SELEM 6- Carpool/rent car share & lodging- arrangements.

[hakzaw1]

Please take all this up with buffo.. If I were Sam & I read this I doubt I would ever visit PL again..he helps with his on-line site every time one of us goes there.. WTF is up with you and all the SHOUTING- gary What wrong has Dr sam ever done to you..sheesh.

[polishedball]

Please take all this up with buffo.. If I were Sam & I read this I doubt I would ever visit PL again..he helps with his on-line site every time one of us goes there.. WTF is up with you and all the SHOUTING- gary What wrong has Dr sam ever done to you..sheesh.

It seem legit question to me, I personally feel everyone should pay there way. Gary wasn't being attacking just asking IMO.
As for his site, it is pretty dated other than wanting to learn the old technology and theory.

[hakzaw1]

and asking in such a nice & friendly manner...


These are just my opinions based upon meeting and emailing Sam-

Does Sam even visit this forum?
nope- why should he?? he is not 'into' PJs or pointers- mainly theory and old school gas lasers


Does Sam even care about SELEM?
IMO not really- why should he??


Is Sam a royalty that refuses to do anything or pay anything?

We asked him to be our guest- guests do not pay to attend.
he was there to help last year with anything he could. This year he will be doing some kind of speech or presentation afaik.

This has been going on a long time.

Why can't Sam speak for himself?
We started once again to ask him to come.. Adam has asked sam to be our guest at AFAIK all past SELEM events.
Sam is a quiet and somewhat shy person- I get the feeling he likes to avoids confortations


Why is he so smart but can't get his own ride and hotel room? Is he broke? What's the deal with Sam?

Sam is retired from teaching at UPenn.. he does not drive(much) he takes care of his elderly parents- (I know that can be a full time that does not pay well. There is not much at SELEM that would attract him to attend. But he had a good experience last year and enjoyed our passion and meeting many he knew before but had never met in person.

I'm just curious because everyone else on here manages to speak up and figure out how to get there but with Sam it is "YOU MUST FIND A WAY FOR SAM TO GET THERE AND PROVIDE A ROOM FOR HIM, etc, etc." WTF?

^^ key word here is 'everyone'.. I think you are missing the point of having someone like Sam at SELEM so yeah WTF?........ and then there is this-- many/some or a few have decided to make the effort to attend SELEM in part for the chance to meet Sam-- not you or me.. Sam

Can we please just agree to disagree-- I (et al)like Sam and do not like un-needed drama.


ps
I use bold for me replys for ease of reading- do not take this as shouting-- not my intention.

[JohnYayas]

I have nothing against Sam. All the suggested preferential treatment just seems odd to me considering he doesn't seem to have any interest in SELEM or the people involved. Just my 2 cents.

[Stuka]

I'll have to agree with Gary - and this is certainly nothing against Sam at all. There is certainly no doubt he made huge contributions to the laser community as a whole over the years.

But the reality is several other well-known folks involved with lasers - some in the business, some "private citizens" - routinely contribute to our current PL community, and frequently, provide a lot of support to individuals within our group as well. AFAIK, these contributors generally aren't provided financial assistance to attend SELEM, and have to come up making their own arrangements, just like us "regular dudes".

I sucks that everyone that wants to attend SELEM can't make it, whether for financial or other reasons. However, I don't think SELEM is important enough that those attending should be openly expected or recruited to "foot the bill" for those who wouldn't attend otherwise, regardless of who the recipient may be. Perhaps those types of requests would be best handled behind the scenes with PM's.

[buffo]

Hrm... It says "Get with buffo for the details" up there...

Only problem is, I don't have any details. Len, you have been the one talking with Sam... Why defer to me?

For those that do not know, Sam is a shy person. He is also a little older than your average PL member, and he feels very uncomfortable driving for long distances, especially at night. (He wears thick glasses, so I imagine he sees a lot of halos around the lights at night.) Based on this, he asked if he could hitch a ride with someone last year.

Note that Len was the one who convinced Sam to attend SELEM last year, and I was grateful for that. I've invited Sam every year since the beginning, but he never took me up on the offer. Also, Len coordinated everything with Brad to get a ride for Sam, and I think Len and Sam even shared a hotel room. It was really nice to have Len take care of all that. Since he was so good at handling that last year, (and since I'm totally swamped with other things getting ready for SELEM), I asked Len to see if Sam would be interested in attending again.

Based on the tone of Len's post above, I can see where Gary and Randy are coming from, but I don't think that's the way Len intended it to come out. Like many of us, he is enthusiastic about SELEM, and especially about having Sam there again this year. I don't think he meant to brow-beat people into footing the bill, however.

If someone is passing by and is willing to offer a ride for Sam, that's great. But if not, and he can't attend, then that's it. I'm not going to charter a bus or anything. We're having a hard enough time making budget as it is this year. (A very hard time, in fact. It's worse this year than it was back in 2007 when we started this whole thing.)

Adam

[hakzaw1]

I am fine with all questions-

about the tone taken--not so much.. just sayin.

PM would have been better , but the open forum was chosen so.. i speak my heart.

[Bradfo69]

I'll just add that, if nobody else steps up to the plate, I can probably arrange to bring Sam down again. I'd prefer not to but, will do it if necessary. NOTHING against Sam at all. It's just that SELEM cost me about $600 more last year as I had to rent a van with having an extra person plus, an extra nights hotel stay since I wanted to get there early and have everybody be rested. I normally can make the trip in about 7 hours. With Sam, it ended up being nearly 12 with hitting traffic, going to Philly and back and, lets' face it, more people in a vehicle means more stops. I can, and have, driven it with just one four minute gas/bathroom break. This year I may be leaving at about 4 am Thursday and hoped to drive my own car and be able to save some of that $600. Last year I couldn't drive him back and may not be able to this year depending on the LSO class so, make sure the driving is covered both ways before getting him committed.

[Bradfo69]

OR... if the LSO class is scrapped, and it's necessary, I would prefer to be on the return end of transporting Sam and leaving with him around 5 pm Sunday. Of course, we may have to strap him to the roof at that point since I expect to be returning from SELEM with more gear than I'm taking.

[hakzaw1]

TY Brad-appreciate what you did last year- quite a others also helped to get Sam transported and with his lodging and the dinner party. I will try harder this year to get more attendees to chip in and spread these costs more evenly.
So for now, with your permission I will have you down as a ride home or back-up for Sam IF the LSO course is not happening.. TY...Len