Thanks for coming out tonight, San Francisco!
By Ryan Block 
posted Oct 11th 2007 2:51AM
posted Oct 11th 2007 2:51AM
Please add your pictures to the Engadget Flickr pool here.
And please add your videos to YouTube with the tag engadget2007sf.
We'd also like to thank the premium event sponsor of our San Francisco event, the Bluetooth SIG, who really helped us make this whole thing happen!
Damn, I can't believe I missed this. Please have another way soon, I had no way of getting down to SF. How does next week sound? Are you done with reader meetups? I am probably closest to San Francisco, but willing to fly somewhere. (Realistically- no, but I really want to)
so who came first :P
Me!
Had a great time, thanks! And thanks for the free Sansa, woo hoo! Wish I could have won a raffle item, oh well. You may want to plan on more food next time, though. Btw, I didn't know Veronica Belmont had left Cnet for Engadget...I was wondering...any new version of prizefight on Engadget? lol
I don't know that we could ever have planned for this technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhQIr3TJ9s0
Sorry I missed it. Based on the picture, is it safe to say that 999 out of the 1000 were male gadget geeks?
There were actually quite a few women there...mainly with guys, but nevertheless. Plus, a lot of the tech presenters there were female, too.
lol sausage fest 2007
Insecure much?
Should have made it a couple or single women only event. Who really wants to go to an event that is 99% heterosexual geeks anyways. Way too much desperation in the room!
At least give the women who were brave enough to endure such an event the Sansa player. After all they had to endure the most.
I don't know about anyone else, but I wasn't there to meet women (well except Veronica), but I was there to check out the gadgets and get some free stuff (thanks engadget and Sansa!).
@Roger
99% heterosexual? It IS San Francisco, you should adjust your numbers accordingly, lol. :)
Thanks for the sansa and the mini Blu!
this was the sickest giveaway i've ever gotten.
Was lots of fun, too bad I didn't get a Sansa though. Managed to get a 60$ MiniBlu Bluetooth headset and a free Flickr Pro account though :]
I thought it was great to meet some fellow engadget readers in my area. But i was very disappointed with what was being shown off there. I was even more disappointed by the lack of knowledge the representatives had.
Why couldn't we have had something as cool as the OLPC? I know we are not in japan. I seriously thought you guys would have something better for us.
That being said, It was totally worth it for the people i met and the free drinks.
Sorry you weren't satisfied with the vendors, but we posted a list of all attending companies far in advance!
http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/08/san-francisco-reader-meetup-details-note-location-has-changed/
Looks like a helluva turnout. Pity I live in NZ, there's probably only about a dozen or so here that even know Engadget exists.
HaHa! I made out like a pirate tonight, I feel like J-lo with allthis booty I got! I was one of the few, the chosen, this greatevening, getting in line at 5:00pm; a little hand printed sticker with the number '114' soon turned into a $250 dollar Sansa wi-fi mp3player! I also picked up a tiny bluetooth headset, a t-shirt fromone of the Jawbone developers that says "iBone", and some other neatlittle swag packed into my Sansa knapsack! Oh, did I mention freefood AND beer? Thanks Engadget & peeps, you made my night! Btw, anyone know the name of brunette chick mc'ing the raffle?
Wow, 1,000 people is awesome.
Come back to Seattle and we'll show you what a crowd *really* looks like. Miss ya guys. Hope to see you in 2008.
Man this event was packed... I have never seen grown men and women fight so fiercely over hors d'oeuvres, too... I'm glad it was more of a success than you had hoped it would be though !
What really chaps my rear end, though, is that, after making my woman leave work early, waiting in line (a line that went all the way around the corner of that huge block) in the cold for an hour and a half... The line finally moves, we're almost at the door... A group of three people appears and chat up the guy in front of us, who let them cut in and get in the line. We reach the door to the venue, where the very lastest freebies are handed out... Running out RIGHT before the two of us. We had to witness the four geniuses in front of us hooting and high-fiving one another for scoring some schwag, not giving a damn they had just basically cut in and appropriated "our" stuff, we were speechless. The mindset of some of these people (same people who as soon as any food - on short supply, in high demand - would show up, would pile as much as they could on their tiny plate and dart off) sure put a damper on our evening... Ah, Sansa... Or any freebie for that matter... How we missed you. We ended up leaving before the giveaway because a lot of people were so aggro :(
The problem with the meetup was not Engadget's fault. 1000 people came, but like 200 commented they were coming either by themselves or with some friends. Someone complained during the open mic Q&A about the situation, but like one of the Engadget people said, "Readers need to comment on the page so they can get a rough estimate of how many people are coming."
