SELEM 2025 Sign-up Thread (SELEM 18)

[mixedgas]

We'll miss you Steve!

Thank You!

Steve

[telmnstr]

Is everyone already familiar with Bitfocus companion?

It’s like an amx/crestron av automation thing originally meant for the elgato streamdeck. But it has a web page useful on touchscreens so you don’t need a streamdeck.

If people aren’t familiar with it I’m willing to do a short presentation on it Tue or Wed.

I’ve known about it for a while but finally got around to messing with it. It’s really good. It could be useful to you all in a lot of ways.

[rodman1369]

Unfortunately...I Will not be attending services due to Father-in-law being ill (just got a pacemaker yesterday) and my wife up in New York with him...and my getting ready for stents or open heart surgery for three somewhat blocked arteries...
Not feeling poorly...just out of breath a bit.

But I hope you will be able to broadcast some of the event for absent laser enthusiasts.

Keep the lights beaming!

Rodney D.
Rodman1369

[rodman1369]

Is there any plans to broadcast video of the events? I know you'all⁴ are busy...Just wishing...

[Lazerjock]

This group means a lot to me and I want to say thank you to those that made this SELEM very special.

I will start with our leader (the one who started it all) and all around good guy, Adam! Thank you for your commitment to do this every year. Without you SELEM wouldn't happen. I know you say it would continue, but it wouldn't be the same. You created an event that has evolved over the years into this thing that can not be described, it must be experienced.


That brings me to Brad. Yes we rent the venue, but without Brad we wouldn't have many of the freedoms and perks we get. He has quite a bit of influence that let us do what we do.
Food.....The food is always amazing and Brad cooks lunch and dinner for all of us every day alone. He will say something like, it's easy, bla, bla, bla, but think for a second what SELEM would be like without the food. He also comes in first thing in the morning to turn on the lights, take out the trash and I'm sure a variety of other things I don't know about and then stays until the last person leaves, shuts down, locks up, then does it all over again every day for a week.
Brad was also the main reason I was able to attend SELEM this year. As some of you know I've been without full time employment for a year and a half. I was seriously considering not attending this year to save the money. I won't go into the details but lets say I was able to attend on a shoe string budget because of Brad.


When I sat down at my VR station one day mid way though SELEM I noticed a new item leaning against my computer. It was a hand crocheted Boba Fett accurate to the costume I wear in the 501st. Legion. It only took a second to realize where it came from. Thank you Julie, I was totally caught off guard by this.


Hank, thank you for the incredibly vulgar shirt to go along with my incredibly vulgar laser show. I will wear it proudly whenever the show runs.


Jacob, I really enjoyed the ride in your RV12. I've never been in a light sport or experimental aircraft. It was a lot of fun. It makes me want another airplane.


Thank you to everyone who bought items from me. It really helped offset the costs of attending and is appreciated.

I apologize in advance if I forgot to mention anyone. It is not intentional.

You are a great group of people that I enjoy hanging out with. SELEM feels almost like a family reunion, but with people that I like. LOL

See you next year!!
Chris

[rodman1369]

Is there any way to put Likes on posts? Cause I thoroughly enjoyed Laserjock's post. It was one gleaming example of why people crave for the Next SELEM as soon as the current one is in the books. I was unable to attend this year...but fully intend to again in the future.

I saw a few examples of the events and hope to see more in the coming weeks. Perhaps in a show-off thread here?

Keep Beaming!

rodman1369

[Lazerjock]

Is there any way to put Likes on posts? Cause I thoroughly enjoyed Laserjock's post. It was one gleaming example of why people crave for the Next SELEM as soon as the current one is in the books. I was unable to attend this year...but fully intend to again in the future.

I saw a few examples of the events and hope to see more in the coming weeks. Perhaps in a show-off thread here?

Keep Beaming!

rodman1369

Thank you Rodney.
It came from the heart!

I love your idea of a show off thread. I only took a few pictures, but will start a thread and post what I have.

Chris

[DZ]

It’s was great seeing everyone at SELEM this year, sorry I could only attend for 2 days but I had a blast! I wanted to share a pic I took of one of the posters the band gave away, signed by the band and the laserists!

[buffo]

Let's try this one more time!

(I've tried to reply to this thread twice, but both times the forum swallowed my reply and returned a database error rather than posting. I know Spec has been hard at work trying to harden V-bulletin against the bots hammering the server, but it's a tough job, and when the bots sneak through, it brings the server to its knees.)

Anyway - SELEM! Yeah - what a ride! It took me 2 days to get everything unloaded, not only because I was tired, but because there was soooo much stuff. Damn, I really need to downsize at some point. (But not today, lol!) At least I didn't have any issues with the trailer on the way home. (On the drive up to SELEM I had a catastrophic tire failure on the trailer at 70 mph. Had to go buy a low-profile jack to get the spare on, and also needed a change of underwear! Fortunately, no real damage.)

Despite some concerns over making budget this year because fewer people had registered before the event, we had several last-minute additions that registered at the door, and those registrations pushed us into the black. (By $136.43, to be precise - the overage was set to Spec last Friday to help with PL hosting expenses.)

I do want to thank everyone who approached me offering to help with the budget. Fortunately, in 18 years, we've never failed to make the budget. I should mention that when we decided to move SELEM to Brad's venue in Delaware back in 2021, Brad and I sat down and had a long discussion about costs. We both reasoned that with the new location, the two of us were saving quite a bit of money. I no longer have to pay for a hotel (because I stay at Brad's house), and Brad doesn't have to pay for a hotel or rent a big van, because everything is local for him. So I'm probably saving a grand, and Brad is easily saving $1500 or more.

