Neowin's annual "Neowindex" staff get-together starts today. Staff from the Western side of the pond are meeting up in Toronto, Canada, for a fantastic weekend of brainstorming, sightseeing, and general debauchery in true Neowin.net style. With delegates from California to Newfoundland and everywhere in between, the weekend is already shaping up to be the hottest event of the Neowin summer.
Kicking off the weekend, the staff will be touring the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) production facility right here in Toronto. After the tour, we intend to post a focus piece for our readers. The piece will cover everything from mobile gear, to in-studio equipment, and even the web aspects of CBC's operation. From there, we're participating in the record breaking "World's Largest Smoothie" in an attempt to beat the scorching heat here in Toronto.
Other weekend events include various tours and and sightseeing, and will most likely include a trip to the CN Tower and other famous Toronto attractions. We also intend to take in the tastes and smells of this truly metropolitan community.
Don't worry, we aren't leaving you out either! Follow us on Twitter here to keep up on the ongoing action, and if you're in the city and you spot one of us, give us a wave and Andrew will buy you a beer. (If you're of age, obviously). You can also follow the action here as well, or search for the #nwi10 hashtag!
Staff include:
- Anaron
- Andrew Lyle
- Brian
- Fred Derf
- gigapixels
- Joshua
- rm20010
- Simon
We will update this piece as the weekend unfolds.
UPDATE: The weekend is over, all involved parties had a great time with team-building and other activities. The CBC tour was extremely informative, and you may have caught us during a live segment as we were present on the news floor. We have an article forthcoming, documenting the photo tour. We will be detailing the hardware, software, and how exactly CBC gets its content from the floor to web/TV. The remainder of the trip involved various work projects between staff, and some fun events to help strengthen current working relationships. Video-conferencing with staff not in attendance was very helpful during the brainstorming process and enabled us to reach our collective goals.
The pervasiveness of the internet meme in real life was also explored. During the Wonderland excursion, one of the ride operators was obviously familiar with internet culture. Singing the always popular "If you're Happy and You Know it", the operator quickly made his own adaptation. Instead of the final line that includes "clap your hands", the operator modified the original to include: "If you're happy and you know it, and you really want to show it, if you're happy and you know it: clap your feet" followed by a very clear and deadpan "FAIL". Good times were had by all.
Overall a very productive trip led to a successful close to Neowindex 2010 North America. Neowindex on Twitter is still active, and will remain as such. Neowindex Out.
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