I'm starting to get ready for the next meet, and already Rob has indicated that many of the empeg/Riocar team are interested in coming over - how about you?

He's hinting at bringing some pretty stunning new stuff over (much more than ever before) in the form of new prototypes and software: it even looks as if Hugo, the guy who started this whole thing, might be able to make it with some seriously special automotive Jewellery (the expensive, fast, rorty kind of course ).

So to kick things off, I want to ask you to express a preference for the weekened when it should be held. I am aware that there are many people who have study and exam obligations in June (the previous time of the event) which makes it difficult to attend. So in order to make sure as many people who would like to come can in fact do so, could I have your opinion on the choice of weekend when it will be held?



Let me know what your preferences are, if possible before the end of February, 2003.

June 27/28/29 would clash with Glastonbury Festival 2003 (if it eventually gets approved), which would cause many of Planet Empeg a conflict of loyalties which I think we'd all rather avoid...

Peter

Not that anyone but me cares, but the New York SAAB Owener's Club is planning a Saab run for the middle of July. This is no ordinary run. It starts in New York and goes through parts of Canada. Me, being an officer of the club, cannot afford to miss this monumental run.

So, if both events conflicted, I would have to do the Saab event. Just letting you guys know.

I voted the first choice.

July 4th is celebrated by the Yanks... I don't know whether that'd have an impact..

It's not usually a Christmas-like get together with all your extended family thing, though. It's usually just a get a day off work and go cook on a grill in your backyard and watch sports type thing. So I doubt if anyone would be too conflicted about it.

I put July 4/5/6, but now realize I could just as easily do June 13/14/15.

I'd like to come to this one!

I put the 4th july as i would definatly be able to make it back for that date.

I will be bringing my father with me so if anyone wants a really cool empeg stand he is the man to see if you have looked at my pics on riocar.org

For those that haven't been before go the last one was fantastic

I voted for June 13/14/15 since I'm off for work 25th of June and whole of July, and I'd really like to be there (and I could also visit a friend of mine that lives just a half-hour away and he's been nagging me to come visit him for the last year... ).

Stig

I'd love to come up to an empeg meet. But, where is Amersfoort? I'm too lazy to type it in Google, but I'm betting it's in the UK (or further from the US). If I can drive there from the US, I'll be there. If not, well, I'll still try

Did anyone make that empeg headphone adapter thing so I could listen to my empeg on the go without the car? That would be essential to an overseas trip. Oh, and how does an empeg work with a US-to-UK power converter? Or wait, IS there a power adapter conversion? I forget. Haven't been to the UK in like 9 years.

That would be in the Netherlands. (Or is it ``The Netherlands''?)

Unforch, it requires an Atlantic crossing to NL - but the cheese and beer is worth it. Ask all the previous visitors about the Ribs Party and the Barbecue with local beer, fireworks and a Gas-powered cannon. Patrick (pca, aka God of tuner and empeg designer fame) may bring his VR remote control car to combat Mini Mini Me (who is getting a new coat of paint for this year's event). Not to mention the treasure hunt and all the new prototypes that I am not allowed to talk about due to the NDA I've just had to sign...

Think about it - you may even enjoy it! Melissa and Jason, are you coming over again? Tony Fabris - you should be here, bring the family! And Damn it Doug - bring the bicycle over for us to see. Rob Riccardelli is coming, what about you?

It's also a great day for Yanks who are tired of living here to get the hell out of the country, and goto .eu. I'm up for either June 14, or July 4th.

The only thing I wonder is how far out of Amsterdam this is. I'm not finding any decent maps in 5min of googling

BTW.. Yanks.. want to get together on places to stay?

48 km (about 35 miles) from Schiphol airport, direct train connection to a local station about 500 m from the hotel where the event is held. From Amsterdam it's about 42 km (about 30 miles).

With luck we could get god and the lord together

shellgeostar
About an hour with the car. Train is preferable if you're comming by plane.....


Greetings, Robert

I don't think I'm going to get my Jetta there.. but trains are nice.

That URL didn't work right in mozilla.. but it's no biggie.