Thus, we came to the realization that if SELEM ever ended up in the red, we could cover the costs ourselves and still come out ahead compared to when SELEM was in Newton, NC. We figured that, so long as we're not more than a couple grand short, it's basically a wash for us. Fortunately, like I said, thus far we've never been short. (2024 was very close though - we literally were just 5 cents into the black that year!) But if we do ever come up short, it's not a crisis.

I like the fact that SELEM is affordable, and I want it to continue to be like that. It's already a huge commitment for people to travel across the country, especially if they're bringing gear with them, and then pay for a week in a hotel, so keeping the registration cost low makes it easer for people to continue to attend. It also makes the event more attractive for new people, which I think is important.

This year we had a little unintended excitement: First, DZ managed to keep his perfect attendance record intact, despite being in the middle of moving his family across the country (and having to spend Friday night in the Atlanta airport due to flight cancellations). Everyone was surprised and happy to see him. (I believe my text message to Rick was, "Sweet Jesus Titty Cinnamon!!!! DZ is at SELEM!")

On the drone racing front, we had two major crashes: I clipped a tree, which sent my DJI FPV drone tumbling to the asphalt parking lot, smashing a battery and cooking something on the electronic speed controller board, while Jeremy got a little low in the grass and dragged an arm into the dirt, causing his bird to cartwheel spectacularly across the field, ripping the entire camera and gimbal mount off the front of his DJI FPV! Fortunately, DJI offers reasonable repair services on-line, so while it might take a while, it appears that the repairs will cost each of us somewhere around $150 or so, which is pretty reasonable.

We had a few electronic failures as well, but nothing too major. Chris had issues with his VR goggles, but he was able to get replacement parts as soon as he got home. I had a PSU fail on my Wave-USB, but I've got a spare here at the house. I also had a weird issue with my Alesis Studio-24 mixer - it looked like 2 channels had died, but after we lost power to front-of-house (because the "kill-a-watt" meter shorted out), we hooked everything back up and the mixer was fine. (Gremlins? Who knows...) At least we didn't drop any projectors!

The food was amazing this year. Brad always does an incredible job, but the beef tenderloin on Thursday was superb! I did feel bad about Brad washing all the dishes though. I saw him back there after lunch on Tuesday, and I was going to take over for him, but then someone called with a question, which lead to another distraction, and by the time I got back to the kitchen, Brad had finished washing up. (Still feel bad about that, dude!) Maybe next year some of us can get together and help with the dishes so he's not scrubbing away by himself.

I also want to thank everyone who helped out with the chairs and tables - both after the Echoes show, and for the union meeting. It goes so much faster when you've got a few extra hands helping out!

Those helping hands are one of the hallmarks of this community, in my opinion. While I'm constantly amazed at how SELEM has grown and evolved over the years, I'm even more impressed by the strength and depth of the community that has sprung up around the event. SELEM is a wonderful thing, but only because the people who attend SELEM make it so. A group like that is a rare and precious thing, and I am very happy - and thankful - to be involved. I've said this before, but it bears repeating: I believe that even if they outlawed lasers tomorrow, SELEM would still happen, just for the social aspect alone (not to mention all of the other cool tech).

I didn't get to participate in the Thursday night laser jam, but I think the conversations in the lobby were even more rewarding. Just a bunch of kindred souls, lounging on the couches, and sharing their struggles and insights with each other. You guys know who you are, and I thank all of you for opening up and discussing some difficult and painful issues with the group. You know it's a tight-knit group when you're willing to freely discuss topics that you otherwise can't (or won't) discuss with anyone else. Love you guys!

I also didn't get to spend much time in the dome this year, but next year I'd like to try putting a Z5 and a radiator or two in there. I'd also love to see some older abstract shows "in the round". Maybe we should think about having a schedule for the dome and auditorium side next year.?. I think that would make it easier to coordinate things. I wonder if we could rope Kumpula or Hank into taking on the schedule challenge again...

Speaking of next year, Greg Southerland is talking about doing another Zoom call in mid September to chat about SELEM and make some plans for next year. As soo as he's got that set up I will email the details to everyone. Several people at SELEM also mentioned that it might be nice to have a monthly call - maybe on Discord - that only lasted maybe 2-4 hours or so. That way people wouldn't have to commit to giving up an entire day (12+ hour time block) like we do for the Zoom calls, plus with them happening every month, it's less of an issue if you have to miss one. I really like this idea, so I'm hoping to kick it around a bit on the Zoom call, along with any ideas for SELEM next year.

A final thank you to everyone who helped make SELEM possible! YOU are the reason this event is so great.

Adam

[TheHermit]

Thank you for the wrap up, Adam.
It provides great insight into the organizational efforts of you guys to continue pulling it off with every year getting bigger and better.
Would love to see some videos, but I get it. Gotta be there to enjoy & contribute to the experience. Nothing about SELEM is free, so whomever contributes nothing will see nothing. Fair 'nuf.
So much wish I could have attended to meet everyone in this great community, plus show off my own project. Alas, time, fixed limited retirement income, and life's challenges dictated against.
Hopefully next time.
"Timing is everything."
"Only Time will tell."
Time is god.
Best regards to all.
Roj