Gypsy Journal Rally and Geeks on Tour

We’ve spent the last week at an RV rally in Celina, Ohio.  It’s called the Gypsy Gathering and it’s produced by Nick and Terry Russell of Gypsy Journal Newspaper fame.  We met Nick and Terry at a Life on Wheels conference in Moscow, Idaho in 2004.  We went to our first Gypsy Gathering in Arizona in 2008, and we’ve since been to all 5 of their Eastern Rallies.  Check out our previous blog posts where we’ve written about the rallies.
Since Nick has announced that there will be no more Gypsy Gathering Rallies, this seems like a good place to do a re-run of our Gabbing with the Geeks episode where we did a little interview of Nick and Terry back in 2010.


We'll miss coming to Nick's Rallies, but as Stu McNicol said at dinner last night, when one door closes another opens.  We're looking forward to seeing what Nick and Terry decide to do from here, and we're sure our paths will cross some more.  Perhaps at our Techno-Geek Learning Rally which has just been confirmed for December 2-8 at Paradise Oaks RV park in Bushnell, Florida.

The Last Gypsy Journal Rally

No, I'm not talking about a rally just past, I'm talking about this rally.  Nick Russell announced in his blog today that there will be no more Gypsy Journal Rallies.  I'm so glad we're here to experience and enjoy their final party.  It's been a great ride - we've been to all 5 of the Eastern Rallies, and one in Casa Grande, AZ.

Our site at at the Mercer County Fairgrounds and the Gypsy Journal Rally

Phil and Tracey are here too.  Here's Phil checking his calendar on the iPad to find a date for our next TechnoGeek Learning Rally

Our seminar Room

  The Gypsy Journal Rally feels more like family than work.  We figured this was the perfect place to try out a couple of new seminar titles.  So many of the people here have been to past Gypsy Journal Rallies and already seen our seminars.  So, instead of a Picasa Overview, we presented Organizing your Pictures with Picasa.  This is a topic that has been fermenting in my head for a few years!  The main thing it needed was a sample set of pictures that would enable us to make the points necessary.  I stayed up till late gathering those pictures and organizing them in a way that needed REorganizing!  I'm happy with how the seminar turned out, but you can bet I'll still keep tweaking it.  It's what I do!

Today, we'll be teaching another new title: Blogs for Groups and Business websites.  I didn't spend quite as much time working on this one because we just had to go see the entertainment last night.  We met Melissa and Larry Beahm several years ago, here at the Gypsy Journal Rally and have continued to follow them as friends on Facebook.  They are very accomplished musicians and put on a fun show.  Here's a bit of video I put together from last night's performance.

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Gypsy Journal Rally

The Gypsy Journal Gathering is one of our favorite RV rallies.  It's small enough that you can almost meet everyone, yet big enough that there's a lot going on.  It also has an emphasis on education so you can choose from seminars on RV issues like water filters and tire maintenance or RV lifestyle topics like traveling to Alaska or staying at Harvest Hosts locations, and of course Geeks on Tour computer seminars.  That's where we come in!

In addition to all the seminars there's a lot of fun too.  We've been coming to this rally for several years now, so it feels like a family reunion with all the friends we get to see.  We were especially happy to see John and Jean Watson - who we've known since our very first days of RVing and going to Datastorm Users rallies.  Jean has agreed to help me with some maintenance work on our websites - stuff that has gotten out of date, and I just don't have time to go fix.  It was really good to spend some time with her in person to work on the website since most communication will be online.  Thanks Jean!

We presented 10 seminars in 3 days.  Yes, we are exhausted - and we loved every minute of it.

Here's Jim teaching GPS navigation and Trip planning systems.

Here's Chris teaching how to make a Blog with Blogger.com

The most popular class was Facebook.  It is such a great way for RVers to keep in touch with family, friends, and other RVers.  We even taught one new class that we hope to repeat many times now ... it is on Smart Phones.  We were pleasantly surprised to see the great majority of the attendees had Android-based phones since that is what we have to demonstrate although we had the iPad hooked up to the projector and were prepared to show some of that.  We showed the anti-virus app we used and reviewed some basics like how to 'reboot', selecting Wi-Fi or 3G, understanding Airplane mode, camera settings like flash, auto-focus, and location storing (geotagging.)  Then the fun stuff like dictating messages rather than typing, and voice search for navigation.  I think we're going to find lots more to teach in this class!  And, we may find that we can just call it Learning the Droid if future audiences are as skewed as this one was.

