Look out folks, because billpalmer.net is hitting the road this week, venturing into South Florida and hitting up every Apple Store and User Group in the area in the process. Yep, this one-man show will be road-tripping through the Gold Coast in an attempt to meet new Mac users, visit old friends, and stir up as much trouble as humanly possible. And thanks to my new PowerBook, I'll be documenting the whole fiasco, in real time, by just about any means possible. Feel free to come along for the ride.
If you're wondering what on earth I'm talking about, here's the plan: tomorrow, I'll be heading southward and stopping by the Apple Store at Wellington Green (in the West Palm Beach area) from 4:00-6:00 pm, in order to write and publish my next article. Now, I won't actually be in the Apple Store, mind you. I'll be just outside of it, trying to catch a wireless signal, so that I can get on the net. If you're going to be in the area, feel free to stop by, say hello, talk Mac, whatever. I'll be the idiot with the Titanium PowerBook, crouched outside the Apple Store, quite possibly holding up some kind of coat hanger antenna in a feeble attempt to boost my wireless signal.
From Wellington, I'll be heading even further southward so that I can crash the monthly meeting of NATMAC, the local Macintosh User Group in Deerfield Beach, at 7:00 pm Tuesday. Now, I grew up in Deerfield Beach, lived most of my life there, and promised certain members of NATMAC about a year ago that I'd find my way to one of their meetings (although I've never actually met any of them in person), and this is finally that time. Of course, they don't exactly know I'm coming. I guess I should drop them a note and warn them. Their website does say "everyone welcome to attend." I'll take the hint if I check back later and it's been changed to read "everyone welcome to attend except you, Bill." But for now, the plan is to drop in and see what I've been missing out on.
The "Apple Store + User Group" Road Trip picks up steam on Wednesday, as I'll be heading still further south to the Apple Store at Aventura from 4:00-6:00 pm, in order to write another column and see if I can't hijack yet another wireless signal from an Apple Store. Again, feel free to stop by and chat, I'll be the guy with his PowerBook propped against the railing, trying to dodge the glances of the security guards who will probably be wondering why I'm not, you know, in the store with my laptop. But that's fine. If you don't see me outside the Apple Store, check the food court; the pizza place is excellent.
Departing from Aventura, I'll be heading down into the heart of Miami for the Gold Coast Mac User Group meeting, at 7:00 pm Wednesday. Now, they don't know I'm coming, either. In fact, I don't even know anyone in GCMUG (not that I exactly know anyone in NATMAC either). But no problem, their website also reads "everyone welcome to attend," and I trust they mean me as well. You see, I'm really just looking to find out what I've been missing in these local user group meetings all this time, and hopefully it'll be inspiring enough that it'll give me something to write about as I crash the various Apple Stores in order to publish updates.
In fact, the big finale of the "Apple Store + User Group" Road Trip will take place Thursday evening, when I'll be crashing none other than the Apple Store at Town Center in Boca Raton, from 6:00-8:00 pm. I'm encouraged, because there are actually chairs and tables and stuff directly outside this particular Apple Store, which means that I won't look quite so out of place as I sit there with my PowerBook and tell stories that might or might not end up having any resemblance to anything that actually happened during the trip. That's right, I reserve the right to just make up a bunch of stuff, if I can't lay my fingers on a true story I like. But with three Apple Stores and two Mac User Group meetings on the agenda within a seventy-two hour span, I don't think locating source material should be much of a problem. Especially since no one knows I'm coming.
Like I said, if you happen to end up being at any of these places at the time as I am, feel free to stop by and say hello. As for the rest of you, you'll be able to read all about it, whatever "it" ends up being, right here on billpalmer.net. And if you're wondering just what this is all about, some of you will recall that I've been exploring the possibility of doing a cross-country "Apple Store + User Group" road trip on my way to MacWorld Expo in San Francisco in January 2005. Well, consider this a test-run. I simply have no idea where this week's trip will lead to, or what will come of it. But that's part of the fun, right?
Oh, and don't think for one minute that I've forgotten about the upcoming meeting of the billpalmer.net online Mac User Group meeting on May 3rd. What better way to get geared up for the online user group meeting, than to visit a few local ones? Or to spend hours hanging around outside various Apple Stores with my PowerBook?
If you want to hook up at any of these locations, feel free to RSVP. To everyone else, all I can say is "see you from the road."
