Category: NorEaster

DE Crier Update: The Pitt Race

Hey! Remember me? It’s been 14 months since I last wrote an article for the NOR’EASTER and I figured that my reader might want to know what the Jamaican Bakin’ Team has been up to lately. This is the tenth year that our group of 5 PCA DE instructors (Dave Berman, Dennis Mascetta, Nick Shanny, Chip Wood and me) has been doing endurance racing – or in the case of the last few years, it’s been more “trying to do” endurance racing. We started in 24 Hours of Lemons racing with a $500 Miata, upgraded to ChampCar (originally ChumpCar) and American Endurance Racing with an E30 BMW, switched to a Boss 302S Mustang and have now settled on an E36 BMW M3.

And oh boy, the Mustang! What a disaster! Our first race was at Mid-Ohio in 2021 where the clutch failed on the first race day. Next year we went to Watkins Glen where the engine blew up on day two. The replacement engine (don’t ask how much) then blew up on the dyno. Then we learned that AER changed their rules so that the car was effectively outlawed. We gave up and purchased the E36 and the Mustang finally left our hands via a sale on Bring A Trailer earlier this year. During the auction one of the commenters, who had seen the car at a race, questioned why it had Jamaican Bakin’ signage when it was owned by “a bunch of old white dudes.” Ouch.

We raced the E36 once last year in a ChampCar race at Thompson where it ran perfectly and we were first in Class (albeit in a weak field). For 2023 we plan to do three or four races, the first of which was over the April 1^st weekend at Pitt Race. Nick was racing elsewhere (see below) and since you really need at least 4 members to do pit stops efficiently, Bill was allowed to participate despite being just barely legal after a bout of covid.

None of us had driven at Pitt Race before but we had heard good things and it lived up to expectations: 2.78 miles of rolling terrain with 17 corners, quite a bit of safe runoff (in all but one notable spot), some blind turns, grippy pavement and excellent facilities. It was opened in 2002 and is located in Wampum PA (apparently the woke patrol has not made it there yet) not far from Pittsburgh – a 10 hour drive for us. We stayed in a perfectly acceptable hotel for $100 a night in Beaver Falls PA (yes, the birthplace of Joe Namath!). We found three more-than-adequate places to eat and were astonished at the low prices: dinner for 4 at the El Paso Mexican restaurant including top shelf margaritas was $79! (Bill recommends the enchiladas verde.)

OK, maybe you’d rather hear about the racing. AER changed their format this year and the assignment to classes was done based on lap times during a two hour race on Friday, rather than open track driving. With three mandatory pit stops the plan was for each of us do a 30 minute session. But of course it poured rain. Our “rain tires” are actually just all-season Michelin Pilot Sports in a slightly narrower width. We softened the rear sway bar and the car had remarkable grip with nice predictable understeer. As we were all just learning the track we were not too fast and were surprised to be placed in Class 3 (with 5 being fastest, 1 being slowest).

The 8 hour race on Saturday started in beautiful weather but a severe thunderstorm followed by rain was predicted so we left the rear sway bar soft and ran Falken Azenis tires (about the stickiest 200 treadwear tires available in our size). Pitt Race was reputed to be tough on tires but with some rain we thought they would last. As it turned out the thunderstorm was a doozy – 60 mph gusts of wind that shut the track down for an hour, killed power for 24 hours (pop up tents flying everywhere!) – so the tires were fine to the end. The car ran great and our lap times came down as we got familiar with the track but we were not competitive in Class 3 and also didn’t do a great job with pit stops. But no car problems or offs let us finish in the middle of our class.

Sunday started out with ice on the windshield but gradually warmed to be a pleasant, sunny 50 degree day. We ran Hankooks (longer lasting but slightly slower) and stiffened the rear bar (one of us discovered a little more oversteer than expected but the spin managed to stay on the track). We all took a bit more off our lap times but the results were similar to Saturday – reliability leading to another mid-pack finish.

So we are off to a decent start to the season with what seems to be a very reliable car – but one that needs a little fine tuning in the set-up. Our next race is May at Watkins Glen so we will see. And hopefully everyone will be over the covid that Bill seemed to have passed along by then.

