This was my 3rd conferenence, and it was the BEST one yet, far and away! It was very exciting to see close on 300 chasers all in one place!
I agree wholeheartedly with Evan, at the rate the convention is expanding, I think a new, larger venue needs to be considered for next year. Ditto expanding the conference to three full days as well.
After this conference, I feel like my chase forecasting abilities are fifty times better than they were before. I look forward to testing my newfound knowledge and forecasting confidence in-situ starting in a few weeks.
I'll echo what has been already been said - it was excellent to put names to faces, to see old friends and to make new ones!
A personal shout out to:
Tim and Kathy Samaras and Roger and Caryn Hill - I think it goes without saying that everyone who attended the conference is grateful to you for once more putting on an amazing conference! Your hard work is truly appreciated, and we know without a doubt that you'll outdo yourselves again next year!
Terrence Cook, Jared Farrer and Derek Weston - Getting to chill with you guys throughout the conference was the personal highlight of the conference for me. It was truly a pleasure for me to show you around the area and I'll always remember our lunch at Rosie's fondly. We're going there again next year, btw, just tellin ya now lol. You'll be hearing from me soon
Patrick Martin - It was our pleasure to have you crash our table. We really enjoyed talking with you, Cathy and Mike on Saturday evening.
The Carlson Crew, John and Mike O'Keefe, Tony Laubach - great to see and chat with you all again, and a special thanks to Tony for the immensely helpful advice on Denver neighborhoods, I really appreciate that and will take it to heart
Harold Smith and Chris Hayes - always a pleasure to talk with the two of you
Angie Norris and Bob Schaefer - was very nice to meet you both and finally put faces with the names
I was able to put countless other familiar names with faces, but alas did not have the time to get around to everybody.
So on that note, I know that everyone had an amazing time at the conference, and hopefully I'll see many of you out on the plains this spring and summer.
If you see a black and silver Subaru Forester with Colorado plates bedecked with numerous chaser stickers and antennas out in the field, feel free to stop and say hey!
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And if for some reason our paths don't cross this season, I'll see ya next year at the convention when we all share our amazing video from the great 2008 season!