There was lots more going on during the rally, but we were pretty busy with our classes the whole time.  For more details on the rally, see the Gypsy Journal Blog:

• Day One Of The Rally

• Day Two, Ohio Rally

• Buckeye Beauties
• And The Winner Is…..

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Too Much Fun?

Ever since we saw a portable Tiki bar outside an RV in a New York campground, Jim has wanted one.  I saw it, thought it was really cute, and then forgot all about it, but he, apparently, has just been dreaming about this Tiki bar.  So, while we had access to space, tools, and stores at the Jersey shore, Jim started putting this together ..

The Tiki Bar collapses into a package of the plastic shelving, and a roll of the bamboo and tiki torches.

We had a party the last night at the shore, and the Tiki Bar looked soo cute!

So, I told Jim:  "Gee, sweetie, that's *really* cute, but what the heck are we going to use it for?"
"Well, it can be part of our booth or table at Rallies", he said.
"What in the world does a Tiki Bar have to do with computer training?", I replied.
Not much, but it's fun:

And you can never have too much fun!

We're in Celina, Ohio now at the Gypsy Journal RV rally. Friday and Saturday we gave our hands-on computer boot camp class.  It went really well.  We only had 5 registrations, 4 couples and one single, so we didn't make as much money as we'd like, but it was a joy to teach!  We could go into depth, and really answer everybody's questions.

Although it is a serious class, we try to have fun at this too.  For example, when people tell us that they get frustrated with their computers, we warn them to control their frustrations ... then show why with this video:

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Gypsy Journal Rally

The rally is over now.  We presented 9 seminars on the schedule over the course of the three days, and we added a 10th one to teach people how to use our website.  We probably have more Geeks on Tour members at this rally than any other gathering – so we decided to take the opportunity to show them around our new website. 

In other words, we were *busy.*  We didn’t even take time to snap many pictures.  but here are a few:  This is the audience in one of our seminars – GPS Navigation and Trip Planning I think.  geez, they look like a serious bunch don’t they?  Maybe we need to come up with some better jokes?!

 

Jim and I take turns teaching.  One seminar he stands up and talks while I ‘drive’ the computer.  Another I’ll stand and talk.

I had to carry my laptop back and forth from the motorhome to to the classroom every day, sometimes more than once.  I really like my new computer bag from www.CoolComputerBags.com  More about that later, but here’s a picture:

I think my favorite seminar was our new ‘Internet Love Story’ which is just about the history of Geeks on Tour and how the Internet makes it possible to live and work on the road.  This was the second time we’d done it and we refined it a bit.  Both Jim and I take turns talking, plus we have a complete multi-media presentation to go along, with lots of pictures, videos and slide shows with music. 

We talk about Jim’s and my geeky beginnings, then how we sold the house, bought an RV on eBay, and took off with no visible means of support.  Accompanied by lots of pictures of our travels along the way, we tell of making our living by supporting Wi-Fi in RV parks, work-camping, giving seminars and selling tutorial videos, and finally by running a subscription website; GeeksOnTour.com: Computer Education for Travelers,  from the road.  The only thing I don’t really like about it is the title: Internet Love Story.  It’s really about Geeks on Tour – I think that may be a sufficient title right there.  I think we should try to present this seminar to lots of different audiences.  It’s fun to do something other than a computer ‘How-To’ class.

Now we have a week to recuperate, then it’s off to the next rally – the Escapade – at Goshen, Indiana.

Scenes of a Rally

There were probably close to 300 people at this rally and most of them show up for Nick's welcome.  To read more about the rally – check out Nick’s Blog.

 

 

It’s so nice that Nick asks the vendors and the seminar speakers to introduce themselves to the crowd, and tell about their products/seminars. 

