 Euro's. This will be confirmed nearer the time when we know how many people to expect (we just need to cover costs).

6pm Monster BBQ in Rob Schofield's garden

Rob & Merrigan have kindly offered to host an evening BBQ which will be a great opportunity to chew the fat with your fellow empeg owners and developers (or you could go for some of the lean offerings if you prefer).

This will cost about 10 Euro's per person including delicious fayre, great local beer and soft drinks (again, to be confirmed).

Sunday June 16th

10am Car Treasure Hunt

Assemble with your cars at the Campanile for the start of Merrigan's car treasure hunt. There is no entry fee, and there will be some cool prizes donated by SB.

12pm Lunch in Amersfoort

This will be an opportunity to say Bon Voyage until next year. The venue will be chosen nearer the time.

More information to follow soon!

Would people attending like an official meet T-shirt? If so, this is likely to cost about 20 EUR (this is what our supplier charges for 2-sided, 2 colours in small volumes - if anyone has a better supplier... they're nice shirts, the same as the last meet)



Hugo

Damn! That all sounds cool, shame I can't actually make it due to work

- Trevor

I'll have to start saving my money now so I can afford to attend next year. Sounds like you guys have a great time.

Damn! I sure wish I could be there, especially since it's not that far from where I am. (only a couple of hundred k's I guess).

Sadly it's not possible for me to attend since I'm in the middle of my finals.

Yes, I'll be in Europe for most of July and August, such a shame...

John

How is every one getting there ???

If anyone is in the UK and has a spare seat in their car, I would be interested in splitting costs ???

Just an idea, would love to come and meet you all, just don't trust myself on those european roads.

Cheers
Cristian.

the aberdeen express will be leaving from aberdeen and heading all the way to the meet if you intrested.

Arriving on friday morning from Oslo, Norway - in my blue Ford Fiesta Sport (Zetec S) - this I look forward to.

bugger there goes the distance prize

DAMN! I have just seen what Rob is going to be bringing with him to the meet! It's, well, it's a kind of (Censored)...

Rob has just reminded me I'm under an NDA and I am unfortunately not allowed to release any details in a public place. I'm sorry folks, but it just looks as if you'll all have to come along and see for yourselves...

Book the long weekend, get the cheapest flight you can get, bend the credit card and get here. You could win the distance prize! I'll even pick you up from the airport...

Geez it is tempting but I am sure the flight would be expensive this close to the date. And I have no passport and all that happy horseshit. The credit card is empty at the moment but would take me many, many months to pay off if I come. I've never been over the pond before.

Well what would the prize be for living the farthest away?

After checking prices last night, it would be anywhere between $2000-$5000 for a flight, I won't be making it for sure unless I win the lottery. Fat chance of that because I never buy tickets

Oh well.

"The lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math."

man those prices are high! When I flew to Detroit and back last March (from Düsseldorf, which is less than 2 hours drive from the meet) I only paid around US$400 for the return flight!! Heck, I can fly to New Zealand and back for $1200, and you can't get any further from here than that! (well unless you want to land in the water that is )

Yeah I couldn't believe those prices but a quick check around my usual sources reveals that they aren't too far outside the ball park! The cheapest I found for CVG to AMS on June 13 - 17 was with Delta via JFK at about $1500 including taxes. That's pretty scarey, and it even includes a Saturday.

Rob

I even tried Dayton and Louisville flights and couldn't find a better deal. If it had been $400 I would have booked it. It's a shame there isn't an airfare war going on right now. But even $1500 is well out of my range.

Having a chance at winning the distance prise, does it matter how I get to Amersfoort?

Oslo - Amersfoort is a 16 hour drive and 1250 k's tarmac. Taking the ferry from Oslo to Kiel in Germany, i only have to drive 520 k's after a good night sleep on the boat.

But if taking the ferry puts the distance price at stake, the road is mine - all the way!

We're going to work out the exact rules for the distance prize in the next few days.

Rob

work out the exact rules for the distance prize

Not that it'll help any, if one's to judge by history... We participants will just create more and more bizarre ways to surprise you

/Michael

Here's the line I'm thinking along currently:

The point of the distance prize is essentially to reflect the amount of effort you have made to attend the meet. Therefore I have come up with a scaling factor according to the type of transport utilised for any given stage of the journey (from home to the Campanile).

Driven (car or motorcycle) : 1 mile according to odometer = 1 competition mile
Public Transport (plane, train, bus or ferry): 2 miles as the crow flies = 1 competition mile

I haven't bothered with a walking/cycling factor as I doubt that would be conclusive in the competition

What do you think?

Rob

British train does 1 mile equal 2 competion mile for brave factor

No, but if anyone turns up in a Sinclair C5 they can have double miles.

Rob

But only as long as it has an empeg installed!

Hehe, maybe I'll beat you to it.(Maybe) Driving from Drammen, 45 kilometers extra

TommyE

Driven (car or motorcycle) : 1 mile according to odometer = 1 competition mile
Public Transport (plane, train, bus or ferry): 2 miles as the crow flies = 1 competition mile

Sounds good... Which category does motorpooling fall into? (remember how Lars (Wire here) & I confused things last year?)

/Michael