Fire Consumes Yamaha Seminar....Almost!

How is that for an attention grabber?!! There was no fire and everyone is safe. But the importance of a proper power supply can never be understated.

We were setting up for our seminar like usual and throughout the morning, there was a funny smell near one of the consoles. It is a little chilly here right now, so we thought the smell might be coming from the heaters, which had just kicked in. We finished most of our setup around 11:50am, but the overhead camera just didn't want to work. So we ended up troubleshooting for another hour and a half.

Right before we go to leave for lunch, Jose noticed that the weird smell was a lot stronger, and it was now starting to smell like something was burning. What does a good tech do when things don't feel right? They go looking for the problem. So like good tech's, we began hunting for the source. The smell seemed to be pretty strong around the teachers console. Jose jumped on some cases to smell the vents, I went low, behind the teachers console near the spider box. While on the ground, I look over at the spider box plug and notice it is not quite in the wall all the way and decided to plug it in completely. As soon as I touched the cable, SPARKS! Bright yellow sparks and a little smoke. Mike Eiseman touched the plug and man was it HOT! Looks like we found the source of that weird smell!!!

This picture was taken with the camera on my phone, but you get the idea. The plug for the rental spider box was old and probably should have been repaired long ago. It looked as though the the insulation had worn through on the two hot legs. They probably touched and started to overheat. Had we not stuck around to troubleshoot the camera, there is a good chance things would have been bad. Really bad.



So what's the lesson?
1) If something smells like it's burning, find the source! FAST!!!
2) Proper maintenance of your gear, especially anything power related, is the #1 key to a successful event.

Jose loves....ICE CREAM!

Those of you who follow our blog know that Jose loves desserts! A few weeks ago, we were in Northern Kentucky hosting a week of seminars. If you ever visit the area, the locals will tell you that their are three things you MUST try:

1) Skyline Chili
2) Goetta and
3) Graeter's


Jose and I tried Skyline and Graeter's, and we definitely were not disappointed. Especially after having the ice cream at Graeter's. I had the Buckeye Blitz and it was fan-freaking-tastic! Jose had...well, it might be easier to say what he didn't have. I mean, just look at the picture below. Doesn't he look happy?!!

People often ask, "What would it take for you to host a seminar at our location?" Well, there are a lot of variables that go into the decision making process. I'm not saying that sending Jose a pint of Graeter's ice cream would help, But it might increase your odds!!!* ;-D




* I should probably add in some lawyer speak so I don't get in trouble. Decisions on where to host our seminars are based solely on the needs of our District Managers and the availablility of the Training Department Staff. We do not accept gifts in exchange for goods or services. No matter how tasty those gifts may be.

April 6 at ICIR Pro in Atlatic City

Last week I had the chance to visit one of our dealers, ACIR Pro in Atlantic City. I had the chance to see old friends and meet new people from the area.

We spent the morning talking about PM5D, and the afternoon talking about M7CL and LS9.
Thanks to everyone for spending the day with us. Thanks to the guys from ACIR for their help, support and getting the event going.
See you guys soon.

Thanks for the emails and notes about the M7CL Video

Since the M7CL video was posted we have been getting a lot of emails and notes from different users and friends. We want to thank everyone for the support. We worked really hard on the video, making sure it was correct and as similar as possible to our seminars...sorry no jokes or stories were told because we had to keep it short.
Here are some pictures.

We are back home

We are finally back in the office after our last tour. We should be now here for a few weeks before we hit the road again early next year. While at the office we will be working on updating materials, running a few tests and preparing for next year plan. Please check the blog regularly because we will be posting new tips often.
Keep you eye here too for the new dates coming up.

Tech support to the rescue...Meet Ty

Ty is one of our tech support guys and when we realized we needed some help in Orlando he was the perfect guy to travel with us. He has been working really hard all week and getting to know the people coming to our seminars and he has been helping them with questions and computer issues.
Thanks for coming out with us and for your support during our last stop.
See you Monday morning at the office.

We are back in NYC

We are now back in NYC and we started our DSR seminar today. It is very nice to see the amount of people that came out to our seminar thinking that is election day today.

We are looking forward for a great week here in NY and the restaurant list we will be visiting is just growing by the minute.

Last night we went out for some BBQ food. Do you know Daisy May's? Great BBQ food and great place to sit down and have a great meal.

I will be updating the restaurant's list for the week, keep an eye on it.

Dinner in Montreal

I guess everyone knows about Schwartz's in Montreal. Well we went there last night and had a great smoked meat dinner. It was great, but a lot of food.
According to Michel, our district manager here, we were lucky last night we did not have to stand outside for 45 minutes to get a table.
Any ways, if you are not familiar with the place try it out.
Great food, great people, great price.

We are back in Canada, this time is Montreal

Montreal is one of those cities that I always like to come back to. The weather is really nice, thinking that I forgot my jacket at home.
It is our third time here and after a couple of strikes with the places we were using for our seminars we finally found a perfect place for our seminars.
The place is called Showmedia and is a rehearsal studio with all the facilities we need. Loading dock is 5 feet from the room we are using, truck loading dock right there and great power...what else can we ask for? Oh yeah good food, no worries is all cover.