Oh, yeh! Back to Nick! As you know this is his second year competing in the SRO GT4 America series in the Am class with teammate Terry Borcheller. The second event of the season (same time as our Pitt Race) was at Sonoma and Nick’s team came in second in class on Saturday and first in class (and FIRST OVERALL against the pro drivers!) on Sunday. Way to go Nick! Bakin’ rocks!

Author: Bill Seymour

April 15, 2023/by Luis

For Enthusiasts, Monthly Columns, NorEaster

Winter Beaters Season 2 Vol. 2

What’s your name and where do you reside?

Stan Corbett, My wife, Carie, and I live in N.Grafton

What’s your first Porsche experience ?

While still in the service, in Omaha NE, Stan was in a Hemi Club and had a 426 Road Runner.

“…We would run gymkhanas and one guy brought a 911, which I thought was cool, until I met the wrong group of 911 owners who had their nose in the stratosphere. I wrote them off until I had a friend who had a Boxster and we went up to NHMS a couple times. We went to Mosport and while we were up there, I did a bunch of parade laps each day. On the way back I said, This is too much fun not to be involved in. So I called him later that day and I had my Cayman at the end of that week… I put it on the track later that month at NHMS. I traded in my Dakota and the Cayman was my daily driver for 2.5 years. I bought a set of rims with Blizzaks and that’s what I drove in the winter.” From that moment, Stan has done almost every NER and NCR DE event every year and got 25-30 days per year since then.

What’s your history with PCA and New England?

“Since I bought it (the Cayman) I have been in PCA. I flagged at NHMS and worked control at Mosport before I joined because I was with my friend (the Boxster owner). Steve Artick let me in my first event (at NHMS) and was my instructor. I was going to the track so much my wife let me get a tire trailer and then an open trailer and tow vehicle. For several years I towed it with a Dodge pickup which I traded for an 06 Cayenne S. It had headlight issues and I swapped it for a 09 Cayenne S… I was picking up parts from the folks I bought it from and they had a 2013 Cayenne Diesel. The owner showed it to me (I knew it would tow better) and then he said “I’ll sell you that one.” “SOLD”…when not towing I get over 30MPG.”

I used to drag race a 69 Hemi Roadrunner in Nebraska and if it wasn’t for my buddy with the Boxster, I would have never bought a Porsche.”

Winter driving:

“The Cayenne is my daily driver. The Cayman is on quick jacks. At the last Palmer event, 3rd gear took a vacation, the rev counter climbed and now it’s broken. The transmission will come out, Kevin Gross will pull it apart and see what’s going on (Kevin is a NER and Zone 1 Instructor)”

Favorite and least favorite parts of winter?

Favorite: “It used to be sticky snow so you could make snowballs and snowmen, but not so wet you couldn’t ski. I gave up downhill skiing a long time ago but then did cross country for a few years.”

Least Favorite: “Slush”

What are the best and worst cars you’ve driven in the snow?

Best: Cayenne

Worst: Hemi with slicks in Nebraska. If you went up a hill you had to time it….(YIKES)

Any words of encouragement for members who don’t drive their Porsches in the winter?

“I drove the Cayman as a Daily for 2.5-3 years. Buy a set of honest to goodness snow tires and exercise a reasonable amount of common sense.” – Words to live by. Listen to Stan, and enjoy your Winter, folks!

If you would like to share your Porsche winter driving experience with our NER crew, please email Luis at [email protected] !

Thank you Stan!

February 2, 2022/by Luis

NorEaster

July 18 – SoBo Coffee & Cars Report

With the threat of rain, it would be unlikely that we would have the numbers of P-cars we had last month. By 11 AM we had 27 Porsches parked on Sweet Berry’s lawn.

An early arrival was Kevin King, a member of the Space Coast PCA, which is located along the east coast of Florida, in Volusia, Brevard, and Indian River counties. Kevin parked his first SUV (wanted all wheel drive), a 2015 Macan S, explaining his modifications: high performance air intake (from Flat 6 Motor Sports), COBB ECU tune, MBRP muffler removed (has a bark), Niche wheels, and painted red calipers. A driver, he purchased it with 33k miles, now at 65k. Kevin also has a 2017 911.2 Carrera, and he and his girlfriend purchased a 2002 996 Carrera in 2015.

