Mine was meeting all of the people!
Printable View
Mine was meeting all of the people!
My favorite part was the networking and discussions that went on during breaks, lunch and in the evenings! I learned all kinds of great stuff and made some great friends.
IF YOU DID NOT COME ,YOU MISSED ALOT.. meeting other cavers and experts in there field and share ideas. I meet alot great guys and gals. My brain is still in overdrive because I did not realize I own a great machine . There is no limit to what it can produce. See Ya NEXT YEAR
Is next year here yet ... I can't wait.
I was so overwhelmed with all the Carvoholics i met. so many talented carvers to talk to and share ideas with. and the enthusiasm was off the chart, .
I made a lot of friends on this trip and will be back again.
steve
I really enjoyed all the presentations and being shown how easy it is to use the software available from CW. It gave me so many ideas of what I can create with this amazing machine. I really enjoyed talking to and meeting so many creative people. I think we may need to have three days next year!! Now to digest all of it and practice what I have learned so next year I can learn even more at the conference.
Myshop here,
Yes the putting the faces with names was great, Skeeterman and I have done Corian business together and have never met. I enjoyed his company.
Robert D and I met about 4 yrs ago in Austin, Tx. during a woodworking trade show and it was because of him I got my machine. The funny thing was, during the START U classes is where we figured out we had met before.
The best was the talking and trading carving hints during the breaks.
I am ready to try the new carving materials, all I have to do is get my machine back from LHR soon.
Now when I do some traveling across the country I will have some carvers to stop and visit with, Conroe Tx, Dallas area , North Arkansaw, Greely Colorado and so on.
Over all, the conference was great, a whole lot of people enjoying one special machine.
Thanks again to all of you who put this conference together, looking forward to next year.
Anyone traveling thru South Louisiana, drop me a line and we pass a good time and eat some very good Cajun food and maybe drink some good shine.
Myshop
First and foremost is meeting and being able to shake the hands of all those who I've traded posts, emails and phone calls with.
Meeting Chis, Joe, Connie, Lori and the rest of the LHR staff. All great folks who took the time to answer any questions I had. Spending time with Chris and talking about the machine and seeing his excitement with each question.
Seeing Chis's eyes light up when I told him "instead of telling the lady from Alaska about the flop sanding disks, take here to the play room and show her". Off they went with her poplar board to the shop and made some dust!!
Listening to everyone sharing their ideas and tips on using the machine. The Carveaholics were very busy with all the newbies that attended.
Finding out that a good number of people who have had the machine for a year or more being told GET IT OUT OF THE BOX!!! There was many who have not fired it up but I bet by the end of this next week they will be making dust.
Calling home and letting the better half know that "yes dear you were right"!!!
This is my slightly sappy synopsis of the conference. I posted it to my website this morning but thought I would copy it over here as well as it was a great experiance and I hope more people will be able to attend next year.
It is hard to believe that it has been more than 5 years since I first got myCarveWright. Now, five years is a life age for high tech devices, so it is outstanding that my machine now works better and has greater capabilities thanever before. There have been improvements and enhancements in both the hardwareand software of the machine over the years. Such things as the CarveTight chuckand rubber feed-belts combined with a host of new software features have essentially reinvigorated my CarveWright.
This past week I was fortunent to be able attend the 'First Annual CarveWrightConference' in Houston, Texas. While I was quite happy to be asked to give a couple classes about the Pattern Editor, it was the opportunity to meet so many CW aficionados and the staff from LHR that really made the trip wonderful. It was stimulating to be in a room with 100 other folks who are so enthusiastic about the CarveWright system. The opportunity to get to know so many great Carveaholics and put faces to forum names was priceless.
There were presentations on the machine covering operation and maintenance, presentations on software covering not only products from CarveWright but also 3rd party packages, presentations on finishing techniques and presentations on making a business out of your carving passion. In addition to all of that there was also an entire room with many fantastic user made projects on display, the talent and creativity of the creators was evident and truly inspiring.
Just as the improvements to the CarveWright’s hardware and software has had the effect of reinvigorating my machine, I found the the fellowship provided by the conference has reinvigorated my spirit. That same excitement I felt when first unboxing my CarveWright and running my first project has been renewed. Sharing ideas with other folks opens the mind to new possibilities. The CarveWright adventure continues…
First of all:THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris L, Joe L, Connie, Lori, Mary, Chris R, Barry, and ALL of the rest of the people at Carvewright, and guest speakers, for putting together a conference that was PRICELESS!
