[mikemercer]

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Man, I would love to hear that setup!  Those decks are beasty though (55lbs!).  Thanks for offering!
 
If you could bring that and we could somehow get some Tape Project reels, I think I would be at that rig all day...
 
 

I'm ON THIS~~

 

[mikemercer]

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Agreed, you can't go wrong with that E.A.R. tape deck. Looking forward to hearing the HP 4 someday, too! That said, the ALO Studio Six is a wonderful amp, and you can't beat the options. Thanks for bringing your gear and expertise, Michael. By the way, what was the name of the track from the Radiohead singer that you played? I heard a bunch of Radiohead all day at the meet, and there was another tune that I really liked from one of their earlier albums, but I foolishly didn't write it down! I'm trying to track it down on MOG, you'd think I'd learn. Looking forward to the next Head-Fi event, and seriously thinking about motoring up to the CA Audio show for more ear speaker fun. 

hey Dean!!
 
GREAT to see you brotha, 
and thanks for the kind words!
 
The track by Thom Yorke I played for you was called "Black Swan" off his Eraser record

 

[Dean Seislove]

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hey Dean!!
 
GREAT to see you brotha, 
and thanks for the kind words!
 
The track by Thom Yorke I played for you was called "Black Swan" off his Eraser record

Thanks, Michael, got it downloaded. Latest news: I was all set to buy a sweet Stax headphones/amp set up that suits me to a "T', when some dude slams into my car, totals it, then slinks off when the paramedics herd us out of the traffic lane. No real injuries, but now I have to replace the car and forego the Stax rig. Once again, my audio good times are ruined by dynamic compression!
Thank goodness for music when spirits are low and times are dark. Great community here, thanks for directing me to the site.

 

[mrspeakers]

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Thanks, Michael, got it downloaded. Latest news: I was all set to buy a sweet Stax headphones/amp set up that suits me to a "T', when some dude slams into my car, totals it, then slinks off when the paramedics herd us out of the traffic lane. No real injuries, but now I have to replace the car and forego the Stax rig. Once again, my audio good times are ruined by dynamic compression!
Thank goodness for music when spirits are low and times are dark. Great community here, thanks for directing me to the site.

 
Wow, that totally sucks. Sorry to hear this...

 

[Dean Seislove]

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Wow, that totally sucks. Sorry to hear this...

Thanks, I appreciate that, especially from someone who makes such killer headphones! Actually, I'm just thankful that all I lost was a car, and that nobody was seriously injured. The rest of the summer has been filled with a lot of good weather and a bunch of great music finds, so who can complain, really? Thanks again for the sentiments, though. 

 

[sceleratus]

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Thanks, I appreciate that, especially from someone who makes such killer headphones! Actually, I'm just thankful that all I lost was a car, and that nobody was seriously injured. The rest of the summer has been filled with a lot of good weather and a bunch of great music finds, so who can complain, really? Thanks again for the sentiments, though. 

What a great attitude.
Good things "Will Happen !"

 

[mrspeakers]

X2!

 

[warrenpchi]

Hey guys, sorry for being AWOL lately.  This whole week is just cray cray for me.
 
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Does anyone have any suggestions on things we could do better?  Things to add or take away?  We've already got some improvements figured out, and we're eager to make each meet better than the one before. 

 
I almost regret posting this as it feels like nitpicking, but you asked for it.

 
I did indeed! 

 
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1. Tables: I found it pretty difficult to get in and out from behind the tables. Since there wasn't any spacing between them to exit, I ended up having to walk all the way around. With each step praying that I wouldn't trip and fall into one of the beautiful Eddie Current amps. So if possible leave at least one space in the middle to get in and out.

 
Sure, I don't imagine it will be too much trouble.  Worst case scenario, we'll have one less table per room.  Not the end of the world. 

 
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   Space permitting, a small table with chairs all around for eating, drinking, drinking (21+), or relaxing/chatting. I know many of us were running around the whole time and barely stopped to eat, but it might be a nice idea. 

