2016 North American "Unofficial" Endless-Sphere Convention

Who All would be interested in a North America convention in 2016?

I am thinking that a place where there is good off-road riding, on-road options, reasonable room rates, meeting space for a vendor day(s) and somewhat centrally located if practical.

I think it would be a great opportunity to meet everyone, see some gear goodies in person, learn riding techiques from others, talk shop, and have a good vacation at the same time.

What do members think about attending?
I'd be willing to trailer equipment from Texas (and along the way) to a convention for people that would rather fly and meet their gear there.

What vendors are interested in attending?
I think it would be awesome to have the likes of Grin Technologies, Luna Cycles, Lightning Rods, eBikes SF, Kinaye Motorsports, Holmes Hobbies, Optibike, frame manufacturers, parts manufacturers, domestic companies, importers, international guys, and whoever else can come! Listing most of those makes me think a more westerly location would get more of them to come (even if that means more driving for me personally).
 
Pikes Peaks in Colorado Springs would be nice to do. Optibike is in Colorado, so maybe they join.
 
Selfishly, I vote for Phoenix, AZ, so I can show up between work shifts. ;)

Plenty of desert to ride in if you like, all around outside the valley; lots of "offroad" road conditions around here, too--just look for the under-construction streets and the main streets with heavy traffic that tears them up. :lol:

There are even "mountains" of a sort within the city itself, though you'd probably have to stay on the city streets that go up and around them, as most don't allow anything but foot traffic.
 
Good call on Optibike too Snellemin. You got a spot specially reserved for your Raptor in the trailer of course! :)
Pikes peak sounds awesome though I am not sure everyone would make it up without overheating (if anyone! lol...).

Arizona was on my mind too. I love that area. To get off road riding in though, we might have to go legit. Not sure we could sneak 30 bikes around "private property" signs very easily. :lol:

I just thought of 30 bikes coming back from a ride to charge. Imagine the power we would draw. Lol... We might have to pick a spot near an RV park to get a bunch of 50 amp circuits. :mrgreen:
 
Pikes Peak is all about the journey to the top. No racing, unless somebody wants to beat a record. Plenty of places to stop and cool down the bikes. Chit chatting, snacking, snapping pics and whatnot while bikes recover from abuse. Regen braking back down and see how much mah you gain back.

But this is just me thinking out loud :)
 
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Austin? You're thinking maybe in mid March?
 
Austin would be fine but we might not get as much vendor involvement. SXSW might not be great because everything in the city is expensive then, roads get closed down, everywhere is crowded, plane tickets book up fast, etc. unless of course one WANTS to participate in SXSW. Lived here a long time and never had much interest but then again, I'm not much of a music guy.

That being said, there are a number of trails and rides to take.
 
Piggyback on Phoenix, Arizona Electric Bike Expo next January 15-17, 2016? Just a thought. :)
 
Phew, that'd be quick. I could probably go but I'm not sure I could trailer bikes out there in that short notice. (Have to take more time off work for driving). If folks want to meet up there though, I can look into it. I we do that, I say make it a mini get together and have a bigger bash later in the year when folks can arrange work and travel.
 
Hmm...I don't think I'd heard of that event. Might have to show up, perhaps hauling CrazyBIke2 in the trailer attached to SB Cruiser. :)

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/electric-bike-expo-phoenix-arizona-jan-15-17-tickets-19046763382?aff=EBR

Tried to register but only get this error:
Your session has expired. Try ordering again.
Anyway, enough OT, back to the NA ESC. ;)
 
Ok, time to kick this up a notch.

VENDORS
Post up the vendors you would like to see in attendance and I will add them to the list on the first post with a status (Not Contacted, Contacted - Not Interested, Interested - Pending Location and Date Confirmation, Confirmed).
If you have a contact for the vendor, please send that (or PM me with it).

ES Members
I'd like to set up a poll, as suggested previously. Too hands on to manage individually like the Vendor list. Does anyone know of a forum poll option that can be updated by users with similar status and a preferred location dropdown selection (e.g. West, Rockies, Midwest, Southwest, South, East - or something like that)?
 
You know... We had the 3rd Annual Uphill Bike Race in Toronto last summer. Of a metro area of 6+ million folks we had exactly two ebikers show up to race. Sorta straight up a cliff actually on a very steep road that's not well traveled by many.

So if we do this again next summer, thought is to maybe be more "in your face" to the Good People of Toronto rather than picking some back road.

