[Robotgroup] Austin American Statesman Mention!

[Paul Atkinson]

Looks like our publicity campaign is off to a good start!

Happy New Year to all of our Robot Overlords!

Paul

On Jan 1, 2008 2:23 PM, Vern Graner <vern at txis.com> wrote:

> Small blurb, no pics, but coverage! :)
>
>
> http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/01/0101firstnight.html
>
> ------------------------ clip -----------------------------
>
> Third First Night is second to none
> 125,000 join carnival-like atmosphere downtown to greet 2008.
>
> By Patrick George
> AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
> Tuesday, January 01, 2008
>
> How did Austin ring in the New Year? With rock 'n' roll, funnel cake and
> giant insects, of course.
>
> In front of Lady Bird Lake, thousands of revelers kicked off 2008 by
> attending First Night and turning the city into a massive carnival.
>
> The Texas Juggling Society added a spark to Monday night's events:
> Connie Leaverton lights up the First Night parade as she juggles her way
> along Congress Avenue. The third year of the Austin event attracted up
> to 125,000 people, according to city estimates.
>
> Kids who couldn't greet 2008 at midnight got their own fireworks earlier
> in the evening.
>
> Jack Fairchild put the yee-haw in Monday's First Night parade, stopping
> to rope a spectator on Congress Avenue. Plenty of costumes, creativity
> and talent were on display as Austin turned out to meet the New Year.
>
> Bicycle parades, dancing librarians, sausage wraps and toddlers with
> glowing plastic swords all dotted the downtown streetscape Monday night.
> Approximately 125,000 people enjoyed the third year of this festival of
> creativity and local flair, according to city estimates.
>
> Recent Albuquerque, N.M., transplant Jill Price brought her 3-year-old
> twin girls downtown and said she was impressed by First Night's
> alcohol-free environment.
>
> "It's definitely family-friendly," Price said. "It's a good, safe place
> to bring your kids for New Year's Eve."
>
> Traffic on Cesar Chavez Street, Guadalupe Street, Lavaca Street and the
> South First Street bridge was shut down from 2 p.m. Monday to 2 a.m.
> today to allow partygoers a safe space to view more than 60 public art
> showcases. A parade along Cesar Chavez Street included zany bicycle
> floats shaped like huge butterflies and even a gargantuan snake skeleton.
>
> And what would any New Year celebration be without fireworks at
> midnight? This year, there was also a fireworks show earlier in the
> evening so kids could have some New Year's fun before bedtime.
>
> The event drew out odd contraptions, too. Austin-based tech-artists the
> Robot Group showed off Ponginator, a 20-foot-tall computer-controlled
> robot that fired pingpong balls at up to 160 mph. Robot Group president
> Vern Graner said the robot, stationed on West Cesar Chavez Street, could
> launch balls nearly to the top of the CSC building across the street.
>
> "It's been amazing. Kids love it," Graner said. "It's a big, giant
> robot, and kids love robots. It makes a lot of loud noise, and kids love
> that, too."
>
> The carnival atmosphere was strongest on the South First Street bridge,
> where the smells of sausage wraps and funnel cake filled the air and
> kids drew New Year's greetings in chalk on the pavement. Toni Gonzales
> and her husband, David, said the fun on the bridge let their 4- and
> 6-year-olds enjoy the New Year's celebration before their 8 p.m. curfew.
>
> "We had fun making kites," Toni Gonzales said. "We just had some sausage
> wraps over there."
>
> "The lemonade was good, too," her husband added.
>
> First Night was a big opportunity for those who serve the throngs of
> revelers. Just ask pedicab driver Jeff Raby, who, despite being new to
> the job, had big goals for the evening.
>
> "Tonight, you can make up to $400," Raby said. "I heard someone made
> over $1,000 last year."
>
> pgeorge at statesman.com; 445-3851
> ------------------------ clip -----------------------------
>
> :)
>
> Vern
>
> --
> Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE    | "If the network is down, then you're
> Senior Systems Engineer    | obviously incompetent so why are we
> Texas Information Services | paying you? Of course, if the network
> http://www.txis.com        | is up, then we obviously don't need
> Austin Office 512 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" (c)VLG
> _______________________________________________
> Robotgroup mailing list
> Robotgroup at puremagic.com
> http://lists.puremagic.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/robotgroup
>