 
Actually, we're ahead of you on this one.  I'd like to have - not only a food/drink lounge area - but also an In-N-Out truck.  We might all have to order ahead of time or something.  But it'd be nice having In-N-Out delivered to us right?  We wouldn't have to leave, could probably eat together, and do so in less time so there's more time to listen and hang out.
 
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2. Chairs: Some of the smaller rooms could have used more chairs at the stations. There were a few stations with 3 or more setups and only 1 or 2 chairs. Again, you can't make chairs appear that weren't provided, but something to consider. 

2. Personally I disagree, I think that would detract from what I found to be a very personal experience of listening to other people's rigs and having time (and space) to talk to them without distraction.

 
Good points.  I think the easiest way to solve this is to have extra chairs set aside somewhere.  And then we'll just pull them as needed?  We're Head-Fiers after all, we'll just mod the room if/when needed. 

 
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3. Lanyards: This one feels stupid even now as I type it, BUT... those lanyards had a mind of their own. Constantly twisting. I saw numerous people, including myself, with backwards lanyards. I won't go into the reasons it matters or doesn't, just another observation. 
    
Larger avatar images would be fantastic. It was near the end of the show when Insidious meme, Jude, and myself were standing around talking about the badges when we finally realized that there were avatars on our badges. I loved the idea of having them on there as I do normally identify a number of members by their Avatars. That being said, I'm not going to lean into their chest so I can see close enough to tell who is who. 

3. I think the swivel thing is a bit picky, but the easy solution is to make them double sided. Agreed that larger avatars could have been cool.

 
Yeah, I'm with Gilly on this.  Making them double-sided works for me.
 
However, here's the thing about larger avatars.  Some of you have extremely low resolution avatars.  Not naming names, but y'all know who you are.  I tried my best to upsample them, but that's like trying to make FLACs from MP3s.  So I'll do my best.  But if it comes out looking less than perfect, well...

 
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4. Fun event? I haven't really thought this out in detail, but just the idea of it seems like something I would participate in while at a meet. Maybe offer some kind of fun events or game during the meet. Something people could do while they are going around. Maybe even offer some small prize at the end. Or a station that does a "name that tune" kind of game for candy. You get the idea. Just something fun that could be incorporated into the meet but not take away from the overall purpose of the meet.

 
4. Agreed! I think it could be fun to have competitions: best sounding rig (obviously this will be met with resistance but personally I think it would still be fun), best looking rig, best sounding/looking portable rig, most creative mods, most effective mods...things like this could motivate some people to take their gear to the next level and I think it would be fun.

 
You know, years ago there used to be raffles and stuff at meets.  In fact, being the good sport that he is, Mr. Speakers came ready with a donation to the raffle.  Bu alas, we told him there wasn't going to be one.  Maybe we should bring that little part of it back at the very least?
 
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Signage at the tables--just simple cards like Frank Cooter's (though with more specific information).  This was the first meet I've attended, and I would have loved to have seen a sign, or signs, at each table that identified all the components in a rig.  And, if the plot Warren posted wasn't at the registration table (I didn't see one when I came in the afternoon), it would have been great to have had a plot at the sign-in table identifying the show layout.  And if not that, then just a list by room and table.  (And if the plot was at the table: force it on me!)
 
I'm still kicking myself a bit for walking right past some wonderful gear.

 
I do agree that cards identifying the gear is a good idea. It can save owners the time lost answering some of the same questions many times over.

The Eddie Current table had similar cards identifying the gear and If it was for sale, alongwith the price. It was very useful.

 
LOL!  Sure, I'm totally down for this.  All we need to do is get our ducks in a row a little earlier, and this can easily be done. 

 
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One of the common "games" at vendor conferences is to have cards with a matrix of squares with numbers, letters or symbols. Scattered throughout the conference at the table stations are different stickers or ink stamps that match the squares on the card. As you walk around, when you find a station with a square you don't have, you ask them to stamp or put a sticker on your card. When your card is full, you can drop it in a box for drawings that occur a few times during the day. The drawings don't have to be expensive items - just some inexpensive swag like a vendor T-Shirt or a mousepad.

