h0bbel.p0ggel.org

blog/gallagher

The team behind Gallery met up in New York over the weekend, some for a longer time. Personally I stayed from Friday the 19th until Sunday the 21st. By itself, going to New York for two days leaves you with a feeling that you haven't seen anything at all. Add the Gallery team to the mix, and you'll definately be left with a craving for more. And yes, Jens, it's crave not grave.

Basically all I got to see of New York, was The Met, and a portion of Central Park. For me, the tourist thing wasn't what was important anyway. Who would have known that this would be the result, when I first tried installing Gallery and posting stupid questions on the, by now gone, Mailling-lists? I'm amazed that what started as an attempt to install some random software, has turned into this whole New York trip.

That being said, sincerely don't think it's possible to find a better project, or group of people, to be involved with. Every single one of the people that showed up in New York hold a special place in my heart, and now even more so than before.

There are so many people that has contributed so much time and devotion to this project, but I need to send a special thanks to a few of them:

* Bharat: Thanks for getting this project started in the first place, and it's unbelievable what it has turned into.
* Alan: Your brilliance has gotten us where we are now, and we would probably never be at this point without you.
* Robert: You DID IT! You even FIXED IT!

To summarize, I'll just quote what Chad posted on his site:

The project he started four years ago is more than an open source project. It's a group of incredibly smart, funny, down-to-earth people who have become a tight knit team, and more importantly, the best of friends. I wish more of my professional experiences had the same result.
source: http://2tbsp.com/blog/?p=11

He couldn't have expressed it better, and neither can I.

The dinner we had at Gallaghers was outstanding. It probably won't be remembered for the food, but for the sheer enjoyment of having (nearly) everyone gathered together. The fact that we had an open bar, didn't exactly put a damper on the evenings progress either. Dinner, which even included an impromptu speach by none other than myself (and I hear rumours that it actually exists in the form of a video file), was great fun and I should have known beforehand that I wasn't going to be able to keep my mouth shut, but I guess everyone kinda knew that. :)

There were real speeches from Jesse, Bharat, Jen and Robert also, and a good time was had by all. After dinner we headed back to The Ginger Man, which also had been graced with our presence the night before, for more beer drinking exuberance. The night ended up, for most of us, at The Dove, where the Gin Tonics certainly worked as intended.

Sadly, I had no time to do much the next day, and had to get to the airport. A word of advice to anyone going to New York though, know which airport you leave from. I nearly ended up at La Guardia while my plane was leaving from Newark. Thanks to Alan and a random cab driver, who informed me that La Guardia does domestic flights only, I managed to get to the correct airport on time. He even gave me a pretty hefty discount on the fare!

I'm safely back home now, and it's all good. I still wish I had the chance to spend more time with everyone though. It's strange, these are people I've "known" for a long time and never met. When I finally meet them, it's like you've known them all your life, and everyone is just like you expected them to be.

Random thoughts:

• Jens Tkotz: No tequilla for you, now go get some Whitecastle! It's what you CRAVE!
• Chris Kelly: Frat-boy incarnated to the EXTREME!
• Alan Harder: The calmest guy ever, I wish I had your brain!
• Rober Balousek: Lots of managerial skills, in a very small package. DO IT!
• Jay Rossiter: He bitches much more online. :-)
• Beckett Madden Woods: Damn you're small! If I thought I would get through customs, I would have put you in my pocket! Now, remember the T-Shirt ;-)
• Jesse Mullan: My minnesotean brotha', keep the Guinness pooring man!
• Joan McGalliard: You are pope!
• John Kelly: Good things come from random Canadians. :)
• Dave Moore: What can you say? He still parties with with the best/worst of us!
• Andy Staudacher: You'll need to rewrite 'Englishman in New York' to fit your swiss genes.
• Dariush Molavi: Stunt wives 'r us! You got to start an agency or something.
• Jen Overholt: The original Gallery wife! You are as much to "blame" for this as Bharat.
• Chad Kieffer: As much a nice guy as he is a design wizard
• Michael Schultheiss: Do you ever get mad?

I probably missed someone, but it's not intentional. I still haven't been able to process everything, and I'm sure lots of stuff happened that my Gin Tonics helped me oversee/forget about.

Walking around New York, and random people commenting on Gallery when they saw our t-shirts. That really freaked me out, I guess I'm not cut out for celebrity status.

My Pictures are here. Sadly not as many as I would have wished for.

'Cause everyone's my friend in New York City And everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty The streets are paved with diamonds and there's just so much to see But the best thing about New York City is you and me. source: They Might Be Giants - New York City