Thank you NYC!

Well that was nuts! The Engadget NYC reader meetup has come and gone, and it was a blast. Diehard readers braved seriously nasty weather and long lines to get inside, but we still managed to reach capacity at Hiro Ballroom. We're really, truly blown away by the excitement and enthusiasm we saw from the folks that were there, and we hear you loud and clear -- there's more of these in store, with bigger venues and lots more to see / do. We gave away a ton of gear, met some amazing people, and had an absolute blast hanging out with everyone. Thanks so much for coming out guys -- you rule.

And to all the vendors / sponsors / friends that were showing off their stuff, and all the companies who offered giveaways: thank you from the bottom of our mechanical hearts. We couldn't have done it without you!

You can see some Ovi-streamed pics of the event right here and read the lineblog here. If you have pictures you took and want to share, add them to our Flickr pool here, and if you've got video, post a link in the comments below!

[Wiizer @ Dec 20th 2008 12:41PM]

It was a blast, but... there were TWO people missing... Two very unimportant people.

Josh even asked for them, but they didn't come forward...

[Jimmy Jones @ Dec 20th 2008 12:44PM]

Tom and Jerry ............? perhaps Luis n Clark

[Wiizer @ Dec 20th 2008 12:45PM]

@ Jimmy Jones

No, no! Even more unimportant than them...

[Levi @ Dec 20th 2008 1:02PM]

Stewie and Brian?

[Patriks7 @ Dec 20th 2008 1:43PM]

Steve and Jobs? Oh wait thats one person..
I'm guessing Ryan Block and the other guy he is making his blog with?

[Flashpoint @ Dec 20th 2008 2:51PM]

NO...He is reffering to CLAK and iEye

I was there last night. I went up to Ryan Block, took a picture with him and even told him who I was.

Of course, I had to ask "how much did you lose with Wii Fit?"

He confirmed my predisposition that Wii Fitt is GARBAGE.

I had a good time last night. Unfortunately, the place wasn't big enough for everyone to move around, there was no wifi, I waited in line till 7:30 before getting in and some people complained there weren't enough venders. The food was finished by the time I got in - not even sure what it was.
I saw Nokia, PEEK, DIY and that was it.
There was a huge Blackberry mockup, but Verizon was absent.


The funniest thing was, a raffle ticket holder won the Blackberry Storm mockup and had to carry that huge shit home ! Everyone was laughing. Engadget gave out a lot of Peeks, and a G1 and a couple Nokia's and some Kodak Cameras.


I had alot of fun and I will make ALL of engadget's NYC's rain sleet snow or hail.

I'm in one of the pictures they took standing on the line !

As many people as there were in line with iPhones - there was no rep from Apple.

[Wiizer @ Dec 20th 2008 3:41PM]

^ Give this man a prize.

[Chris @ Dec 20th 2008 12:46PM]

When is Engadget gonna have a Miami meetup!

[The Dude @ Dec 20th 2008 12:50PM]

Miami??? Pffft!

Get in line behind Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston.

[Tron @ Dec 20th 2008 12:55PM]

Yeah, Philly's been getting stiffed on everything lately. We need some cool like this.

[dcoaster @ Dec 20th 2008 1:04PM]

+1 for Miami

[Patriks7 @ Dec 20th 2008 1:45PM]

How bout Alaska? Sounds like an awesome place for something like this..

[ace587 @ Dec 20th 2008 2:40PM]

yes, miami! we need an engadget meetup here

[Rob Conway @ Dec 20th 2008 3:27PM]

Philly!!!! All Day!!!!!!

[Zgradis @ Dec 20th 2008 5:34PM]

Philly is NOT that far from NYC, you should have gone, I mean I made it and I live in Chicago... come on now!

[kastonie @ Dec 20th 2008 6:31PM]

how about a houston or austin meetup....

austin is a huge technology epicenter......
it would be perfect..

[James @ Dec 20th 2008 8:35PM]

How about Seattle? Oh wait its too close to Redmond and we dont want apple to think engadget is cheating.

[Johann1356 @ Dec 20th 2008 11:30PM]

I would finally be able to get to one of these!

[SPARTEN II @ Dec 20th 2008 12:55PM]

Is there ever going to be a meetup in Atlanta?

[Nik @ Dec 20th 2008 3:13PM]

+1 for Atlanta

[Zane @ Dec 21st 2008 2:54AM]

+1 frickin one for ATL!

[Levi @ Dec 20th 2008 1:03PM]

If I knew about it with more time in advance, I mighta gone too. NYC is like $100 round trip train ticket from Schenectady.

[JohnTitor @ Dec 20th 2008 2:27PM]

I wouldn't say it is worth the trouble of traveling like that
it was really cold waiting outside and it got packed very quickly, 1000 people may have been too many
not to mention there wasn't enough food for the first 500 as was told
and worst of all the Palm guy didn't want to tell us about Nova

[james rose @ Dec 20th 2008 1:06PM]

frozen solid standing on line but thawing out inside was nice as were the prizes.....SO damn close to the Treo Pro!!!

hey engadget how about a meetup in the City when it isn't WINTER

all in all great time though!

