In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, gwicks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
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If you had mentioned this too me I would have sorted something out for you. When we organised shows in the past people would always pop up and ask to talk about their latest project/product. For previous shows I had also managed to persuade people to talk about things I thought the public would find interesting - even though some of them dropped out at the last minute. It would have been a good thing to discuss and I had only the demo at the US show to go on but it did look very good.QWord is a good example of something worth talking about at shows because it could be approached from many aspects.
Good suggestions and if you had put them to me I would have taken you up - I just did not think of it. Maybe the Byfleet organisers would like to adopt this idea.Extrapolating from this the theme of Hove could have been the QL in a new coat and the possibilities and problems this gives. We may have found other people who are experimenting with the new drivers and even if they did not want to give a talk, they would have been able to join in a discussion. There are lots of interesting issues. The amount of memory the colour drivers consume - welcome bloatware to the QL. Will those of us who program in EasyPtr now have to learn QPTR or TurboPtr - how easy will that be? What new programs do people expect?
To be honest here Quanta has not been noted for its forward thinking and its entrepreneurial spirit was a little crushed by the Super Gold Card episode. Nonetheless I do think this is an area that Quanta should look at if someone is willing to take it up.
All it takes is something to start the thing off and a bit of open-ended thinking from a small group of QL leaders well in advance of the show. And if need be let it happen just once a year at the AGM. Add a show dinner and possibly some other social activity and you create an interesting show. Possibly an argument for the role of the local group to be smaller and the role of QUANTA to be larger in the AGM show.
The US shows do have some talks although this year there were only two. Phoebus showed Q-Word and I did a long distance demo of the QDT installer by relaying Jim's instructions from the telephone to the assembled crowd. I did think of doing a QDT display at the Hove show but there was not much new to show. The new version arrived days before I left for the US. I am quite happy to talk about this and give a demo at Byfleet - Jim let me know what you would like me to say - any new versions available ?
No one pretends that the police have to control the crowds at American shows, but I have yet to hear anyone moan about the quality of one of Al's shows.
No one complains about the UK/EU shows either (except you). Maybe, if you had been at the US show you would have complained about that too. This is not to say I do not welcome your raising the issue and the stakes for what goes into a good show. In fact I think this whole discussion has been very good so far and could bring on some changes.
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Roy Wood
Q Branch. 20 Locks Hill, Portslade, Sussex.
Tel: +44 (0) 1273 386030 fax: +44 (0) 1273 430501
web : www.qbranch.demon.co.uk
