Last night I went along to the Oxford Geek Night #30 to see Eben Upton talking about the Raspberry Pi. It was a good evening, but it was absolutely wall-to-wall people. Fortunately, it was obvious that it was going to be busy, so I got there very early and got a seat at a table near the stage.
But you can be too clever sometimes can’t you? The fact that there were so many people ‘standing in the gap’ meant that I couldn’t see the stage. :( I enjoyed Eben’s talk though. The sound system was great, so I heard him very clearly. Actually, being there early, I was roped in to help with the sound check, so I gave a rendition of the Jabberwock to check the mic was working properly. That was fun.
In the break, I got the chance to meet Eben, demonstrate and hand over the raspberry pi direct servo controlled flag-waving demo for the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s demo table. We managed a few words as well. I would have loved to have talked for longer, but Eben clearly needed to go and get some sleep in advance of a flight to the US today. Despite that though, he ‘lent his ear’ generously to those who wanted to talk to him. I hope we’ll get another chance to talk soon. I want to have a chat with Liz as well.
Dave “Pi in the Sky” Akerman was there as well, also bearing gifts. Dave gave Eben the TARDIS from his recent balloon flight and the recently retired “Pi in the Sky” Raspberry Pi all nicely framed up. He also kindly sent me this photo (my shots didn’t come out well in the dark room :( )
Eben with his spoils (photo Dave Akerman)
Local ‘Oxford Jammer’ Pete Andrew demonstrated his solenoid sequencer as well. There were several other short talks. All of them were good.
There were also a few 1 minute “open mic” slots, the majority of which were used by companies wanting to recruit people with specific computer skills. It’s obviously hard to find good people with the right skills in IT – which is exactly where the goals of the Raspberry Pi Foundation fit in.
It was also great to see several friends from the Oxford Raspberry Jam and RS too. If you have a ‘Geek Night’ near you, check it out. They’re rather good fun.
I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it – I’d been looking forward to the evening! Sounds like there may be a Jam in Cambridge in the next couple of months; I hope you can come along. It’d be nice to make some time for a chat.
I’m sticking that flagwaving demo on the Raspberry Pi blog tomorrow, btw. Thank you again! :)
That’s OK Liz. I know how ridiculously busy you are and sometimes things don’t turn out the way we expect. :( I’d love to come to a Cambridge Jam.
You’re very welcome for the demo. It does run more smoothly on an ATMega, but it tickles me that it can work directly from the Pi.
Hopefully I can come to the Cambridge Jam too, and hopefully it will be less jammed than last night! I couldn’t even see the stage from the only space I could find (conveniently next the the bar).
We should have been in touch Dave. I would have saved you a seat. Mind you I couldn’t see either. :)