The "after Hybridfest 2008" thread

[seftonm]

I haven't seen one yet so I thought I'd start a thread for us to put in our thoughts, pictures, videos, and whatever else from Hybridfest 2008.

For myself, HF2008 exceeded all of my expectations. I got to meet a lot of cleanmpg members, many of who surprised me because I did not know they would be there. Camping was fun despite the mosquitoes. We think we have them bad in Winnipeg, I think we found a place that's got them even worse. I had a great time and wish I were still there.

Members I got to meet and a few things that stood out to me:
Aether Glider
bestmapman -- Please show the tdifest guys how to have a proper mpg competition!
billy -- Never ceased to surprise me. From having heard of the Brandon Wheat Kings to 109mpg in the mpg challenge to playing the piano Saturday night.
CitrusInsighter
Daox
Delta Flyer -- Great to see you and your car again. Hope you made it home safely.
HemiSync
hobbit
msantos -- You are braver than I am to do the drive in one day. Was no surprise to me that your wife's car won the cleanest exterior award. Thanks for the food Saturday night!
msirach
Pravus Prime
xcel -- Great to see you again. The amount you put in to spreading your word is amazing. The HiHy's tires are now pumped up to 44

It was great to see you all, many for the first time. There's probably many more that I'm forgetting or didn't get names for. Sorry if I forgot.


A few pictures of some of the people I met at Hybridfest and couple other items I found interesting. Full album is at http://picasaweb.google.com/seftonm/Hybridfest2008

"Ethanol: Sure starting" At least there's one claim that's probably correct. Spotted in North Dakota.


Chuck (Delta Flyer) showing off his Insight


Did Wayne suddenly shrink a foot?


hobbit with the service plug from the Tahoe Hybrid. How far will it drive without the plug?


Wayne talking with Alexandra Cattelan, the assistant chief engineer for GM's E-Flex platform.


Manuel (msantos) and Mike (msirach) cleaning their cars after the rain before the owner's showcase


billy playing the piano


(L-R) Chuck, Manuel, and Mike talking on Saturday night


Busy cleanmpg booth with Larry (HemiSync, green t-shirt), Mike, and Wayne


Hard to see. C5 Corvette pulling a trailer full of tires. Was working harder than most trucks I saw on the highway, and probably getting better FE as well.


Surrounded by trucks while filling

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Great pics, Mike! Sounds like a great time to me.

I can't seem to get the web gallery to come up?

[msantos]

First and foremost, I would like to say it would be an understatement to say I had a great time. Too much good stuff happening in such a short period of time.

First I'll begin by saying that is was a pleasure to meet many of you there and that definitely helped tie the faces to the online nicknames. All great folks and too many to mention all, but I will still make some very unique references particularly to those you had to endure my company.

Mike Sirach - It was a great pleasure to meet you and to have braved with you the relentless mosquito attacks we endured at that campsite. Mike, I now made it my mission to either get a better tent or coat the existing one with multiple layers of water repellent. I still think anything short of fogging "mosquito nuking" those blood hounds will suffice as not even 25% deet appeared to do much to them. In fact, I think they drink that stuff out of a straw...

Chuck - Again, a pleasure to meet and chat with you. Hopefully you made it in one piece back home. I figured, if Chuck can make it back in his return trip which is much longer than mine then I have no right to whine about my little drive.

Mike Sefton - Nice to see you again and awesome showing in the MPG challenge. Hope you made/make it back safely. Very wise to make the trip in two day segments.

Wayne - What can I say? It is already an experience like no other to interact with you online and via email, but to meet you in person is yet another confirmation of what so many have said before: Something you'll never forget, truly a pleasure and an inspiration. It was an honor and privilege to chat with you.

Larry (hemisync)- A great pleasure to finally meet you and to see your awesome car there too. Hope you made it back OK as well.

Last, but definitely NOT least: The many folks we met at the campsite, the Days-INN and the HybridFest grounds and expo area... Great people at a great event, what else is there to say? ... Wow, I never realized I would have seen so many Prii together in one spot, truly a sight to behold.


Cheers;

MSantos

[efusco]

Here are the 300 or so photos I took during HF
http://www.flickr.com/photos/efusco/...7606284179380/

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Wonderful picture set, Evan! You are quite the shutter-bug!

[seftonm]

Hi Sean, what happens when you try to see my web gallery? I tried it on a few different computers this afternoon and everything seemed to work. Maybe there was a problem with it when you tried to take a look earlier? Google seems to have an annoying habit of doing that to me.

[efusco]

Originally Posted by Right Lane Cruiser

Wonderful picture set, Evan! You are quite the shutter-bug!

Thanks...I think a lot of people give up looking at all of them b/c I post too many...but I hate to leave the one out of you or him or whatever....so I post them all. If anyone sees a photo they want a full size copy of feel free to PM me and I'll be glad to e-mail one to you.

Wayne Pontificating to an adoring audience!

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Originally Posted by seftonm

Hi Sean, what happens when you try to see my web gallery? I tried it on a few different computers this afternoon and everything seemed to work. Maybe there was a problem with it when you tried to take a look earlier? Google seems to have an annoying habit of doing that to me.

That must have been it. I just kept getting a "Loading" message where the pictures should have been. They came right up this morning!

Originally Posted by efusco

Thanks...I think a lot of people give up looking at all of them b/c I post too many...but I hate to leave the one out of you or him or whatever....so I post them all. If anyone sees a photo they want a full size copy of feel free to PM me and I'll be glad to e-mail one to you.

I looked at every one of them. Very cool.

[Prius Prime]

Hi all,

It was my first HF and I'm hooked. I tried the MPG challenge and did better than I thought I would. :

The highlight for me was the "Prius Parade" into the fairgrounds. It gave me goosebumps to be part of it. It was cool just to walk around the parking lot of the hotel--for once we hybrids were the majority

I had fun meeting people I "knew" on line. One thing that surprised me is I'm one of the "older women" who drives a Prius. Hey, we ROCK! The best thing for me was the comraderie with other hybrid owners. It was awesome to see so many Insights together too. You guys rock.

Everyone was so friendly and willing to share; more experienced people were great to learn from and we all shared info with the newer owners.

Some people didn't have their "handle" on their nametags, so I might have missed you. Sorry.

BTW, I'm the short woman with the long ponytail with the white Prius! I'm Pravus Prime's mom.

Great job to the people who put this on. I enjoyed every minute.

Donna

[IMAhybrid]

I wish I could have been there, I wanted to do the MPG challenge this year. I made a new hypermiler shirt too. Maybe next year...