Just to share a very little of my experience.Wednesday morn:Driving up to the building, I was not impressed. It was not a big, fancy, high maintenance place that I expected. Grassroots!
We were greeted by the smiling face of Lori[not sure that I'm spelling it right], brought togather with aprox. 9 other members of the Carve U. group.[More on that to come]Meetings with Joe L and Connie R. which were very informative and enlightening. IDEAS!IDEAS!IDEAS! and Grassroots!
Then came the really fun part, Joe said "Let me give you folks the tour"No fancy this or that.Grassroots!
The shop:[This is my favorite part] We were led down an isleway about 50' long to a room in the back of the shop where this guy was working on trying to push the Carvewright to its limit to se where and when it cannot go and then fix it. Research and development if you will[My kind of place]Lets pick this guys brain![Please refer to photos on Little Red Woodshop, I'm the bald guy by the way,and not very photogenic]Anyway, I walked out of that room with my questions answered and new ideas! Someone said "Do you know who that was?" The Big Guy! CEO! Wearing bluejeans ,sweating, sawdust all over, hands dirty, working to improve the product that he developed. Grassroots. Needless to say, I was impressed.Grassroots!
This was just the begining of a terrific three days for me, learning,networking,making news friends for life.
The point that I do want to make here is this company is not an all frills type company. They are here to help us and asist us with our problems .All we have to do is ask.Its is just getting started and there are a LOT of new things coming in future.We are only on the ground floor, grassroots if you will.
The train is gettin ready to leave the station so get on board! I got a feelin that itsgoing to be a fun ride.
Again, Thanks to all at Carvewright! It was terrific!
I could not have stated it any better then (tierman) has. I second all he has stated.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris L, Joe L, Connie, Lori, Mary, Chris R, Barry, Alex, John and Omar and ALL of the rest of the people at Carvewright, and guest speakers, for putting together a conference that was PRICELESS!
Looking forward to the time we have another conference.
As most have stated, it's the people that was my overall favorite experience of the CW Conference, too. Getting to meet so many of you in person was terrific!
Kudos to the entire LHR/CarveWright Staff who put in so many hours of planning and effort in making this one of the best conferences of this type I have ever attended. First Class all the way! Even though I was aware of some of the backstory behind the organization of the conference, I was blown away by the extent to which the company went to make certain that everyone was well taken care of and had a wonderful, fun and informative experience! You just had to be there to fully understand what a super job they did.
All the presentations I was able to attend were very helpful and interesting. I really enjoyed Chris Rawls' extended presentation on machine maintainence and tips on troubleshooting. Wow! We all gained a ton of insight on how the machine works and learned the specific reasons why things are engineered the way they are. Every tiny detail of the machine has been well thought out and, through their own testing, careful observation and customer feedback, continue tirelessly to make the machine more efficient and productive. I have never experienced such open transparency from any company representative. I think we all felt that we were invited 'into the fold', so to speak, as Chris R. spoke to us as if we were fellow company employees. Just excellent!
I have got to give a special mention about Doug Haffner's presentations, too. Oh my goodness! Not only were they chock-full of great tips and information on finishing, the use of creative materials and paints, etc., but he had us laughing our guts out when you least expected it! (I asked him one evening how long he had been doing stand-up comedy.) What a fun and interesting time we had with Doug!
I also appreciated the various Vendors for supporting this event and for supplying information and in some cases, free samples of their products that CarveWright owners will find useful in their hobby and businesses. (I took home a sample of Gorilla Wood Glue.) Thank you, Vendors!
Did anyone mention the CarveWright "goodie bags"? That was a very nice touch and something I had no prior knowledge of. Cool! One of the items in my bag was a package of Scanning Probe tips - they will come in very handy. (They are not just "glue tips", but appear to be much better suited for their purpose.) Thank you for the 'goodies surprise'!
Already countin' down the days for the next CarveWright Conference. I can hardly wait for the next one! So much fun and a perfect opportunity to meet, greet and learn!