[NYC @ Dec 20th 2008 1:11PM]

...You're welcome.

[Hi Kenneth @ Dec 20th 2008 1:52PM]

@NYC

lol...good 1...

[Highest Ranked @ Dec 20th 2008 1:22PM]

they should just rename it "The Big engadget reader raffle where we flame and boo everyone that wins a prize"
and yeah and don
don't forget all the that's what she said jokes by miss belmont that make no sense.

It was fun. sorta I just with there WAS MORE, and that everyone would open up to each other a little more.

[Veronica @ Dec 20th 2008 2:49PM]

It's funnier when it doesn't make sense! (...that's what she said)

[JohnTitor @ Dec 20th 2008 2:51PM]

maybe we should come with labels for our username
Clak would be protected by a thick layer of labels for all this usernames

[Highest Ranked @ Dec 20th 2008 3:05PM]

HAHAH @ Veronica. Exactly. It was a crazy good night and i hope everyone notices the sarcasm in my previous post!

How about the 1gig pen...

[Highest Ranked @ Dec 20th 2008 3:06PM]

but what if we use more than one username GASP

[EngadgetFanBoi @ Dec 20th 2008 8:55PM]

Yeah, great night. I got to meet Veronica, Ryan, and Peter, which totally made by fanboi head explode. They were all really nice though, glad I could be there :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33528908@N02/sets/72157611462651742/

[ducky @ Dec 20th 2008 1:37PM]

You have no idea how many of your not-above-18 readers in New York wanted to come...

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 20th 2008 2:41PM]

From some of the comments threads, it seems like that's a huge Engadget majority :)

I keed, I keed. Good job NYCers for the turnout, hopefully it improves the odds of parties elsewhere. Sign me up for San Jose/Peninsula. SF is probably out, dealing with cities is too much of a hassle.

[Thats What He Said @ Dec 20th 2008 8:10PM]

i know at least one person who fits that description that wanted to come...:-(

[Konstantin @ Dec 20th 2008 1:38PM]

I wish I could have made it!!! Instead I was stuck at LaGuardia for nine hours! Sounds like everyone had an awesome time.

[thecow5 @ Dec 20th 2008 2:13PM]

Perhaps its only me but I did not expect the readers to look like the ones in the picture above, they seem almost gangster looking, and whats with the finger symbol there showing.
For some reason I expected a more refine reader or nerder looking reader.

I guest I should expect to be flamed for this comment.

[Jonathan-DBOSS @ Dec 20th 2008 2:20PM]

Sausage-Fest

[MoyJoy @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:21PM]

Um, would you referring to the PEACE 'symbol'? I had no idea that was gangster.

[a ham sandwich @ Dec 20th 2008 2:24PM]

I REALLY tried to go, but with gridlock on the local roads due to the snow, i was forced to abandon my efforts. DRATS! i was SO disappointed!

[fikhl @ Dec 20th 2008 2:27PM]

Ahh...wish I could fly. :(

[MoP @ Dec 20th 2008 4:04PM]

Yeah, I was there at the NYC meetup too. One of the first 25 in line standing in the snow, sleet, hail and rain. You can see me in one the line pics huddled for warmth. It was damn well worth it though, tons of fun.

Just a few things that need to change though.
+ Bigger venue
+ More give aways
+ More tech booths
+ MORE FOOD!

Also, that Engadget shirt is freaking awesome.

[Sam @ Dec 20th 2008 4:12PM]

My Flickr set from last night is now up:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/sets/72157611455696434/

Thanks for the fun engadget! I had a blast but there is definitely room for improvement. Next time:
PLEASE don't make people stand out in the ice cold for hours
Have enough food for everyone
Give the vendors room to breathe
Don't stretch the giveaways out so badly. Consider doing giveaways out throughout the night with the big ones at the end in under 15 minutes
Sounds dorky but consider (optional) nametags.
Take questions on 3x5s written beforehand and the cherry pick ones you want.

Sam
www.navesink.net
www.flickr.com/photos/kadath

[kriscolumbus @ Dec 20th 2008 4:28PM]

I'd love to have a meet-up in Chicago!

[Zgradis @ Dec 20th 2008 5:31PM]

A buddy and I drove from Chicago to go to this meetup, it was fun! Great job guys, can't wait to see you all in Chicago!

[shugg @ Dec 20th 2008 5:52PM]

is ieye in critical condition.,.,?

[Rachel @ Dec 20th 2008 6:54PM]

I just want to say thanks to the person who graciously gave me their raffle ticket as they were leaving, it ended up being a winner! It made waiting out in the cold almost 2 hours semi worth it. And it was nice to win a prize. Again, thanks!

[sliver86 @ Dec 20th 2008 7:22PM]

too cool people!

[brian @ Dec 21st 2008 12:17AM]

please bring a meetup to dc

[victorcab @ Dec 21st 2008 12:42AM]

Meetup in LA! The turnout would be huge!