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

[hitekvoop]

I think at least if we don't get an expert to attend, we can at least do show n tell share sessions.

[Bradfo69]

Lol.... yeah. I can tell you about how I get a cue doing something I want and then doing something I "don't" want and can't figure out how the hell to get the effect turned off! I just get frustrated, then exit out without saving the workspace, say f&$k it and go back to Quickshow, usually.

[telmnstr]

Not to derail things too badly but as some of you know I purchased a few Image Engineering decoders that decode digital show data from video tapes. After I purchased a few, I was given a number more of them by Image Engineering themselves (Much thanks!) I feel it's my duty to distribute these units to people in the community that are interested in the technology and will care for them. So I'll turn to my SELEM homies first. I need to get a solid count but I should have at least 5 decoders and an encoder. I'll try to get a count tonight. It's probably more like 8 decoders and 3 encoders but I haven't tested them all.

I have some content for them, it's fairly old and I'm still dumping tapes. And there are errors. But I'm copying it all to VHS and will duplicate some of those tapes and hand out with the decoders.

As far as the encoder, it would rock if those components could be some sort of shared resource where someone makes a few simple shows with it and brings tapes, that is, let the encoders go to people interested in making content and maybe let them float around.

Anyways -- if you're interested in one of the decoders drop me a PM. Maybe I can bulk send them to someone making SELEM this year and they can distribute the units and some tapes?

[hitekvoop]

Brad, you've just described my entire life's experience working with Windows. From firing up cakewalk on win 3.0, working on a project only to have the system crash, me get frustrated and go do something else. I stuck with M$ OS's even through working for M$ for a number of years until Apple chucked out their Power processors and adopted Intel. Switched to OSX in '07 and haven't looked back. That is UNTIL I was forced to use Windows again to run Beyond I'm SO HAPPY that windows OS's have attained the uptime/stability they have as I've had the opposite experience with Beyond. I find it vast and somewhat complex, but the more I work with it, the more I appreciate the internal consistency. Sharing is caring, I'm sure we can all pick up tips/tricks from each other.

Something I forgot to mention and that I have really no idea how to accomplish is 3d laser mapping. Anyone taken a crack at using beyond for this? Would love to learn the basics as I think there is increasing demand for this type of display.

[buffo]

Really good feedback, guys!

It's interesting to see how SELEM has evolved over the years. Looking back to 2007, when it was basically a "free-range clusterfuck of laser projectors", as Spec put it, it's hard to imagine that one day we'd be discussing the idea of all-day training!

That being said, there is a lot of merit to what Brad and Gary have said. Interestingly enough, way back in 2008, Bill Benner expressed a similar interest. He suggested that I expand the idea of the "special presentations" at SELEM to include lots of different technical topics, because in his words "this event will draw far more people and be far more successful if you can offer people a chance to learn, rather than just the chance to watch laser shows." It seems he was onto something...

Of course, back then we spent most of our time shouting out "3... 2... 1... CLICK!" than we did watching presentations. Typically we had only two presentations for the entire event. Nowadays we've got a lot more material to work with. (And no more "3... 2... 1... CLICK!")

Regarding the specific topics, let's run down that list and see where we stand:

Audience Scanning - At the moment Greg Makhov will be unable to do this. He will still be available to teach the LSO class the Monday after SELEM (assuming we have enough people sign up), but he is not prepared for an Audience Scanning presentation. He will probably be able to do this next year though. So unless we can get someone from X-laser to do this, or else maybe convince Casey Stack to attend, I think this topic will not be on the agenda for this year. EDIT: There is one other possibility... There is a *highly* knowledgeable laser safety expert who is seriously considering attending SELEM this year. If he can make it, I'm sure everyone will be thrilled. (I already warned him that he'll be treated a bit like a rock star if he can attend!) He is also very enthusiastic about coming to SELEM and meeting everyone. But it's going to be rough to squeeze SELEM into his schedule. Details to follow as they become available.

Pangolin Beyond Training - This is looking very promising. For one, Anthony Garcia will be in attendance, and I know several people have already made plans to kidnap, er, I mean corner him and beat the information, er, I mean, ask a lot of questions about how he uses Beyond in a live environment. However, Pangolin is looking into sending one of their experts to SELEM to do some more Beyond training. This has not been fully approved yet, but the initial response looks quite promising. So I'd say that we will definitely have some training on Beyond, and we might have a whole bunch of training on Beyond. (A whole bunch being defined as several sessions on different days.)

LSX tricks, tips, and ABSTRACTS - Chris (Swamidog) has already been volunTOLD for this. He will be putting on a formal presentation like last year, plus he will be available for more casual Q&A throughout the event. I strongly suspect that David Kumpula will be assisting him with this. (And no worries guys, I've already got a new DLP projector for you to use!)