My eyes focused next on a very original looking silver 928 S with a maroon interior. Paul Mackin’s 86 ½ 928 S is a five-liter (four valves per cylinder) cruising machine currently logging 96k miles. A Datsun enthusiast, one of his friends had it and recently offered to sell it. Paul’s first Porsche was a 924 that was sold to him on the cheap because of a rod knock. With motor honey sloshing in the sump, he drove that 924 Porsche always close to home. Paul says that “the 928 S ergo metrically fits me like a glove”. Paul plans to buy another 928 from his friend as a parts car and plans on taking it apart so he knows how it’s all put together

John and Diane Buckley parked their recent purchase (two weeks), a stunning Raspberry red metallic 97 Carrera S with a popping tan interior. NER PCA members, they also have a 78 SC (owned since 84), a Petrol Blue metallic 79 928 with cork leather interior, and a 2000 Boxster S purchased new as a track car.

Nick Pasyanos and his friend Patty Cronin arrived in his white 2012 Boxster Spider that has a red interior; with the top down, it definitely is an eye stopper. Purchased on Christmas Eve in 2020 in Florida (by way of Narragansett), it was a private sale with odometer reading just 32K. A 45-year Corvette owner, his new Vette is mid-engine, so he thought a Porsche, also being mid-engine, would have the same kind of feel. He loves the way the Spider drives, feels engaged. For all the years he owned Vettes, he never had them garaged, so he is excited that in two weeks a garage will be built on his property.

A side note: Rosemary recently celebrated her 80^th birthday and Paul and Jackie Soares gifted her a Porsche logo cutting board.

The next SoBo is scheduled for 15 August (10-Noon) at Sweet Berry Farm, 915 Mitchell’s Ln, Middletown, RI. Free, the only requirement to park on the grass is your Porsche. A Porsche logo sign should be in place directing you to the parking area. Sweet Berry Farm is child friendly, encouraging small children to enjoy a working farm, so when entering and exiting, drive carefully. And, as always, for any SoBo related questions, please email me at: [email protected]

Author:Roger Slocum

August 3, 2021/by Roger Slocum

News Update, NorEaster

February NOR’EASTER Published

To kick off 2020, our first issue of the NOR’EASTER has been published! Please check it out. We’ve worked extra hard to nail down dates early this year so there is no excuse for you to not fill up your calendar with what interests you most from our club. If you don’t see something you’re interested in…please let us know! We’ve covered many of the bases, we think, although there may be some new and different types of tours to be added. Autocross, Driver’s Education, Concours, Social, Porsche on the Mountain…the dates are all set and ready for you to reserve on your schedule (registration for many items may open later, of course).

We hope you’re ready for an awesome year ahead.

Read the NOR’EASTER

February 5, 2020/by Sterling Vernon

For Enthusiasts, The Nor'Easter Magazine

Staying Sharp In The Off-Season

In a new collaboration, Porschenet and one of our newer members, Niket Anjaria, and his company, VR Motion Labs, have teamed up to help us all understand the latest on the topic of full-motion simulators. We hope you will enjoy it.

Top-tier simulation technology has long been an exclusive, ‘members-only’ experience that is reserved for very high-end applications such as Formula 1 racing (also, interestingly, for aviation training, urban planning or disaster management!). Cost and complexity have kept this from us mere mortals, historically. Sadly, urban planners don’t seem to have as active a club of enthusiasts as we do around our Porsches. At least, not yet?

What we have had for some time are homemade racing sims. Like the one you may have in the basement with a used car seat, gaming wheel, and a set of pedals all hooked up to an Xbox. Luckily, the options are becoming a bit more sophisticated as of late. Simulators have been blessed by the same technological adoption curve that turned room-sized supercomputers into PCs. The expensive, sophisticated racing simulation tech is now far more accessible to the discerning enthusiast. Winter is coming. Admit it. You’re thinking about it.

How Real Can It Feel?

Software companies like iRacing are investing heavily in laser-scanning tracks and vehicles, modeling tire physics, and generating real-time telemetry data that would typically be accessible only to race engineers. For example, here’s an excerpt from a partnership press release with McLaren:

“ATLAS Express provides iRacing subscribers with detailed data such as real time tire surface temperatures, lateral acceleration data, steering wheel angle and damper/spring deflection.

Furthermore, the telemetry system comes with a powerful API that allows the data to be used for several purposes such as real-time data overlay for race broadcasts and a broad support for hardware devices such as motion platforms.”

