Thanks to all the people who have praised QL2004. Just one clarification. This was not my show, but a Sin-QL-Air event. I say this for a good reason. There was a lot of behind the scenes work, and the brunt of this was done by Sjef v.d. Molengraaf with some extra help from Karl Boekema. Unfortunately we did discover that now Sjef has retired, and no longer works at the school, it is a little more difficult for him to get things done. However, he made great efforts to ensure that all our promises were kept. Two things deserve a mention. We were hoping to be able to use the school's network for the internet connection, but they refused this and we were dependent on a single telephone line. Sjef allowed us to use his account. As I understand it we were also unable to use any of the school's beamers, but Sjef was able to hire one. When we arrived at the school on Saturday morning, we discovered that nothing was ready for us, including a promised public address system. Sjef and Karl remained calm and ensured everything was ready on time. Also Sin-QL-Air backed the show financially - where else in the QL show circuit do you get free coffee and pay only 50 euros for a roll? (I mean bread rolls - I know we were in the Netherlands, but the other sort of roll is known as a "stikkie" there.)
Two things from the above. I realised how much more professional the presentations were with a beamer. Something for other show organisors to think about. Secondly it is now becoming common for QL shows to have an internet connection. Might be worth a short article in QL Today about how this is done technically and what use QL-ers make of it. (I thought Tony was going to get lynched when he ordered other users off the line to make way for Jon Dent's presentation, which unfortunately could not finally go ahead because of technical problems.) Thank also to all the presenters. I was quite suprised how well attended all the activities were and at the number of questions afterwards. The QL community is still alive and vibrant. It was also great to come out of the lecture room and hear the buzz of activity in the main hall. It is a long time since I have seen so many people working on their own machines at a show. I would have liked attendance to have been slightly better - say another 10 - 15 people - and more representation from the UK, but attendance was still well above our minimum target. Apologies to Al Boehm that there was no ladies program - his email request arrived after I had left for the Netherlands. I hope the ladies present were not bored. Finally we had 25 people at the restaurant after the show. I have seen fewer at many an official show dinner. I was the last person to get to the restaurant and the show buzz was still present when I entered. I am surely allowed one little bit of naughtiness. For all you people who 18 months ago lectured me an shows being just tea, coffee and a hall, I have some very large raspberries. Thanks everyone for a great show, Best Wishes, Geoff PS If you are wondering how I managed to avoid Guantanomo Bay, the British government finds it easy to gather the intelligence, but sexing up the dossier takes time. _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.quanta.org.uk/mailing.htm