DZ/EK Advanced ILDA Router training - I've spoken with Ed and David about this, and they are both willing to speak about this awesome new product to anyone who is interested. My plan is to have two presentations: one in the auditorium and one in Club-SELEM. The only real difference will be that in Club-SELEM we will address some of the unique challenges of using the router in a traveling show, verses a fixed installation like we will have in the Auditorium. And of course, both Ed and David will be available to answer questions one-on-one if needed. (We plan to have several working units in place and operating at SELEM this year.)

Working with diodes and lenses - Assuming that John Murphy (Polishedball) is able to attend this year, he would be the perfect person to handle this topic. However, he has not yet registered, and thus far no one else has expressed any interest in taking responsibility for this one. I agree that it is a fine idea, and I would love to see this at SELEM, but we need to be sure we've got someone who can do it.

What's new at Pangolin - This will definitely happen, just as it has before. We may have a few new faces from Pangolin in attendance as well, if the schedule permits, but Bill's traditional presentation will go off pretty much like it always has. (There is a rumor that we might actually be able to purchase sets of the new 506 scanners at SELEM this year, but I haven't been able to confirm that yet.)

Scanner Tuning / Color Palette Adjustment - We can certainly do this, if people think there is enough interest. I've done scanner tuning before, and I'm sure that David would be willing to do his color palette presentation again. Alternately, it might be beneficial to have Bill Benner do a short tutorial on scanner tuning. (After all, he's the one who taught me how to do it...) If people would like to see this, then by all means we can add it to the schedule.

Now, this is a fine list of topics, but if we are seriously thinking about trying to fill several days from 9 am to 5 PM, then we don't have enough topics. Also, I'm worried that after 8 solid hours of presentations, people might be a little burned out. In the past, I've always tried to spread things out so folks don't get bored. But maybe that is something I shouldn't be worrying about. So what do you guys think?

Should we stack several presentations up one after the other, even if it means that we run out of presentations after the first day or two, and then devote the rest of the time to general mayhem, er, I mean watching laser shows and stuff?

Or should we divide up the presentations more or less evenly throughout the length of SELEM?

Either way, I do agree that having the presentations in the daytime hours is preferable. Once the sun goes down, most people are ready to get their grove on, be it in the auditorium, in Club-SELEM, or just bouncing around all the different areas chatting with various folks.

Adam

[hitekvoop]

I think there ought to be a carved out time slot each day (as has been suggested) where this stuff can happen. Make it earlier rather than later, and if I end up pulling together a loose-knit borg-type presentation (ie show n tell session) I'd be happy to do it more than once for those who are unable to attend the first... I can bring a PJ and portable screen and hold an early-afternoon session in clubSELEM for hands-on live stuff. I do get paid to make beam soup for people, but as I've said, Im' by no stretch an expert, so I'd love it to be interactive/sharing based.

As for filling out the rest of the time, there's a TON of stuff I mentioned above regarding various distinct uses that Beyond can do, and for those that aren't drinking Pango Kool-aid, I'm sure exploring the same concepts within other software suites would be welcomed.

[swamidog]

LSX tricks, tips, and ABSTRACTS - Chris (Swamidog) has already been volunTOLD for this. He will be putting on a formal presentation like last year, plus he will be available for more casual Q&A throughout the event. I strongly suspect that David Kumpula will be assisting him with this. (And no worries guys, I've already got a new DLP projector for you to use!)

i will exchange arcane LSX knowledge (i.e. mash buttons until pretty light comes out) for lattes.

[Bradfo69]

The particularly difficult aspect of the educational component is the fact that peoples schedules are such that some can't be at SELEM the whole time. Some for example can't get there until after work on Friday. Some have to fly out early on Sunday. Yes, the core group of us nut cases are sitting on the loading dock 2 hours before we're supposed to be able to get in on set up day and, wander aimlessly through the hotel parking lot Monday morning seeing if there isn't at least one more person to talk lasers with before having to make the long trek home. Who do you work the hardest to accommodate and not, by the same token, alienate?

You almost need to try to keep the educational stuff strictly on Friday and Saturday - which we tend to do anyway. But by the same token, Friday and Saturday is when the largest number of people are there who want to see lasers.

A newbie coming to SELEM for the first time already doesn't know what to expect and it's all overwhelming enough as it is. To drop them into, "Hi! How are you. Have a seat...." And sit through three hours of Beyond, two hours of LSX, an hour or more of advance router talk, "Why Join ILDA" (referring to last year), before seeing any lasers, "could" be a mind melt.

On the other hand sprinkling them all through SELEM makes sense too. I guess it's a little damned if you do, damned if you don't. Pangolin is basically always Saturday afternoon and I don't see that changing so, that's fairly easy. The remainder... I just don't know. Unless you duplicate a couple of them and say for example, LSX on Thursday afternoon at 4pm and again on Saturday morning at 11 am or something.