We are back in Canada

Our tour is now traveling around Canada and we are now in the lovely city of Calgary. Did you know last Monday Oct 13 was Thanksgiving day in Canada? You didn't? No worries we did not know either and found out the hard way Monday.
Just for you information here are a few Calgary facts:

(as of April 2007, unless noted)

• Population: 1,019,942
• Location: in the foothills of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers
• Comparative size: largest city in Alberta, fifth largest city in Canada
• Area: 726 square kilometres
• Elevation: 1,128 metres above sea level
• Last municipal election: Oct. 15, 2007
• Next municipal election: Oct. 18, 2010
• Number of recycling depots: 49
• Number of major parks: 29
• Total number of regional parks: 40
• Total area of parks/open spaces: 7,500 hectares
• Length of Calgary’s paved pathways: 635 kilometres
• Number of library locations: 17
• Number of kindergarten-Grade 12 schools: 456
• Major local daily newspapers – 2
• Local radio stations – 25
• Local television stations – 6
• Number of street lamps: 82,000

King of Desserts?!!

For those who don't know, Jose LOVES dessert. I mean Loves it! Dessert with lunch. Dessert with dinner. He even sneaks a candy bar or two to his room every once in a while. But, lately...there's been something strange going on. Jose hasn't had a dessert since Friday, August 15. That's over a week with no dessert! And its not like he was turning down bad stuff either. There was an awesome carrot cake at lunch in Chicago. Some great desserts available at the Park Grill. He's walked by the Cold Stone at least 3 times here in Boston. But nada. Flan, Key Lime Pie, Boston Creme Pie...he's turned them all down!

I'm going to start a pole this week. How long will Jose go without dessert? Look for it tomorrow! The winner will get a cookie. =)

We're in Boston this week

I came back from the office to the seminar tour in Boston, MA this week.

It was a difficult load-in this time.
After it, we finally got late breakfast at the famous Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe. I got a good sandwich there.

Challenges while on the road

Yesterday was a very different day for us. Everything started at around 5:30 in the morning when my phone rang, it was Jack our truck driver. I could tell something was not correct, he never calls me at that time. Jose, I am not going to make it on time, he said. I was involved in an accident at around 4:00 am, but did not want to call you that early.
From there he started to explain how someone drove their car under the trailer, but that everyone was fine. They went under the truck on the side where we have the ramp and it is now in the middle of the road, I am not sure if we can use it, do they have a loading dock there?...that was Jack's concern at the moment.
He finally got to our site at around 10:30, the ramp was useless. We rented a forklift and we started our normal day at around noon.
Jack was finally able to calm down after a few jokes with him, but we are always concern about our drivers on the road. He should be enjoying a wonderful week getting the trailer ready for Friday night when he gets our gear to go to Boston.

Mocha VNC for iPhone and iPod touch

I've just found an application for iPhone.
Some of you would be interested.

Don't ask me how to setup.... I don't have an iPhone....

Quick overview of M7CL?

M7CL introduction video shot at InfoComm has been uploaded.

Any comment?

Las Vegas sessions this week

We are in Las Vegas this week for PM5D and M7CL seminars. All classes are full but a few seats are available for the PM5D Scene Management and Expansion class on Wednesday. Please check our web site for your seat.

Also, we are accepting applications for classes in Charlotte, NC (PM5D and M7CL) and Chicago, IL (PM5D and M7CL). Please check our web site for the detail.

Jose and I just came back from Japan yesterday and traveled to Las Vegas today.
The Japan trip was for a training for a new product which was launched but not released yet. It will be a powerful addition to our product line, we believe.

We're back to the training

After the long Independence day weekend, we are back to the training at our home office.

How was your July 4th weekend? I decided to go to San Francisco with our dogs. Unfortunately, the fireworks at the Pier 39 was in the fog and we could not see it from the Crissy Field.
Which fireworks did you see at the night?

Report from 2008 CMA Music Festival

A report from 2008 CMA Music Festival is uploaded to the yamahaca.com.

I and Jose were there last year. It was a great big show.
This year, some of other Yamaha guys went there to support our products for the show.
Hey, Mike, you were there, weren't you? How was the show?

10,000 hits

The Trainers On The Road reached a hit count of 10,000 tonight. (It was me.....)
I just wanted to thank everyone who has attended our class, sent a picture to us, checked out the blog, and shared their input and thoughts. Please continue to send me your comments, and keep checking out what is going on here to the trainers...

(Actually, the blog has more access via RSS feed or e-mail subscription. On that side, it has had more than 13,000 views by now. Thanks!)

New poll placed (Fireworks!)

What is the best Independence Day fireworks?

Also, please leave your comment about the best fireworks display in Orange County, CA for me to go to see.
Thanks!