 

The weather was quite chilly most of the week, here Mom and I are grabbing a little warm sunshine.

 

Beautiful trees and early morning sunshine by our site.

 

And here’s our table in the vendor area:

 

This is Joe Kieva and Vicki Kieva (next photo.) If you’re an RVer, you probably know of them because they’ve been writing a column in Good Sam’s Highways magazine for many, many years.  I found their website, RVKnowHow, very useful even before we first got our RV.  We met them, very briefly, at Life on Wheels in 2004 and enjoyed their seminars then too.

 

 

I also found it inspiring that they were making a career out of presenting seminars and writing articles and books for RVers!  The Gypsy Journal Rally was their only speaking engagement this year.  I’m so glad we got to see them!

 

We presented 6 seminars during the week and had a blast at all of them, but especially the two advanced classes we taught – Picasa: Beyond the Basics and Blogging: Beyond the Basics.  We could have taught several days on each, but we kept it to 1 and a half hours!

 

 

After the end of the last seminar .. who should walk thru the door but our good friends Lynne and John!  They’re traveling in their motorhome from Florida to Iowa, and we’re headed back to Florida.  So nice that our paths cross now and then.  And, it was wonderful to see their smiling faces!

 

 

Thanks Nick and Terry for a great rally.

Well Done!

Tribute to early RVers: my parents

We’ve been having a good time teaching our seminars here at the Gypsy Journal Rally … we taught one of our very favorite topics this morning: “Creating Narrated slideshow movies with Photo Story 3”  We have our routine and material down pat with this one, so my mind was free to wander a bit in getting prepared. 

 

It dawned on me that since my Mom is with us it would be cool to show a sample Photo Story movie using pictures from my family’s RV travels in the 60s.  RVing in Alaska, Mexico and Canada are popular topics in RV circles – and we did it in the 60s.  So, I made sure my Mom was in the audience for this seminar and I quickly put together this little movie as part of our presentation:

 

To learn how to make your own narrated slideshow/movie, see our tutorials at: http://geeksontour.com/photostory.cfm

It’s SOOO easy!  And, Photo Story is free, just like everything else we teach.

Boot Camp at Gypsy Rally

We got all settled in at Mercer County Fairgrounds for the Gypsy Journal Rally. Ever since we stopped using our satellite dish, we’ve said, ‘bring on the trees!’ Aren’t they pretty?

 

 

If you follow Nick and Terry Russell, of Gypsy Journal, you know that they converted a bus to be their home.  They recently bought a new motorhome … we have a hard time recognizing them now in their new home!

 

 

The rally doesn’t actually start till tomorrow, but we are teaching our hands-on computer boot camp over the weekend.  There are fewer people than the last time we taught it – it’s nice to be able to give more personal attention.

 

 

The headsets are for people to listen to the Tutorial Videos during the labtime portions of the class.

 

The rest of the week, we’ll be giving our regular seminars:

Tuesday

• 10:30 Every RVer Needs a Blog,
• 1:30 Managing Digital Photos with Picasa

Wednesday:

• 10:30 Slide Shows with Photo Story 3,
• 3:30 Using Google Earth

Thursday:

• 10:30 Blogging: Beyond the Basics,
• 3:30 Picasa: Beyond the Basics

Rally Life

Here's how it works. One guy decides to take out the garbage. Another guy stops him to talk. Another guy is out walking the dogs and joins in the conversation.

From Gypsy Journal Rally

From Gypsy Journal Rally

The crowd of guys gets larger, the dogs give up on going for a walk, and the garbage never does get tossed.

From Gypsy Journal Rally

Here's our 'booth' at the gypsy journal rally:

From Gypsy Journal Rally

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Bootcamp to Rally

We finished our Computer Bootcamp yesterday and I think it went quite well. It's not easy to cover 6 topics in two days so that beginners and experienced computer users both learn something, but we did it. Bonnie, with her very first computer, created, saved and edited a word processing document for the first time and learned how to transfer photos from her camera to the computer. Sharon, who has been using a computer for 20+ years identified some connections on her laptop that she didn't know existed, and became more comfortable using Windows Vista. Everyone assured us they learned something.