The place got so packed, my friends and I had to go out side and relax since we have been standing around for so long. Well, it paid off getting there since all of us left with free Sandisk mp3 players.
I guess Engadget learned from the mistake of Bestbuy, Compusa, or any retailer at Black Friday or new console sale; they gave each person numbers early to minimize the line cutters getting free mpe players because their friends saved them a spot close to the beginning.
I was first in line, although we are blurry on who got there first. It wasnt clear where the line started. after talking to another engadgeteer, I figured me and my bro and friends should start the line. I ended up with ticket number 1. A OQO would have been sweet, same with the N95, but I'll settle for a Sansa, a NEW engadget T shirt, and being first in line =P
Big Thanks to Ryan, Engadget, the sponsors and the guys who were in charge on the UCSF side. They had to figure out the logistics of the line etc, and they were very accomodating. I also went to the first reader meetup. I think the 05 reader meetup was the first meet up anywhere, and no one knew what to expect. I had a blast then, and I had a blast this time.
I went to the 1st SF meetup and this one. I expected a huge turnout, but man that room was packed, I couldn't even get to talk to many of the vendors, just the nice Bluetooth ladies and I tried on the MotoRokr S9 which I'm planning on buying. I didn't bother fighting for food and drinks, I just took myself out to dinner in the Mission. By the time I got back by 9:20, I found the raffle started early, doh. But I did get a blinky LED bracelet from Sansa. :)
Am I the only one to notice that like 90% of the people in that picture are looking down at some sort of handheld gadget? I'm hoping you had a first aid tent for all the bumped heads and stepped on toes. Sounds like a great event though.
yea that was fun, great food and drink, thank you engadget job well done! The raffle was the best part, it ws funny how half the people called to receive prizes had gone, oh well their loss..and I guess my loss as well seeing that I did not win anything myself!
All I have to say is...
Where's the love for Los Angeles? :'(
um....GEEKS UNITE!!!! who's black ipod nano was that? who the heck listens to persian pop? and who got a hold of a white Ubiqiou 501/Jaq3? that is cool!
couple things.. no one commented on your headline? San Francisco? Coming Out? I guess I'm too insensitive. Also, when are you coming to Chicago?
Jeez, that's a bit sad - looks as though all us gadget nuts are blokes!!!
Anyone else find the title of this post moderately funny?
Yes. Most of San Francisco came out a long time ago.
My youtube contribution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhQIr3TJ9s0
The free food did not last long. Sorry about the lack of sound, but it wasn't necessary.
Wow... that was unreal lol
What a bunch of jerks! The two clowns on the left piled their plates up before anyone else could get in! lol
The one on the left in the white jacket puts SEVEN egg rolls on his plate, and starts to walk away before realizing he could fit ONE more egg roll on his plate and reaches BACK IN! lol
Way to many peoples in such a small space. Up on top of the parking garage the Engadget Digital Photography geeks were exchange info and doing the digital camera thing. Taking shoots of the night time SF skyline. Awesome.
Next time bigger venue! More gadgets
Oh, the event was CRAP! Imagine a room full of NEEDY, GREEDY, GEEKS desperately in need of the SWAG they feel they are entitled too.
Didn't you all feel it? The way everyone looked at you like you were taking their food and their swag away from them? Everyone looked at each other like they were evil.
Sorry Engadget, next time please do two things!!!
1. If you give out door prizes, give everyone a ticket as they come through then announce winners later so that you don't have hundreds of desperate people sitting inline for hours. You should not punish the people who have to work for a living and cannot sit inline all day.
2. Charge a minimal cover charge - $5 is fine. Get rid of all the freeloaders.
I am sorry, I will NEVER go to such an event again unless they have those two things covered! The atmosphere just makes me sick - literally.
- Roger
Of course, if you really want to do it right:
1. Only allow couples or single women. That way you can really get rid of the truly desperate. Nothing says FUN like a room full of single heterosexual males!!