I wonder what it would cost to get a boat from .uk to .nl

Not a lot, depending on the time you travel and which route you take (Calais, Ostend, Vlissingen, Hoek van Holland). We last paid GBP 150 for a car with 4 passengers over Christmas via Calais (9 days) plus about a tank of petrol (about GBP 50)

Tony Fabris - you should be here, bring the family!

I know, things didn't work out last year, maybe things will work out better this year. I'll keep it in mind. I'm placing my date vote now.

Although I didn't make it to the last one, I did to the one before, And I flew over from the UK (I know), but the trains were fantastic actually.

It was a blast, although I didn't make it to all the evening events, etc.

Hopefully I can make it this year, and bring the car (and g/f)!

Paul.

Ask all the previous visitors about the Ribs Party and the Barbecue with local beer, fireworks and a Gas-powered cannon

Or see the pictures, here.

I've put down july 4th, for the reason you stated yourself in your first post in this thread !

Do you know if there's a motorhome/caravan park in striking distance, I may well prefer to do that and go on to do a week or two's touring? If you don't know straight off, don't spend time looking, I'll get the caravan club on to the job, it's what I pay the subscription for.

June 13/14/15 - definitely a no go - I have to defend my title as the jammy get who got drunk and still skippered the only Scottish boat in a field of 40 to victory in last years EY Solent challenge.

Quite fancy July though - if I can persuade the wife.

At the moment, I'm fairly open for any date EXCEPT 27/28/29th June, not because of Glastonbury but because of Friedrichshafen (the huge radio rally there, of course).

pca

I'd like to come. I've not yet been able to attend a empeg meeting and this looks like a good fit for me in theory. Plus, I haven't been to Europe in ages and it's time I went again.

However, I can't immediately find a way to get there that's less than about $1000 a person, and that might count me out. Does anyone know a cheap way to get there from Raleigh, NC? Even the direct flights from Raleigh to Gatwick are $1000. Maybe someone knows a cheap way to do that? It might be interesting to take the London to Amersfoort trip on the ground.

I was looking up fares last night and it looks like KLM is offering the best rates currently at ~$830 per ticket with a stop in London or Manchester. This is leaving from New York.

Travelocity is giving me a price of about $1000 for a Continental flight that goes straight to AMS. I will probably book that carrier because I can use their President's Club and live like a fat-cat a few minutes before my flight.

I have a couple questions though.

• I usually rent cars with National because they allow under 25 year-olds to rent. I think National goes by a different name in Europe, but does anyone know the age requirement for car rentals in Europe?
• Do people in NL speak English?
• Left-hand or Right-hand drive? I need to know to determine if I rent a car with manual or auto.
• Warm beer or cold?

I think that's about it for now. I am pretty certain I will be renting a car. I don't take public transportation in my own country, let alone a country where I don't understand the language/currency.

Surprisingly, you might find it cheaper by flying to Frankfurt, and either connecting to Amsterdam, or catching an ICE to Amsterdam (yea! 180+ km/h in a train!). Alternatively, try flights into Brussels with a Thalys TGV connection to Amsterdam. From AMS, there is relatively easy car hire or direct trains to Amersfoort Schothorst (where the event is).

I suspect it would be worthwhile trying to book as early as possible: also, a block booking from a group of people travelling may also bring the price down somewhat, but you would need to make pretty quick decisions and coordinate it together.

I'll have to check about car rentals for you.

Everyone in NL speaks English - with embarassing competence...

All cars here will be left hand drive: I think you might find that car hire is more expensive than in the States, and you might not easily be able to get automatics - again, I'll have to check. If you come into the airport at Schiphol, hiring a car should be no effort: look at the Schiphol website.

The beer can be any temperature you like - at the barbecue, it will be cold, don't worry!!

As long as the wheel is on the left side, I can drive a manual. I will call up National in a few minutes to ask them about age.

Yes, I am getting excited.

There are camping and motorhome sites all over NL, very good ones indeed (the Dutch virtually live in caravans on holiday, and to my fellow residents in NL who are reading this this is a compliment, not sarcasm!!). In Amersfoort there are three very good ones within about 4 km of the event site: there are others within a 10 km radius. There are in each major town usually a number of very good campsites: if you want to bring the motorhome, then I doubt there will be any problems with you parking at the event itself - there's a HUGE car park, chosen specifically for that reason....