SELEM 9 - August 12-16th 2015 - Sign up now!

[Bradfo69]

. . or perhaps trade one with a friend so that we can play imposter?

-David

If I wear yours... maybe I'll feel a little bit taller.

[Lazerjock]

If I wear yours... maybe I'll feel a little bit taller.

Now that's funny!

[buffo]

I will be printing 2 as I've done in the past so they can be put back to back. No trading or you will face the wrath of "Buffo the Worlds Strongest Clown"!

Oh man... Complete forgot about the whole "Buffo the World's Strongest Clown" bit. Thanks for bringing up such a painful memory!

If I wear yours... maybe I'll feel a little bit taller.

Now that's funny!

LMFAO!

Adam

[buffo]

Another update:

Lately I have been approached by representatives from two US laser projector retailers asking about SELEM. In both cases, I have explained that SELEM is not a trade show, and we would not permit any company to set up a "sales booth" or other static display to hawk their products. That being said, I did welcome the representatives to come as individuals to experience the event as one of us.

I also allowed them to bring projector(s) if they felt like it, with the understanding that we would be willing to leave the projectors out for a day or so (either backstage or in the lobby) so people could look under the hood a bit, but in the end the projectors would be placed on a truss or tripod like all the other gear in the venue and used to augment the laser displays as we saw fit. (Emphasis on what "we" feel is appropriate, not necessarily what they might want us to do with it.)

Both representatives were fine with these restrictions, and I'm happy to say that it appears they both will be attending. There doesn't need to be any fanfare here - each is just another SELEM attendee in my book - and I expect that they will be treated the same as everyone else. But there might be a couple cool projectors for us to have a peek at (and run some tests on, if we want) this year. It will also give us some more power for Club-SELEM, should we choose to mount them up on the truss in the Cafeteria. And finally, it will give people a chance to speak with these representatives one-on-one, which I think will be quite fun.

Coming up on 3 weeks to go! Reminder - The shirt order will be sent in on Wednesday of this week. If your registration isn't in by then, you won't get a shirt...

Adam

[hitekvoop]

Nice! Let's shoot for 50+ W in Club this year I'm bringing ~20W

[Bradfo69]

That will not be a problem at all. I'll have nearly 50W just on my own. (not all is slated for the Club but... I KNOW we'll have in excess of 50 just in the club.)

[Bradfo69]

Buffo and I were talking the other day and I think it's important to mention that while SELEM is growing and becoming more and more recognized and acknowledged by "pro's", ILDA, and now even laser manufacturers, it is, at it's core, still very much about the hobbyist and, NO one should ever feel as though they won't feel comfortable or be intimidated because they are new to the hobby or, don't know that much about lasers. That's what SELEM is for in the first place! For people to come, see things in person, learn, get hands on with this stuff, watch a bunch of shows, bring your own things to show off or, get them fixed or ask questions about them, eat, drink and be er.... "quite" merry.

Everybody was new at one point and didn't know a dichro from a pbs cube but, if there is ONE thing people like to talk about incessantly and explain, it's lasers. Swami explained it best a couple years ago when he said it's a year of PL rolled into 4 days. You can read all you want and decipher pictures but, you'll get far, far more out of these four days than just scanning threads. I know I didn't know jack shit when I took the leap of faith to come to my first one and, I barely know much more than that now. It was rather intimidating walking backstage that first time but, by the end of the second day, was hooked and could believe someone like Steve Roberts would even give me the time of day (and a keyswitch.)

We also talked a little about what might encourage people to bring more of what they're building and working on and he's open to ideas.

I think it's a testament to Adam and all the hard work and planning by everyone that goes into making it a success every year that's drawing the attention of the bigger players and, people are realizing that, it's a major "happening" in this rather small world of lasers and..... one HELL of a lot of fun to attend and be a part of.

You've got a few weeks left to get registered!

[SaltyRobot]

The idea of having companies show there stuff is actually pretty interesting to me. I would probably be more interested if there was more of it. What is the reason for not wanting them to set up a table? Personal preference? Logistics nightmare? Doesn't fit in with the agreement with the venue? Just curious. I can certainly appreciate that you have enough going on to deal with but having some guys set up a couple tables doesn't seem like a big deal.

I was sort of wondering the reasoning behind this as well. Seems like letting them setup a booth would be the easiest way for us to see under the hood of their projector and talk to them about it. Maybe just have strict hours of like 10am to 3pm that way who ever is manning the booth can be free after 3p to watch shows and hang out.

[HankLloydRight]

I also agree with the above to sentiments. Seems like a good opportunity to also fund some the expenses of SELEM, like meals, drinks, and other extras buy charging a modest exhibition fee for vendors. Pangolin is already there supporting SELEM and selling stuff, and projector vendors wouldn't be competing with them, so do they fall under a different category?

If it were a dozen vendors, yeah, that would be a problem, but two doesn't seem like it would be too much of an intrusion. Just my opinion.

[Bradfo69]

I'll offer my interpretation of an answer only because we've talked about it a lot and, I'm certain Adam will answer as well. And as always, I'll preface it with: SELEM is Adam's baby so, nothing I say is official. I've just sort of weaseled into a strange "mini-me" mutation over the past few years. (We almost bought Thing One and Thing Two T-shirts at Universal in Orlando last spring. LOL) I guess 'cause I'm always eager to help and drag a lot of stuff down to help put the event on.

The concern with allowing vendors to participate in that sort of capacity is, you potentially open yourself up to those vendors developing a sense of entitlement in having a say in how SELEM is run. You also open yourself up to perhaps politics and other drama that was never intended to be there in the first place. SELEM at it's core, as mentioned in a post above, is/was a chance for laser hobby enthusiasts to get together, show off what they were building, watch shows, geek out and have a fun social event. Many people never get a chance to see more than their projector, running a show in their living room, garage or basement. SELEM was an opportunity to get together with others, put your creations on a scaffold or truss with others in a big venue and see what it was like to experience shows in a more impressive fashion. Plus tinker, tweak and fix things, educate new people, etc.

Early on, Adam also realized that a few bigger names may be necessary to encourage people to come and Bill Benner, being a hobbyist at heart, agreed to come to talk about what Pangolin was up to but, never with products to sell on site or even a real "sales" push. As a matter of fact, last year was the first time I recall an actual order form being available with some special SELEM discounted pricing, thanks to Justin. X-Laser has also been coming for several years but are also not there to push sales. Quite frankly it's a chance to get away from that end of it and relax and watch some shows. Araugh has said several times that he likes SELEM because even though he's around lasers every day as a job, he never gets a chance to see WHAT people are actually doing with them from an art standpoint and is quite happy to relax in the auditorium and watch shows all weekend. So yes, while companies have been there, it's not with the primary intent of trying to push sales from the attendees. It's a chance to get AWAY from that everyday sales, marketing, shipping, customer care, nightmare of a 9-5.

If it were allowed to develop into a trade show environment, vendors may expect to make their prime focus on sales and be less oriented towards the more social and fun aspect of the event. It's just simply a tricky situation.

I'll take the blame for one of the vendors being there this year, as it happened as a result of my actions and I'll reserve that story for later but, it started innocently enough in wanting to rent something cool as a surprise to bring and show off at SELEM. It's ended up requiring many hours of phone calls behind the scenes for myself and Adam (which he wasn't banking on) but, in the end, I think it's going to be very much a win-win.