[buffo]

The particularly difficult aspect of the educational component is the fact that peoples schedules are such that some can't be at SELEM the whole time.
<snip>
Who do you work the hardest to accommodate and not, by the same token, alienate?

Well put, Brad. It is a conundrum. This is part of the reason why scheduling has always been a challenge for us. (The other issue is the fact that even the best plans never survive first contact with the Auditorium!)

You almost need to try to keep the educational stuff strictly on Friday and Saturday - which we tend to do anyway. But by the same token, Friday and Saturday is when the largest number of people are there who want to see lasers.

Agreed. To combat this, in the past I've scheduled the most popular stuff for Friday and Saturday and moved the smaller things to Thursday and Sunday. But of course, it's hard to judge just how popular a particular topic will be. Remember Dan Goldsmith's "Laser projector compliance" round-table discussion? Yeah, second-most-attended presentation that year, after the Pangolin one. oops...

Likewise, last year Chris (Swamidog) had a good 25 or more folks watching his LSX presentation. That represents 1/3 of the total attendance, including guests! And I don't think too many guests were attending presentations - of any kind - so those were primarily laserists who wanted to know more about LSX. So basically more than half the registered laserists attended that presentation. I had no idea we had that may folks using (or at least considering using) LSX!

These days it seems that more and more of the presentations fall into people's "must attend" category. That's great, because it means we're picking good topics and good presenters, but I can also see how it could easily overwhelm a new guy at his first SELEM. We need to find a way to strike a balance here.

Unless you duplicate a couple of them and say for example, LSX on Thursday afternoon at 4pm and again on Saturday morning at 11 am or something.

This is fine with me, but it puts an extra burden on the presenters. If they are cool with the idea, I don't have a problem with it, but I don't want anyone to feel forced.

Re: "3... 2... 1... CLICK!"
Admit it - don't you kind of miss those days?

I miss the innocence and utter simplicity, yes. It was a hell of a lot easier to plan the event back then (not to mention cheaper!), and the load-in and load-out was trivial compared to what we have to do now. Back then there really wasn't much that needed to be done, and I could handle pretty much all of it myself.

These days the budget has increased 6-fold, and there is a list of 7 or 8 "key" volunteers who absolutely *MUST* be involved in order for SELEM to happen the way we expect it to. (Then there's a larger list of volunteers who play smaller roles throughout the duration of the event to keep it on-track.) The dollar amount of the equipment we load in and out is staggering. The attendance is three to four times higher, and yet we are safer and more organized than ever before. On the whole I think the event has matured into something much better than we ever dreamed of back in 2007, and for that I think all the extra effort is worth it.

One thing I *really* miss is the "pre-SELEM dinner party" at the old Artist's Cafe. (Wish that place was still open!) Back then the event was small enough that we all could sit at one long table for dinner, and afterward we could all lounge around upstairs in the loft area and talk over drinks. Today with the number of people we have it would be nearly impossible to do that, even if we could find a bar big enough. (The noise level alone would prohibit normal conversation!) We still do the dinner at Texas Roadhouse, but when 40 + people descend on a restaurant, you're going to have to split people up into groups... (And that's just the folks that are there for the load-in!)

Although, looking back, it really is a miracle we didn't trash some expensive gear - or somebody - in our attempt to run to the center of the beams after "click" ...

That first year, when Patrick showed up to do his ILDA presentation, he was really surprised (and more than a little concerned) at the arrangement of the projectors. If you remember, they were all on the stage, but pointed back towards the cyclorama scrim at the back of the stage. He likened it to a circular firing squad! We'd all click play on our controllers and then rush to the back of the stage to sit down just under the beams and watch the shows. You'd also have people standing just out of range of the scanners. Not the safest arrangement, but it did get you up-close and very personal with the beams...

I'm glad that we've progressed beyond that, but it is fun to look back at some of those early photos and marvel at how far we've come. I have literally been to commercial laser shows that were not as polished as what we have at SELEM now. That says a lot!

Still, there is always room for improvement, which is why I really appreciate all the feedback in this thread.

Adam

[hitekvoop]

One thing I *really* miss is the "pre-SELEM dinner party" at the old Artist's Cafe. (Wish that place was still open!) Back then the event was small enough that we all could sit at one long table for dinner, and afterward we could all lounge around upstairs in the loft area and talk over drinks. Today with the number of people we have it would be nearly impossible to do that, even if we could find a bar big enough. (The noise level alone would prohibit normal conversation!) We still do the dinner at Texas Roadhouse, but when 40 + people descend on a restaurant, you're going to have to split people up into groups... (And that's just the folks that are there for the load-in!)

The mexican place some of us ate at last year (Tiff and I ate there twice it was so good) has plenty of room for large groups.