Throughly enjoyed the Conference. It was like coming to a family reunion and meeting relatives that you know you have, but never actually met face to face before. It was that type of atmosphere to me. The knowledge, the ideas.... were mind blowing. As I said several times... "the reason this CW is worth so much is because of the forum family". Without the forum members and "can do" attitude, I don't believe this machine would have lasted this long. Like others said, it was nice to see the CEO out there talking to people and listening to what they had to say. THAT in itself, says alot. The staff was nothing less than EXCELLENT. Just like anything else, yes there could (and I'm sure there will be) improvements to the conference. However, for being the first one, it was GREAT. I recommend people ( Al Who.. ;) )make "how to videos" as far as changing/fixing hardware on the CW. Pictures are great, but videos are "alot gooder" : ) The people I've met were great, the presenters were excellent and I left there very inspired and "chompin' at the bit" to try out some ideas. So THANK YOU Chris and staff. It was a great family reunion! Already looking forward to the next one and meet "new" family members. I took a bunch of pics so I'll upload them as soon as I can. Maybe when pics are posted "others" can chime in and point out persons in the pics since I didn't get to actually meet all the relatives ..... too many relatives coming "out of the wood work" ! ha ha "Git er Done ... on the CW"
I am back at work, do not even want to tell any one what my desk looks like.
Is the Conference starting again tomorrow?? HA HA
Am I trying to get away from the desk? YES
A Great time it was at the conference, never can say that enought.
My favorite was everything. I enjoy the demonstrations, talking with other newbies and learning that I could do more than I ever imagined.
I hope that next time I can get my husband to come and meet everyone and learn learn learn.
I was a little afraid that I would feel like the class dummy but everyone was so nice and helpful. I felt right at home as soon as I set down at the table. I still maybe the class dummy but less so than when I arrived.
The staff of CW and the hotel were very eager tho answer questions and listen. I am sure that the next conference will need a larger hotel. That will be a shame because the hotel staff was so good and timely.
Thanks to the sponsers and vendors.
Marine Sallee
I just wanted to thank everyone at CarveWright who put this together and made it such a great experience. I was delighted to be a part of it. From beginning to end, it exceeded my expectations and hopes. The hunger to learn was very strong, and it was exciting to not only share my own experiences, but to find out other ways of doing things. The sense of sharing was strong, and it made for a great conference.
I'm sure Connie was happy to save on batteries for the microphone, since I have such a big, loud mouth. The trick, as my wife will attest, is figuring out how to shut me up.
For those of you who asked, my presentation will be online later today and I'll post a link. I'm adding a few more slides with more extensive links.
Doug,
I wanted to Thank you for rekindling my need for art and sharing your discoveries ..... looking forward to watching you in the future and I can't wait to see what you do with Azek.
Doug,
Thank you for sharing I learned so much and your work is outstanding.
My favorite part of the conference, not counting the awesome projects that I saw, was probably hanging out with you guys and the discussions on the machine and software. Believe it or not, I actually learned quite a bit from each of you.
What did everyone think of the gentleman that was on the USS Missouri when the Japan peace treaty was signed?
I was proud to shake his hand and Salute him. Imagine the things one could learn by sitting down and just listening to him for a couple of hours. My father was also a WWI vet and fought in Saipan, Okinawa and Tarawa. Some of the stories he told me were pretty emotional for him, but I'm glad he shared them with me. Missing my dad right about now.....Quote:
Originally Posted by atauer
I spent about an hour talking to him and his wife.very amazing to be able to talk with him and soak in his history.he and his wife are very nice folks.
I enjoyed all the topics discussed. Joe lovchilk also gave a great class.
I also got to spend a great deal of time with Jason ( little red woodshop).
We discussed a variety of things on our 9 hour trip home
I am ready for another
Steve
Mr. Albert was sitting at my table for the greetings and intro on the first day. After our howdys and all he went right into his stories aboard the Missouri and how he took the shrapnel from the kamikaze plane that hit the ship. If I recall correctly he also served during the Korean conflict as well.
Also he bought the machine for his wife. He said he might help her out some but it was all hers...
Micheal Tyler and Jeff Birt gave Awsome classes as well as funny man Doug . I hope all who read about this first conference will try to attend the next one.
There was a thread about what will I get out of attending. The answer is a wealth of info and meeting family members you only talked with on forum
Steve