Most even have VR support, which adds an entirely new dimension of realism to the experience.

On the hardware side, VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift are not a novelty anymore, thankfully, and a talented team of engineers can synchronize the VR headset graphics with high speed motion actuators. A well-engineered setup can come very close to the real thing, and even simulate the experiences of oversteer and traction loss.

What has all of this achieved so far, you ask?

It Feels Like You Are There

You’re on the back straight at Watkins Glen, rapidly approaching the braking zone while the 911 RSR screams its beautiful flat-six song. The VR headset lets you quickly check your mirrors to see a Corvette C7.R on your tail, but you heard it before that on your high-fidelity headphones. You begin braking, squeezing the hydraulic brake pedal, and modulating pressure as you go. You downshift using the paddles mounted on your wheel that looks just like the one in a Porsche 918 and hear the blip as your PDK downshifts. The motion-actuated racing seat rocks forward under braking, letting you know just when to turn in, and rocks you sideways under cornering as you take the bus stop in a single, precise arc. You feel the weight of the “car” shift as you turn into the carousel. Can you see this in your head yet?

Ten minutes in, and your body forgets that it’s in your living room. Your brain knows you’re not at WGI but it struggles to stay grounded in your physical location because the VR and motion have it fooled into believing you are on track in New York!

Don’t believe it? Run a few laps with a VR headset on and then drive into an Armco barrier at speed. You’ll brace yourself for the impact and then finally remember that you are actually sitting still! Try not to have someone filming you do this as it’s going to end up on Facebook or YouTube…

The Pros Are Way Ahead Of Us. And Not Just On The Track

Simulators have long been recommended by some of the best drivers and coaches in the world. A capable sim setup can help you progress more quickly because it opens you up to more practice time. This is true especially for beginner and intermediate level drivers who benefit by practicing techniques such as heel-toe, trail-braking, squeezing throttle, finding apexes, etc.

Your can read more about it in a post by Ross Bentley, a renowned driving coach who came to instruct our NER instructors this past Spring, on using simulators to improve your driving (through the eyes of a PhD engineer and instructor named Chris Ruckman). It’s a great assessment of both the strengths and inherent challenges, depending on the style of simulator and setup in use. With the intervening two years of progress since this article was written, some of the ‘cons’ have already been improved. In an article by Road & Track columnist Sam Smith, we see that “virtual reality” has greatly improved the overall experience.

Can There Be Cheap Racing?

The cost to benefit ratio of simulators is hard to beat. You can drive nearly any car type – from antique Fiat 500’s to exotics, street cars, race cars, vintage cars, classics…. You can even experiment with suspension setups (camber, toe, caster) or tire pressures, and comparison test your own car setups at different tracks. You can learn new tracks before actually driving there, and then go home and continue to practice and improve what you learned driving the track in person.

It’s also easier on your time – you can go from “dinner at 6 to winner at turn 6” (Niket is working on a copyright for that phrase, by the way) in a matter of minutes, and in the comfort of your home or garage. You could be battling the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca in the middle of a blizzard, or working with your coach who is halfway across the world. With winter coming soon to visit us yet again in the Northeast, this might be almost as good as the summer house in Florida near PBIR. And no baggage check.

What’s the Catch?

Sounds great, right? But keep in mind some cautions from Niket – “It’s a serious undertaking. While a VR Motion Simulator is not the full racing experience – it comes very, very close to the real thing. To do this, it uses some pretty slick components and a lot of engineering goes behind getting them all to work together. As with your own cars, there’s no upper limit to how much you can spend on these components and setups.” I think we’re all probably familiar with our automotive shops giving us this same warning. If you’re like me, you do all you can to ignore it.

We thank Niket for being a great part of our membership community and hope you’ll take a moment to learn a little more about his company, based locally in Plymouth, MA.

About Niket’s company – VR Motion Labs

VR Motion Labs builds custom simulators to order, and can incorporate a wide range of preferences. They can tailor the rig to your weight and height, and even use components that match those in your track car. Customizable parts include seats, harnesses, wheels, shifters, and headsets – each with their own range of options.

