The Unofficial HybridFest Live-Blogging and photo thread 56K beware.

[xcel]

Hi Evan:

___An amazing collage and a blow by blow as to Hybridfest in its entirety. I saw what you had uploaded this morning and am just now going through what you uploaded the rest of today. Great pics and boy did you have access to the Hymotion/A123Systems conversion. I was watching from a distance for some of the conversion and only wish I had the opportunity to have been right on top of it all.

___Again, great pics and what do you suggest for a pro-sumer, mostly automatic digital so as to take much better pics on my own. My pictures suck and one reason why I am glad my Kodak 5MP was left at home for the weekend

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[DebbieKatz]

My voice was almost gone this AM after all the talking I did this weekend. I guess you really *can't* shut me up when it comes to talking about my FEH

It was great meeting so many of you that I've come to know here on CleanMPG - Slow Hands, Dan 110110, rhwinger, Imahybrid, Locutus, JimboK, Sledge, Hobbit, DeltaFlyer, GaryG - I know I'm going to forget someone; please don't be mad at me And renewing & expanding friendships that I made last year - Rich, Wayne, Eric & my Milwaukee Hybrid Group family. It really did feel like a big family reunion

Gary, thanks for bringing your camera along - I'm looking forward to seeing that video. On Sunday, I rode along with Rich as he did a clinic for a couple with a Highlander Hybrid, since no one had signed up for FEH training Listening to him tell the driver what to do gave me a verbal backup to what I learned watching you during the MPG Challenge, & this AM I pulled a 49.8mpg commute without even trying

Rich, I had fun hanging out with you at the booth on Sunday, & encouraging each other while "driving" Toyota's simulator. I gave the flashlight to my husband

Wayne, Tom, & Larry, it's always good to see & spend time with you Larry, what are you going to do when you burn out your ScanGauge Wayne, you & Tom are like 2 sides of the same coin - Tom is so quiet, & you are so passionate & have so much to say - including inspiring & encouraging us all with your example

Eric, you know I'm just teasing you about the "older woman" thing - after all, you're the one who got me started in my "career" as a "hybrid star" I'm looking forward to being more help on the next HF than just a "pretty face" And if you *really* need someone to cover the catering, I *guess* I could start there ...

Bradlee, Justin, Marie - what can I say? I feel like we've gone from being strangers to being family in no time at all My FEH led me the the MiHG & you, which is just one more reason I like it so much!

Rich & GaryG, I enjoyed sharing my Owner of the (3) Hour(s) with you. Here's hoping we see a little spike in FEH sales as a result

(By the way - HEY FORD! IF YOU'RE READING HERE, STOP TREATING THE FEH LIKE THE CRAZY COUSIN HIDDEN IN THE ATTIC BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!)

There's so much more, but I promised my husband I'd take him out to dinner I'll be posting again (& again, & again...) as more memories of this weekend occur to me.

[xcel]

Hi All:

___Just a few I have had the chance to mess with and in no particular order so far?

Eric Powers and ABC News.


Best Hypermilers in the World – Gary Gattis, Jerad Parrish and Bill Kinney.


Insighter’s at the 2007 Hybridfest FE Challenge.


Prius drivers at the 2007 Hybridfest FE Challenge.


Bill, Justin, Bradlee, Linda and Eric at the 2007 Hybridfest FE Challenge Awards.


FE Clinics-I.


FE Clinics-II.


Olin Park overlook to the Capitol building.


Sue Adams w/ her 2007 Toyota Prius-II. Great story about this one!


Insight w/ a DVD player and NAVI!


Got Prius’.


GM Hybrid Bus.


Gary Gattis, Debbie Anders, Rich Krueger – 3 Best FEH hypermilers in the world.


A few FEH’s.


E85 FEH in the flesh.


After Hybridfest 2007 – Culver’s Get Together.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[SlowHands]

I am so glad I was able to get to Hybrid Fest on Saturday, it was outstanding. I am so happy to have met so many great people, and saddened by how I missed meeting so many more!! I'll blame it on not pre-registering so there was no 'SlowHands' badge hanging on my chest... and yeah probably not 'paying attention' enough (forgot my meds..)

