The PocketGPSWorld.com Meetup report

MikeB · Last edited by MikeB on Wed Jul 21, 2004 10:09 am; edited 1 time in total

The first of possibly many PocketGPSWorld.com Meetups is over now. Thanks to all who attended. It was nice to see so many. I reckon that about 30 of you guys turned up.

We had a good time and there was a wide range of different levels of experience there from complete beginners to experienced GPS programmers like "Oldie".

Pictured to the left is Dave talking to Oldie, and a couple of other guys. Dave demonstrated the new version of TomTom and generally showed our range of GPS devices. We had an impressive range in excess of 12 Bluetooth GPS receivers on show.

Darren seemed to locate himself at the bar, where he showed the new Mapping capabilities of the Orange SPV smartphone.

It was also nice to get some support from companies such as Copilot and Memory-Map.

Dan from Co-Pilot arrived a little late and brought with him the new Evesham PPC as featured in our news this week. This is an integrated PPC with GPS and bundled with Co-Pilot routing software.

Dan is the guy in the black coat.

Memory-Map supported us by sending us the latest version of Memory-Map 2004 software. I was able to suitably impress onlookers with a demo of the new facilities, including the ability to "fly" your selected route in glorious 3D.

I also showed a demo of Maptech Marine Navigator showing a "live" recording of a visit we made to the Florida Keys last month. This included the contour featues indicating the depth in 3D. A review I will be writing up soon.

All in all a good time was had by all and we will probably be looking to have more of these workshops around the London and South East areas later in the year.

We are also looking at formalising our summit this year and get sponsorship and attendance from some of the major players in the UK GPS marketplace. Dan has indicated that ALK and Co-Pilot will be taking part.

The only question remains where and when. We are currently looking at locations around the New Forest area of Hampshire. Preparing for and putting on the Summit incurrs some costs that we need to cover. Ideally we will get sponsorship from the GPS companies and Retailers for this event, but we may need to charge a small nominal fee. Please air your views below...
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Mike Barrett

simkna · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:34 am Post subject:

Looks like you guys had a good day.

Just one comment, I know you can't please everyone location wise, but any chance you could hold these events a *little* further north?

Si.

alix776 · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:03 am Post subject:

simka the first summit last year was held in the lakes
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Oldie · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:49 am Post subject:

Well done again folks Thumbs Up

Now I can put some faces to those names.

MikeB certainly was quick to produce his review - it must be the influence of that new laptop Mr. Green

Oh, by the way, I was holding the print of beer for a friend Wink

Richard

simkna · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:46 am Post subject:

Yes, I know the previous one was in the lakes. Unfortunately, I was getting married that weekend, so couldn't quite make it. It was just that it sounded like all future meets would be in the South, that's all I was worried about. I didn't have have a problem with this last one being in the south, as the previous one was in the North.
(anybody for the midlands??) :D

Si.

MikeB · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 1:49 pm Post subject:

The question you need to ask was was it worth the trade off: Getting married, having your freedom restricted, and having someone nag "You spent HOW MUCH?", or should you have come last year? Thumbs Up

The problem we have with doing a northern meeting is that we all live down south, with Dave living right on the south coast. Around the London area is feasible for a day's meeting like this week, otherwise we would have to come up for the weekend.

I suppose we could make it up to Milton Keynes or Hemel Hempstead in a day, would that be far enough north?

As we all have day jobs it becomes a bit of issue with wives, partners etc when we are continually working away at reviews, forums etc during the evenings and then dissappearing on trips and outings at weekends.
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Mike Barrett

icsys · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 6:14 pm Post subject:

The UK is a pretty big place and to be fair, to allow as many people as possible attend such an event it should be as central as possible.

I appreciate last time you had a Summit in the Lakes but I feel you should consider a venue in the Midlands area. I'm sure people in the far north would appreciate it.

Of course this is only a suggestion as you are free to choose whatever location you think is best.

MikeB · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:55 pm Post subject:

We are always open to suggestions.

Last year when we went up to the Lake District we had a lot of people struggle up from the South. Indeed we had more people from the South than we did from the Midlands upwards.

This year will our Summit will be down in the New Forest somewhere. Next Year I think a good location would be somewhere like York or Derbyshire. I havent visited the Peak District yet.

We would dearly love to give up our day jobs and work on GPS projects and roadshow, and meetings and workshops etc, but we still have mortgages to pay and mouths to feed. Part of the problem is as mentioned earlier allocating time to PocketGPSWorld, Families etc.

You tell us what you want and we will try to achieve it for you. This site is built on your requirements and is so popular because you guys tell us what you want and we try to do it.

I feel another flood of request about to engulf us now..... Happy

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Mike Barrett

Snafu · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:18 pm Post subject:

AlanW · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 9:23 pm Post subject:

BoPeep · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2004 12:15 am Post subject:

Ha ha ha! Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but the comments about wives not understanding about GPS issues and outings did make me smile. :D

I wasn't too surprised that I was the only female at the pub meet last Sunday, as I know from talking to female friends that if their husband was to spend money on what they see as "boys toys", they probably wouldn't be very accomodating about their partner's new interest! Laughing

Yes, I can see the difficulties for people with families and I do sympathise. As a female with as strong an interest in GPS systems as my boyfriend, I am very much looking forward to the summit, but fellas, if you have a bit of extra money spare at the time, you could always book the misses a spa weekend that just happens to coincide with the weekend of the summit, then she cannot possibly refuse you when you mention it! Wink

Also, there are a couple of things you could try saying which might bring her round to seeing the benefits of GPS systems... Wink

1) "Well you always complain that I never ask for directions when we're lost... but with TTN in the car, I don't need to ask as we never get lost anymore!"

2) "You complain that men never listen when women talk... Well, I listened to female .wav #1 when she told me to turn right just then, didn't I?!"

3) (Regarding the summit) "I can almost certainly guarantee that I won't be spending the weekend with a lot of other women." Rolling Eyes

4) "When I'm not using the Pocket PC for navigation, you can use MSN Messenger to chat to your friends." Joker

Please excuse the blatant stereotypes in this post - just a bit of fun! If any females (or males) read this and see me at the next meet/summit, please don't hit me. Wink

Bo Peep.
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madtrev · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2004 8:24 pm Post subject:

i loved your post bo peep very nearly fell of me chair laughing

but i make a small suggestion i think you should have a board to get people to leave there location who are should we say 90% comeing then put a pin in the middle of all the location and say thats where it will be

BoPeep · Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2004 1:16 am Post subject:

Cheers, Madtrev! Thumbs Up

I like the suggestion about future meets/summits - it would certainly be fair to everyone concerned. Maybe it's something that could be applied in the future?

Bo Peep.
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TomTom 730
HTC Desire - Co Pilot Live Premium (Europe)

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