I do think the vendors are missing some marketing opportunities - I know you are all very small businesses - but some cheap logo swag can really go a long way at these types of events. Complete strangers will walk up to each other and say: "Where did you get that mousepad?" (or whatever). The customer that takes the mousepad home sees your logo every day - which means he thinks of your company and your products every day. One of the trends at conferences is that the vendor only gives you the swag *if* you show them your badge and let them write down your name & email address. Then it's a quid pro quo - the vendor gets a lead, the customer gets a piece of cheap swag. Win-win!

Of course, the vendors can also have their own games - enter a drawing if you listen and provide your contact info, or whatever. I was surprised that the vendors did not all want to know who I am - if I was a vendor, generating leads would be my primary purpose for attending a meet like that. Maybe that's being too commercial for this hobby? But if I'm an MoT, isn't that what everyone expects? As long as it wasn't done in an obnoxious way, I don;t see anything wrong with a vendor doing some marketing at these events. It's the price I'm willing to pay to get to listen to their gear at the meet.

 
What sayeth you honored vendors?  This is probably more for you guys.  BTW, and FWIW, Audeze had some nice goodies.  I feasted on their Jolly Ranchers. 

 
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Thanks for all the great feedback guys. For me, the meet program/maps developed by Warren were an amazing upgrade to meets past that I've attended. Warren deserves a HUGE bear hug for the crazy amount of hours he spent on this as well as digging out members' avatars to put on their name badges. I hope that for future meets people will register a little earlier, we had about 25-30 jump on just in the last day and the name badges had already gone to print. Having said that, I think we have a strong template for the next big one. Which is planned for FEB/MAR 2014.

 
Thanks bro!  I just wished I could have realized how much work a meet is beforehand.  Next time around though, I'll be doing a whole lot more to take some of the burden off your shoulders.  Just want to say a word about this y'all.  Let's assume that all I did was do some graphical stuff (which is not far from the truth).  EVERYTHING ELSE WAS DONE BY ETHAN.  SRSLY. 

  Hence my first post in this thread. 

 
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Don't dismiss the brauts easily.
I'm thinking a George Forman Grill in each room. A Weber would be better but a GFG will work in a pinch.

 
How do you feel about the In-N-Out truck idea?
 
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I'm having a hard time understanding why we would ever need anything other than Red Bulls and Pop Tarts...

 
that's valid

 
Okay, forget the IN-N-Out truck.
 
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I must make a public appology to Tyll for continually screwing up the pronunciation of his name.

 
Meh, no worries mate, happens all the time.

 
So much so that you had to put it in your sig.
 
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I miss you guys already!  

 
miss all of you too
 
hell lets just buy an island and have year-round meets at a Head-Fi Resort 

 
I love you guys, BUT NO. 

 
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Wow, that totally sucks. Sorry to hear this...

 
Thanks, I appreciate that, especially from someone who makes such killer headphones! Actually, I'm just thankful that all I lost was a car, and that nobody was seriously injured. The rest of the summer has been filled with a lot of good weather and a bunch of great music finds, so who can complain, really? Thanks again for the sentiments, though. 

 
Hey Dean, I'm sorry to hear that. 

  I'm also sorry that I didn't check out the PFO Masthead in much detail so as not to recognize the name when you checked in. 

 

[Dean Seislove]

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Hey guys, sorry for being AWOL lately.  This whole week is just cray cray for me.
 
 
I did indeed! 

 
 
Sure, I don't imagine it will be too much trouble.  Worst case scenario, we'll have one less table per room.  Not the end of the world. 

 
 
Actually, we're ahead of you on this one.  I'd like to have - not only a food/drink lounge area - but also an In-N-Out truck.  We might all have to order ahead of time or something.  But it'd be nice having In-N-Out delivered to us right?  We wouldn't have to leave, could probably eat together, and do so in less time so there's more time to listen and hang out.
 
