Sign up list for SELEM 2007

[steve-o]

Ooh, thats a short little trip
Maybe if a NLEM comes to be..

Or, maybe Pitts could circle around your way in his plane and pick you up if he decides to fly over from NZ

[buffo]

Whew! Ok - I made the trip to NC and back in a day. It's just about exactly 4 hours one way from Charleston. For those of you that are coming up I-95, when you turn onto I-26 westbound, you have 3 hours to go until you're at the auditorium.

Watch out when you come into Charlotte, NC on I-77; as soon as you cross into North Carolina you need to exit on to the I-485 bypass. (You want 485 West, towards Gastonia.) You never really get into downtown Charlotte on I-77. Then, once you get on I-85 South (heading towards Gastonia and Spartanburg), you need to watch out for the exit for highway 321 north... It sneaks up on you and traffic is usually backed up in the breakdown lane waiting to make it down the off-ramp. So be ready for it.

Other than that, the drive was pretty nice. The directions on the NCCPP website are easy to follow once you get on 321 north.

Ok - now for the good stuff. I met with Reggie and paid all the fees for the event, so we are booked solid. I also toured the facility with him, and *BOY* am I impressed. This is going to be very nice. The auditorium is big, but not too large. It should be perfect for our group. I set up a gallery with some of the pictures I took. (Sorry for the blurry shots; cheap camera!)

We've got lots of 3 phase power available. (See the pics in the gallery) We also have a small kitchen available to us. We can use the stove, the fridge, and the microwave. So Aaron, if your g/f wants to bring lasagna, she'll have a place to keep it cold overnight, as well as a place to heat it up...

I also checked out the Trotthouse Inn Bed and Breakfast. I met with Anne Stedman and was shown around the house. Again, I was impressed. I like the place! They have two common rooms near the front of the house (close to the breakfast dining area) that we can use to relax and compare notes. The rooms all looked very nice, and Anne is positively charming. Plenty of parking at the Inn, and they also have a large yard and a landscaped walkway / garden area that is quite nice.

Finally, I had dinner at the Artist's Cafe, which is about 3 blocks away from the auditorium. The food was good, and the prices seemed reasonable. They have an upper deck with extra seating, and they also have a lounge / smoking room up there with lots of overstuffed chairs and sofas. That room overlooks the bar area. This might also be a cool place to chill out and compare notes. I met with the owner, (Louie) and he was eager to help out should we decide to go there as a group.

There are a couple banks in town, and they both have 24 hour ATMs. I saw a coffe shop that was less than a block from the Artist's cafe, but I didn't go in. There's also supposed to be a decent pizza place in town that delivers to the auditorium, though I didn't check it out.

Overall, Netwon is a small town. The auditorium is located smack-dab in the center of a residential district, and the speed limit is 20 mph, so watch you speed! Reggie said we can move our vehicles around to the back of the building, inside the fenced-in area, where they will be better sheltered. (This will also make it much easier to load and unload our stuff!) They have a nice picnic area just outside the auditorium with several shade trees and a few benches. Since there is no smoking inside the facility, this will no doubt end up being the smoke-pit for anyone that wants to light up while at SELEM.

Reggie is excited about meeting everyone and seeing what we're all about. There may be one or two of his staff that may want to poke their heads in to see what's going on as well. I reminded him that we needed to have control over certain areas (especially the electrical room, but also areas of the audience if we're going to fire lasers back into the seats) to keep everyone safe, and he understood and agreed with that. So, as long as we escort them, I told him I wouldn't mind showing a few of his employees around.

Just remembered: I checked out the sound system in the auditorium, and I was underwhelmed. They have two speaker cabinets up on stands at the front of the house. If you look closely you can see one of them near the exit doors on the right in the highlight picture for the gallery I set up. They'll do the job, but don't expect thunderous music out of them. More like something a mobile DJ would set up for a garden party. But it will be a lot more than what we had for FLEM! (In fact, they look a lot like the speakers that Paul brought to FLEM, but couldn't get hooked up.) In a small room they'd be more than enough, but the auditorium has a high ceiling, so some of the power is lost. Nevertheless, I think it will be OK. They do have a nice mixing panel, but it's behind the last row of seats. (I'm going to bring 100 ft of audio cable w/ RCA plugs...)

So that's about it... Looks like it will be an ideal venue for us. Have a look at the pictures and see for yourself.

And just a reminder, I am accepting advance payment now. $80 per member should be about right. And, as always, if we end up with any overage (from extra attendees at the last minute) I will of course refund any excess equally.

Adam

[clandestiny]

wow, the place looks great- you guys probably could have used these-

[QUAZAR]

"Hello little speakers"

[buffo]

Paul;

Yeah, those speakers in your post would be perfect. I'm going to check with MechEng3 and see if he can bring some sound gear to augment the admittedly lame house system.

But the place itself is pretty cool, no?

Adam

[clandestiny]

yes, adam, you have done yourself and the others well. great job. i wish i could make it. i could roll my rig right in there no problem.

[steve-o]

Looks real nice, Dude.
Cant wait

[cruch]

Damn you..I want to attend to this!! But it is way to expensive to fly over from Norway to USA.
But take lots of pictures and movies
I preciate it

[allthatwhichis]

cruch, wouldn't it be much cheaoer to attend the UK meet? How far are you from there? Not that we won't take pictures and movies... I'm just curious.

[DZ]

cruch, wouldn't it be much cheaoer to attend the UK meet?

I think he would just rather come to SELEM because he knows we American's ROCK! <--Clandestiny's Speakers