The additional things I learned just on Saturday will pay off the gas expense and the admission charge in probably less than a month.

Hybrid Fest 2008 will be on my to do list for sure.

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Wow, you weren't kidding, Wayne -- great set of pics, Evan!!! I particularly enjoyed seeing everyone enjoying themselves.

Now I've got some faces for the names around here -- too bad I didn't get to meet any of you in person this year.

BUT... I know the face of the fellow who kindly send me an SG1!!!! I can't thank you enough, Gary.

[Sledge]

Got air conditioning?

[Delta Flyer]

When I gave Linda my pictures to download, HybridFest had already had 1500 pictures (and I took at least 100 more afterwards - a total of 640 for me).

There are a lot of people to thank but let me start with Dan for getting my very cranky camera card reader to work so you can see many of these pictures now. It was a lot of work and like the MPG Challenge, he had to get out and "push" my card reader to come through. Also thanks to Tom for downloading the pictures on his laptop at Madison.

Linda, Justin, and Eric were very accomodating in letting me participate in the MPG Challenge, esp with the flurry of activity that was going on. That includes Justin allowing me to borrow his car (I carpooled in Dan's Prius).

Marianne, Wayne's wife was very gracious during HybridFest - also a big thank you. She was one of many "hypermiling widows" (DebbieKatz has a "hypermiling widower").

On the lighter side, JimboK - a Redskins fan was extemely gentlemanly for taking this Cowboys fan from Chicago to Madison. One of the things he put up with was we past the boyhood home of Cows Quaterback Tony Romo and I attempted to pray in the direction of the holy city of Burlington, Wisconsin .

I have volunteered at the Great Race in Lewisville and other totally different organizations, but while I can appreciate the hours Eric and the HybridFest staff has put, I don't think I can quite fathom the grind it's had to have been....thank you!!!

I want to thank tarabell and brick for "minding the store" here at CleanMPG - things absolutely do not stop when a lot of us left for HybridFest and we are very appreciative of them not letting the site go.

[GaryG]

Originally Posted by Right Lane Cruiser

Wow, you weren't kidding, Wayne -- great set of pics, Evan!!! I particularly enjoyed seeing everyone enjoying themselves.

Now I've got some faces for the names around here -- too bad I didn't get to meet any of you in person this year.

BUT... I know the face of the fellow who kindly send me an SG1!!!! I can't thank you enough, Gary.

That SG has a lot of excellent trips on her and the face of it sitting on my dash will never be forgotten. The great Wayne Gerdes used that SG as we went to the 24 hour Sebring race with the famous Bill Kinney who just won first place in this years MPG Challenge. We are all good friends, and you are a part of our friendship now with that tool.

Ron Delong invented the SG and is a part of our community now, and I thank him for being here.

GaryG

[efusco]

Thanks guys, glad everyone enjoyed the pix.
Wayne, lemme tell you, I was thrilled to be in there, I tried to stay out of the way and just shoot in as professional manner as possible, but couldn't resist taking the opportunity to feel the A123 battery 'humming' after they plugged it in and asking pertainant questions from time to time. I figured I was shooting for hybridfest, the potential plug in community as a whole, the installers, the owners of the car, and for myself so I wanted to document every little thing. Having a decent knowledge of what was what really helped, I think, to make sure I got everything important covered.

I had a great time at hybridfest, it was great to meet so many of you and I think, ultimately, we've all done a great service to the future of hybrids...at least for the Madison area if not on a larger scale.

[tbaleno]

FYI anyone uploading pictures, there is a special place in the gallery under the Events and Gatterings section of the photo gallery called hybridfest 2007. Upload them there if you can so people can find all the pictures without having to hunt too hard.

Also, the gallery is good because it makes thumbnails so people on slower connections can scan the pictures and only have to suffer through downloading the ones they want to view.