- Roger
You have oviously never heared of quakecon:
http://www.quakecon.org/images/news/wendigo_byoc_04_panorama.jpg
One of the issues was the venue. While the space and amenities were great, the fact that it was on campus and right around the student housing buildings screwed the event up - many students just heard about free schwag, food, and booze, and didn't need to hear more to crash the event. I think half of the crowd was mooching students who had nothing better to do at the time... Mighty would have been a smaller venue, but would have kept away a lot of the rabid smoocher. Lots of people got cheated, I speak from experience :(
I want to start by saying I had a lot of fun, but I had one issue...
The major problem I had were all the college kids calling their friends and telling them to come down for free "food and stuff". I heard multiple times in the line people saying "what is this for again?"
Once in the room they ate all the food, got as many drinks as they could and then left.
I watched the first interview and by the time it was done, I turned around and the room had emptied out a lot. The faces I saw that were left were of true engadget fans.
I would suggest having the event a little further out from a college campus next time. I think this would prevent students that have nothing to do after class and never say no to a free meal from over filling the room next time and then leaving once the freebies are gone.
Roger said, "I am sorry, I will NEVER go to such an event again unless they have those two things covered! The atmosphere just makes me sick - literally."
Stop your whining!! I went with friends from work. We drove from San Rafael to downtown San Francisco after work. Got there in time to get in line and got 4 free mp3 players. The mp3 players were not simply nice party gifts, but it was really a reward to the loyal fans of engadget that had to endure the tons of post of iphones and apple in the past two months j/k :@
Just having free food at the place would have brought lots of people because it was on a college campus. Fish needs to swim, college kids got to eat!
Giving tickets while people walked through the door would make many more people mad. Many people came to the event at 5 pm and started lining up. Then the staff and engadget started giving numbers out. If they waited until 7 when they opened up their doors to give numbers out, you would easily have seen like 20-50 people who came there late simply jump in line with their friends and walk away with gits that they didn't earn. That would leave a sour feeling in many people's mouth for getting there in time, just to be jaded because of line jumpers.
@Long
"Then the staff and engadget started giving numbers out. If they waited until 7 when they opened up their doors to give numbers out, you would easily have seen like 20-50 people who came there late simply jump in line with their friends and walk away with gits that they didn't earn. That would leave a sour feeling in many people's mouth for getting there in time, just to be jaded because of line jumpers."
That is EXACTLY what happened to my woman and I. Three idiots jumped into the line right in front of us while the line was moving and we were close to Byer Hall and got the LAST door giveway items, basically stealing them from us. We were disgusted. How are you saying this did not happen ?
You are the perfect example of what makes events like this so disgusting. The night had nothing to do with people getting together and discovering Engadget, it was simply a competition for freeloaders for swag and food.
I am glad you got your MP3 and that you felt like you earned it by waiting in line and THANK YOU for proving my point, exactly. It is that needy, greedy entitlement that I find disgusting. You may not have felt it as you were too busy feeling good about yourself for getting an MP3 player! Good for you!
- Roger
It was a blast guys. Thanks much for inviting us! (Oh, and thanks for the free wine!)
I'd have to second the sentiments of the booth people not having too much actual detailed knowledge of their products. The exception was the folks from Plantronics.
This went from a meet-and-greet to a mini gadget convention before it even started. Kudos to you all for rolling with the punches. You've got quite an active fan base out here, and now you know.
Oh, and it's never a good idea to just throw a $200 piece of kit into the center of a room full of technophiles. ; )
CANT YOU GUYS DO THIS IN NY????!!!! THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!
Too small of a venue.
I got there an hour and half after it started and they stopped allowing people in AND there was no more food or drinks.
If your going to advertise free food and drinks, please provide enough to supply more than an hours worth of spectators.
There were way too few booths and the vendor displays were weak.
Anyone who has been to several trade shows will know, by attending this event, it was weak and poorly handled.
Sorry engadget, I love the website but this years readers meeting was poor.
Did we say trade show? We said reader meetup! Vendors are a bonus, some of our meetups don't even have vendors (like New York in 2005, and Tokyo last week).
We did our best with food and drink, but as I said at the event, we weren't expecting a thousand people, only 300 or so RSVPd. Want to help us out? Make sure people RSVP next time so we can gauge numbers.
Note to a few specific individuals: Please bathe with soap once a day.
You know who you are, with your Pigpen-esque dust clouds.
This is Sol at DeviceVM. I just want to say thanks to Engadget and all the readers who showed up to watch the demo of Splashtop. We had a great time and we look forward to the next one. Here's our blog post on the night - video coming soon.
Here's the link to our blog! Sorry I forgot in last comment:
http://www.splashtop.com/blog/?p=8