Hence the thought about piggybacking any ES Get-Together on an existing ("big") bike show... somewhere. I guess somewhere "central" in North America? How `bout splitting things up and having FOUR "ES Shows" around NA. NE, NW, SE and SW, all on the same weekend.

TV/Video hookup anybuddy?

:mrgreen:
 
All, the region poll is up. See the first post for the link!

Also, I am thinking about the logistics of organizing the event and I am starting a list of categories (maybe a bit later we can determine someone, with the appropriate skillset, to lead category(ies)).

Convention Planning Team
Logistics - Location planning, lodging, meeting space, travel logistics, group discounts, etc.
Activity Scheduling - Organizing activities so people can maximize their time (Learning Seminars, Wrenching Sessions, Various Rides/Drives/Controlling, Local Activities for Significant Others or Kids, Product Demonstrations, etc)
Marketing - Increasing participation and attendance of ES members (and general public if we decide to market wider than just the forums)
Vendor Management - Engaging vendors to encourage participation and/or sponsorship of the event. A mix of e-vehicle specific vendors (e.g. Grin) and wider contributing industry vendors both big (e.g. Fox Racing, Samsung Batteries, etc.) and smaller (Timberline Cycles, Holmes Hobbies)
Budget Management - Organizing isn't always free so we likely need budget management to some extent (not sure the best way to establish controls on this one
...what else???
 
FWIW, if you contact groups that have run successful SciFi conventions, you might be able to get someone to help with the whole organization/logistics thing, if they're also interested in EVs/ebikes. I don't personally know anyone that is both, but there might be someone in CASFS here in Phoenix. http://casfs.org
 
Thanks Amberwolf. I was also contacted today by someone with an event/convention planner recommendation. I don't know the cost of that consultation support but the person recommending brought up a bunch of potential roadblocks that (depending upon size) that I didnt think of above. With a better feel for participation, I can't engage external support for a while and I don't want to run up registration fees unnecessarily. We'll shoot for sponsored support first and then sweeten the pot if we get enough participation and need the extra help.

I'll check in periodically when there is notable progress to share.
 
From first post in this "Convention" thread:
Who All would be interested in a North America convention in 2016?

I am thinking that a place where there is good off-road riding, on-road options, reasonable room rates, meeting space for a vendor day(s) and somewhat centrally located if practical.

I think it would be a great opportunity to meet everyone, see some gear goodies in person, learn riding techiques from others, talk shop, and have a good vacation at the same time.

So. Reasons for having any "convention":
1) Good off-roading/on-road options
2) (Summarizing here) "Cheap" to attend and operate
3) Centralized location (in North America, presumably?)
4) (Summarizing again) Face Time for ES Denizens
5) Physically see/touch/taste stuff we've been tapping about.
6) See something termed "riding techniques".
7) Something termed "shop talk" (wattEVer that means? Unsure).
8) Have a "good" vacation ("Good" undefined.)

Can't say I've EVer been an "EVent Planner" but once-upon-a-time I did walk away from a local college (today a degree-granting university) with a Certificate in MARKETING.

So I wish to suggest watts missing in above list of "reasons why"? Is to "make a splash" in the world. To "get the word out" to the Great Unwashed. (Those yet only maybe dimly aware of bettery-electric traction for vehicles.)

And I can suggest in "marketing" terms one objective for any "convention" is to generate "BANG for the BUCK". Like, might one hope for some nice mentions about Ebikes et al in other medias or a BIG article on the FRONT PAGE of the NEW YORK TIMES.

So I might emphasize one point that has already been made in the "Reasons For" list of stuff and that is to pick a CENTRALIZED location. Maybe not physically centralized to any north american population but how `bout CENTRAL PARK in NEW YORK CITY?

One example? I just watched "Flash Mob: The U.S. Air Force Band at the Smithsonian" on YouTube:
[youtube]-cKE8pyfcZc[/youtube]

So anyway. Just sayin'. IF ES folks DO do this "Convention" thingee at any point in the future it may "serve the cause" when it's all over if folks can point to how much "great exposure" the EVent generated. If nothing else, retailers of ebikes and components will appreciate this.

Thanks
 
Post Script.
So. Reasons for having any "convention":
1) Good off-roading/on-road options

In an increasing "urban" world a majority of travelers may not be too interested in "off-roading". So I'll suggest the target market for ebikes is NOT the leather-wearing, muddy bike riding artist but instead the 9 to 5'er just wanting to get to work and around town.
 
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