Unofficial Propeller Expo NE 2008 Report 
by Jeff Ledger

First of all, Wow! What an Event! I never dreamed that we would have such an awesome turn out! Consider this an annual event.

I’d also like to immediately tell you about a few people who worked behind the scenes who did a hundred small tasks to keep things running smoothly. Brad McCartney (Wizard65) organized the lanyards/nametages. (They looked great!) He also helped get the million items to and from the Expo. Rebekah Ledger, (my wife) handled snacks & food, as well as registration. Brian Cartwright, (a good friend who had never really seen a Propeller until yesterday.) ttraded away his guest hat to wear registration, prize coordination, kitchen duties and hauling materials to the Expo. If you are going to run your own Expo, get a team of people like this. 

Reading the comment slips we passed out, it seems that many of you are looking forward to attending next year. Most of the challenges we read have to do with Expo location size. We had people arriving most of the day. The final attendee count was 69 people. I’ve been told by the folks that operate the community center that the gym will be air conditioned next year, and I see no reason why we won’t have over 100 people next year.

There are many little expenses that you discover after you pay location rental. I’m pleased to say that not only did we cover all expenses this year, but even a little more to put down on next years’ location rental.

Expo Highlights:
When I attend Commodore Expos, I’m allowed to lounge and socialize while someone else runs around and handles all the little details of the expo. Running an expo is an exhausting job! Those of you thinking about doing this, IT IS SO WORTH IT! It was a treat to see so many I’ve talked to on the forum. Your enthusiasm for the Propeller is awesome!

Chip Gracey and Paul Baker were a real treat for the Expo. Based on Paul’s assertive moderation (necessary when you are “in charge”) I expected him to have a little of the dreaded “technicians attitude.” He really carries himself in a mild mannered, Clark Kent style. We KNOW there’s a giant S under his Parallax shirt. He’s a neat guy! If you have a chance to meet Paul, he really represents the best in PARALLAX. Chip Gracey has been on my personal “heros list” for the last couple years. It’s a shame he’s such an Apple guy.  (Inside expo joke that developed about Commodore 64 design compared to the AppleII). His demonstration of the Propller II was incredible! While most of what he talked about went right over my head, I’ve never seen “Graphics Demo” run as fast as it was at the Expo. If I understood correctly, we are going from 20mips to 180mips? There are good things in store for Propeller users next year. I was told by Ken Gracey, that Chip wanted to be treated like any other Expo attendee. Seth Webster (who had never seen pictures or video of Chip) related his story about how he was talking to this guy who had an FPGA setup running, (and his nametag turned around) who seem to understand a lot about FPGA and the Propeller II. After twenty minuets of conversation, it dawned on him that this was Chip Gracey he was talking to. Seth, how did it feel to suddenly discover you were talking to a silicon deity?

Tpw_man, someone who I honestly expected to actually be my age based on his knowledgeable posts to the forum. I figured the joke would finally be up, as we would discover his real age. He really is 11 YEARS OLD! He understands more about the Propeller than I will in the next five years. PARALLAX, you will want to hire this young man for the development of the Prop IV. Terry Hitt (Bean) sold him an LED display which he quickly had the word “Prop” displayed. Terry joking challenged him to scroll the word “Propeller”, which he had working five minutes later. This young man has a real future in electronics design.

The vendors we had were also awesome. One of the comments I kept reading was a request for more vendors/items as well as Parallax items for sale. Perhaps we can convince Parallax to bring items for sale next year.

Parallax was a superstar sponsor of this event. They sent thousands of dollars of product to give away to every attendee, as well as awesome items for the drawings. We gave away Propeller Protoboards to every attendee.

We also gave away: Servos , Propeller Mini Development boards (Hitt Consulting), SpinStudio boards (uController.com), Propeller Caps (Whit), Tee shirts & Magazines, SX48 Kit (RobotWorkshop), Propeller & Hydra cases (Chuck George), ProGFX lite cards (ProGFX team), 3.5” screen, PEKit, Boebot, Hydra Kit, 4 Professional Development boards (PARALLAX)

It was standing room only for UPE 2008

What did some of the attendees think of the Expo?

#1 
"Rebekah and I just arrived home a little while ago, and couldn't resist reading the comment
slips from the attendees. It looks like the only real challenge this year revolved around
the size of the expo location. :) :) You guys gave us an awesome turn out!

We'll shoot for a bigger venue for next year. Yes... As far as we are concerned there
WILL BE A UPENE next year"!

#2
"The expo was absolutely great. I think the best part was not long after I got there I was talking to a guy about this demo he had set up and low and behold it was Chip himself with the FPGA of the Prop II. I'm already looking forward to it after seeing it and hearing about what to expect. :) Now to decide whether to sleep or play with my new proto boards".

#3
"It was a real pleasure to meet everyone, especially tpw. You are one of the brightest and most pleasant young men I have ever met. After seeing everything at the expo next year maybe I will finally get up the courage to start using that Propeller that has been sitting in my closet for a month or two. I hope to see everyone again next year, and I'm sure I'll bump into everyone here on the forums".

The Expo rocked!

#4
"I'd like to take this time to thank all that showed up at the Expo, Shared their work and Ideas and allowed me to put a face to the People I chat with and get help from, from this forum. I would also like to thank OBC, for allowing me the chance to be part of my first Expo ever. I showed off my version of the mini Lap Top, and what I done with it, and I really was supprised with the great responce I recieved from You that came. THANKS!!! Special thanks to Chip Gracey and Paul Baker. Hope the People at Parallax enjoy the name tags and Lanyards. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR"!!!!

#5
"This was just the kick in the butt i needed to dig out and dust off my prop. I even broke down and bought a decent soldering station so that I could make cool things like everybody else".

And What did Chip Gracey think of the Expo?

"What a great experience the expo was! It was a pleasure to meet people and I wish I had met everyone.
 
Jeff (OldBitCollector) did such a wonderful job of getting everything together and leading the whole show. If we at Parallax had properly pictured what was going to go on, several more of us would have come. I'm really glad that I made those late arrangements to accompany Paul Baker. I just wish Jeff Martin and Beau Schwabe would have been there, too, as they would have loved it and been inspired, as well. It was like going back in time to when everything was fresh. As I told Jeff, it reminded me of the 1980 West Coast Computer Faire that my dad took me to when I was 12 years old. My dad always recalls how the whole place smelled like tomato soup from everyone's B.O. This one smelled fine.
 
One thing that really made an impression upon me at the expo was the EXCEPTIONALLY WHOLESOME nature of everyone involved. This was very different from a trade show. The Propeller seems to have found the nicest people. There were not only inventors and tinkerers present, but fathers with sons, and even homeschoolers! I can hardly express what positive feelings I had about the group. 
 
Jeff, thanks a lot for making it all happen. I think it was very edifying for everyone involved. You are a natural host. I look forward to another one of these".

A big thanks to all the participants and attendees for making the show so successful!

See you in 2009!

Links and other Resources:

http://izationlabs.com/

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffledger/UnofficialPropellerExpoNE2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E44y9uBn48s

http://www.misskaties.com/pd-propeller-beanie.cfm