 
Good points.  I think the easiest way to solve this is to have extra chairs set aside somewhere.  And then we'll just pull them as needed?  We're Head-Fiers after all, we'll just mod the room if/when needed. 

 
 
Yeah, I'm with Gilly on this.  Making them double-sided works for me.
 
However, here's the thing about larger avatars.  Some of you have extremely low resolution avatars.  Not naming names, but y'all know who you are.  I tried my best to upsample them, but that's like trying to make FLACs from MP3s.  So I'll do my best.  But if it comes out looking less than perfect, well...

 
 
You know, years ago there used to be raffles and stuff at meets.  In fact, being the good sport that he is, Mr. Speakers came ready with a donation to the raffle.  Bu alas, we told him there wasn't going to be one.  Maybe we should bring that little part of it back at the very least?
 
 
LOL!  Sure, I'm totally down for this.  All we need to do is get our ducks in a row a little earlier, and this can easily be done. 

 
 
What sayeth you honored vendors?  This is probably more for you guys.  BTW, and FWIW, Audeze had some nice goodies.  I feasted on their Jolly Ranchers. 

 
 
Thanks bro!  I just wished I could have realized how much work a meet is beforehand.  Next time around though, I'll be doing a whole lot more to take some of the burden off your shoulders.  Just want to say a word about this y'all.  Let's assume that all I did was do some graphical stuff (which is not far from the truth).  EVERYTHING ELSE WAS DONE BY ETHAN.  SRSLY. 

  Hence my first post in this thread. 

 
 
How do you feel about the In-N-Out truck idea?
 
 
Okay, forget the IN-N-Out truck.
 
 
So much so that you had to put it in your sig.
 
 
I love you guys, BUT NO. 

 
 
Hey Dean, I'm sorry to hear that. 

  I'm also sorry that I didn't check out the PFO Masthead in much detail so as not to recognize the name when you checked in. 

No worries, Warren, I'm good on both counts, especially as I've only featured a few headphones in the column (hope to rectify that soon!). By the way, I remember at RMAF, one of the vendors gave away ear pad wipes. I haven't seen those wipes again, and I don't know how others feel about them, but I did notice a few people at the recent meet wiping off ear pads with a shirt prior to listening, so maybe that's something that can be added or sold at the entry table to alleviate concerns for the clean team. 

 

[mrspeakers]

I have some mixed feelings about increasing vendor visibility.

Head-fi meets are really special and unique. Everyone Is friendly, gracious and interested/interesting and the vendors almost uniformly are low key and collegial. Having done many trade shows over the years, what i really like about head-fi meets is they are low on hype, so if changes are made to increase traffic or exposure I suggest being mindful to preserve the emphasis on fun and sharing that makes the meets so special, and so different from trade shows...

 

[shipsupt]

I feel like I've read this thread over and over again... 

 

[sceleratus]

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I feel like I've read this thread over and over again... 

Like "Sgt. Pepper"

 

[Gilly87]

YES This is 100% the truth. I wouldn't change the meet from the way it was in terms of vendor presence, the sales reps were super friendly and very non-invasive.
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I have some mixed feelings about increasing vendor visibility.

Head-fi meets are really special and unique. Everyone Is friendly, gracious and interested/interesting and the vendors almost uniformly are low key and collegial. Having done many trade shows over the years, what i really like about head-fi meets is they are low on hype, so if changes are made to increase traffic or exposure I suggest being mindful to preserve the emphasis on fun and sharing that makes the meets so special, and so different from trade shows...

 

[third_eye]

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I have some mixed feelings about increasing vendor visibility.

Head-fi meets are really special and unique. Everyone Is friendly, gracious and interested/interesting and the vendors almost uniformly are low key and collegial. Having done many trade shows over the years, what i really like about head-fi meets is they are low on hype, so if changes are made to increase traffic or exposure I suggest being mindful to preserve the emphasis on fun and sharing that makes the meets so special, and so different from trade shows...

 
Very much agree with this!

 

[third_eye]

Save the date folks!
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/675120/ic-la-socal-regional-head-fi-meet-march-8-2014