Their simulators come with software licenses and maintenance plans, and you are welcome to drop in for a test drive by appointment. Visit them at https://www.vrmotionlabs.com/

November 6, 2017/by Sterling Vernon

For Enthusiasts, News Update, Porsche Events, Social, The Nor'Easter Magazine

University Station Was A Fun Stop

On Sunday, October 22, members of the club congregated at University Place, the new retail property in Westwood MA for a cars-and-coffee-and-car-show event to benefit our club charity, Homes For Our Troops. The weather was spectacular (due, of course, to Glenn!) and the turnout was tremendous. It was great fun to see families stroll through and check out the cars. Boxsters seemed to be big this year and took home half of the trophies! Check out the second video below for the awards ceremony with David G and his wife, Amy, taking home top honors. Thanks to everyone for coming out to the show!

And a special huge thanks to Betty, Glenn’s wife, for working the entry all day, handing out the car tags and ballots, counting the ballots, for setup and takedown – and for generally being awesome!

university station cars and coffee homes for our troops porsche club northeast

The kid’s choice award – the most coveted of the day.

Our PCA NER “knitting club”

October 24, 2017/1 Comment/by Sterling Vernon

Autocross, The Nor'Easter Magazine

NER Autocross Season Finale

October 14, 2017 – story: Chris Ryan – photos: Richard Viard (unless otherwise noted)

SPONSORED BY

PORSCHE NORWELL

NER’s fifth and final Autocross event of the 2017 season was run on Saturday October 14^th at Moore Airfield at Devens (results). The event was sponsored by Porsche Norwell to whom we extend our thanks for their support! Seventy-one drivers came out to enjoy what turned out to be a gorgeous fall day after a bit of a damp start to the morning. With heavy mist and light rain engulfing the field as we were setting up, it was looking bleak and the first run group did have to endure a wet track. Fortunately, things cleared up as the morning went on and as the track dried, the times for all the drivers started decreasing significantly. By the end of that first heat, the track was dry, the sun was out, and the rest of the day was much more enjoyable for everyone.

At the start of the event, several season championships (final championship standings) were still on the line to be decided. But first, congratulations go out to Tom Tate, Nick Durham, Bill Aubin, Noah Eckhouse, Chris Ryan, Aaron Walker, Ed Moschella, Suzy Kelley, Scruffy, and Rob MacAlpine for clinching season wins in their respective classes prior to the day’s runs.

Class 2S had a particularly interesting finish to the season with all three qualifying contenders having an opportunity to take the class as the day began with Adam Blauer, Georges Rouhart, and Neil Halbert all within 3 points of each other on the season. At the end of the morning heat, Georges was firmly in first place by about a second and he held that position into the afternoon. But on Run 7, Adam posted a 68.430 vs. Georges’ 68.558. All three drivers both posted their best times in Run 9, but with Adam ahead of Georges by .318 seconds and Neil meeting up with a cone, the race was Adam’s for the season. Congratulations, Adam!

Class 4S also saw two drivers, both relative newcomers to our Club in a position to take the season championship. At the start of the day, Charlie Sayers held the lead over Gareth Peters by 6 points. Gareth needed to take first place to overcome Charlie, which he managed to do by posting a decisive 67.384 for his 9^th run of the day besting Charlie by a little over 1.8 seconds. Congratulations go to both drivers for running a very competitive season and to Gareth on the win!

Class 6S had Rachel Baker and Nigel Fenwick within 2 points of each other at the start of the day, and Nigel gave it a good run but, in the end, fell short of Rachel’s best time of 64.726 by just over a second … maybe next year? Congratulations, Rachel!

And finally, with 3 points separating Jeremy Mazzariello and Rob Galejs, Class 7S was technically up for grabs although it would have taken quite an upset for Jeremy to lose, although stranger things have been known to happen …. Congratulations go out to Jeremy for securing the championship once again!

So ends another exciting NER Autocross Season at Devens. In our first season as AX Registrar and AX Chair, I think Jeff Johnson and I managed to keep things running without getting into too much trouble (thank you, Jeff!) and we certainly hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did!

Following the event, we held our now annual end-of-season AX Party over at Billiards Café in Ayer where we enjoyed a buffet dinner, beverages, and announced the season winners. Season trophies will be awarded at NER’s annual banquet to be held once again at the Museum of Science in Boston. We hope to see all of you there as well as back at Devens for next year’s NER’s 2018 Autocross Series.

Photo by Anker Berg-Sonne

Photo: Anker Berg-Sonne

As always – questions, comments, and suggestions can be sent to AX Chair, Chris Ryan, at [email protected] or AX Registrar, Jeff Johnson, at [email protected].

October 21, 2017/by Sterling Vernon

For Enthusiasts, Porsche Events, The Nor'Easter Magazine

Camaraderie on the Mountain

On Sunday, October 8, it all came together. Over 500 people converged on the track at Palmer Motorsports Park to enjoy a really fun day with great cars, awesome parade laps on the track, and great people – “Porsche On The Mountain” sponsored by Porsche of Norwell. All this despite a sudden downpour and major winds at 8:30 am that morning threatening everything that many people had worked hard to arrange.

By all measures, especially considering this was the first time this event has been held, it was a huge success. It isn’t just about the numbers – which easily beat our conservative estimates. It was the smiles of the people at the event. It was the general happiness that was clearly on display. Those are the real measures of success.

Spectacular race car – top notch restoration

It’s funny to reflect on the fact that we didn’t have long to pull all this together. The first materials started coming together in late July. That’s barely more than two months to get the word out, figure out the logistics of the event, what we would be doing, and how it would all work. Al Sandy from Palmer worked tirelessly to promote the event, gather sponsors, create custom trophies, herd us NER cats so that we lived up to our end of the bargain, and generally create something far bigger than most of us could have imagined at first.

It is a true testament to the intestinal fortitude of Al and folks like John Dunkle and Glenn Champagne that this event not only came together, but defied the weather to become something people will remember. It sure helps to have an amazing track to drive on all day. Even at parade lap speeds, it is a very exciting ride. I was in my 1973 Porsche 914 on stock-sized skinny tires and I’ll tell you that coming down through Turn 7 at full throttle – and this car is often full-throttle due to lack of grunt – was a very exciting place to be! And yet another very special moment where I had my son by my side – this time for his first ride on a major race track.

porsche 914 palmer porsche on the mountain

Another amazing father-son-bonding-moment: first time for him on the track! (thanks, John Dunkle!)

Palmer, and Al, specifically, were incredibly generous to invite Homes For Our Troops, our club charity, to be the beneficiaries of a big portion of the entry fees [update: this event raised $3,000 for Homes For Our Troops!! – an absolutely outstanding performance!]. Melanie, their representative, had her son, Dillon, with her at the event. It was a very happy moment for me to offer the 914 to Dick Anderson, our president, to give Dillon a ride on the track, likely his first time on a race track as well. This was perhaps the best way I can think of to use a Porsche.

I also greatly enjoyed seeing the number of kids who climbed into the shiny, new Porsche GT3 Powerwheels car that we brought to the track with generous help from Ron Savenor. Many kids had a blast spinning the tires and getting hands on with a vehicle at a type of event where they typically can look but can’t touch – a very hard thing for kids. Ron didn’t miss a beat agreeing to help facilitate this as soon as he heard the idea.

I met Tom who introduced me to Abby, his daughter. Abby only has her learner’s permit. But she has already purchased her first Porsche 944 and is doing all the work on it herself! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see young people get into this brand, 944’s specifically (great cars), and join our family. It’s an absolute pleasure to be in a family like this. Abby, you are phenomenal!

porsche 944 abby palmer porsche on the mountain

Abby bought this car before she has her full driving license. And she’s doing the work herself to fix it up and keep it going. Abby is awesome.

Al even thought of our furry visitors and had biscuits available for them. My daughter loved being able to facilitate the process of helping dogs make those biscuits disappear.

The staff at Palmer worked really hard in ways that most of us will never see. Porsche of Norwell embraced this event from the outset and very generously provided a huge amount of advertising support – not to mention bringing new Porsches to the event – for participants to try out!! Imagine your first Porsche test drive happens on a race track (at reasonable speeds and safely, of course)!! Our NER volunteers also put in great effort to bring this event to fruition. All of our regions in Zone 1 helped to promote the event as well as many of our regional sponsors and friends in the business. The fun that everyone had made every bit of it worthwhile.

Yet another fast Anderson!

We’re already looking forward to next year and will soon be learning from our missteps and building upon our successes. We thank all of you who braved the weather and came out to enjoy the day. Your smiles and your happiness are what all of this is about. We’ll see you there next year. If not before. [visit the 2018 event page to learn more and sign up for the 2nd annual event!]