They look happy don't they?

From Gypsy Journal Rally

From Gypsy Journal Rally

Yesterday, the remains of hurricane Ike blew thru here. it destroyed one vendor's tent and knocked down a few big tree limbs. All is fine with us and we're getting ready for the rally now. We'll be teaching 3 of our seminars here: How to make a Blog, Using Picasa for Digital Photos, and Using Google Earth. We made sure that we were free for the time slot that Nick is giving his seminar "Highway History and Back Road Mystery." It seems we always miss this one whenever we've had the opportunity. If it sounds as interesting to you, it's available as a book at the Gypsy Journal Bookstore. And, if there's enough interest, we might be doing our bootcamp again next weekend.

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Computer Boot Camp

We started our pre-rally Computer Boot Camp here at the Gypsy Journal rally yesterday. We really like this rally. Our first one was in Casa Grande AZ back in January. It's fun to be a vendor here because your 'booth' is at your RV. Vendors are going to be in a circle here. Too bad we don't have some covered wagons! :-)

From Geeks on Tour Blog 200809

From Geeks on Tour Blog 200809

I just wanted to post a short note ... we need to get started on our second day of the boot camp. Nick Russel from Gypsy Journal did a really nice write up about us on his blog today (Sunday, September 13 entry). And, we're taking down our canopy, tables and awnings due to a wind advisory from the outside edge of hurricane Ike. ... we should have stayed in Florida this summer if we wanted to avoid hurricanes!

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Rally Seminars and Blogs

We gave our 'High Speed Internet on the Road' seminar yesterday to a crowd of about 400 people here at the FMCA rally. Here's Jim showing how we can 'tether' our cell phone to the computer and get High Speed (EVDO Rev 0) Internet access. We have a total of 7 seminars to present during these 4 days. That's a record for us. Here's the lineup, 7 and 13 are the rooms we're in: Mon 10:45-12 High Speed Internet (7) Tue 9:45-11 High Speed Internet (13) Tue 11:30-12:45 RVers Need a Blog (13) Wed 11:30-12:45 Safe Computing (13) Wed 1:30-2:45 Photos w/Picasa (13) Thu 9:45-11 Google Earth (13) Thu 11:30-12:45 PhotoStory 3 slideshows (13) In our in-box this morning came the best motivation for giving our Blogging seminar today:

Thank you for your excellent blog seminar at the Gypsy Rally. You made everything so clear. Using your instruction, we have started our own blog, replacing the periodic e-mails which we have been sending to family and friends for several years. We are so proud of our effort that we wanted you to see it. Thank you again for enabling it. Keith & Kathy at: http://www.travelswithkandk.blogspot.com/ ; Keith Sheffler

Thank YOU Keith! And ... great blog!

We call our seminar, "Every RVer Needs a Blog" and we're working on making that a reality.

I also tell people that I would keep this blog even if nobody else looked at it. It is such a joy for ME! If you tell your stories by sending email to all of your friends, there is no way for you to browse thru the total story. I just love going back to the blog from a prior time and reviewing all the cools stuff we've seen and done. And, what a memory aid! Uhhhh ... what was the name of the park we stayed at that had a replica of Stonehenge? All I have to do is go to my blog, type 'stonehenge' in the search box and I find the posts about those days. Ah yes, Peach Beach - that was the place.

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Western Gypsy Gathering Rally

It's over now and most everyone has traveled on. We had great weather ... until today. It rained half the night, making for a muddy mess today. There were lots of seminars at the rally, but we never get to see many other than our own! I made a point to attend the "How To Write Travel & Life Stories" seminar by Alice Zyetz. She actually made us take5 minutes and write something. The instructions were to start with the words "I remember ..." What came out of my pen was "I remember falling in love ..." This little composition turned into my Valentine's day present for Jim. I really enjoyed the seminar.

Lynne and John drove down from Quarzsite to visit us for the day on Wednesday. We put her right to work in our booth! They spent the night, what fun, a slumber party! As always, we thoroughly enjoyed giving our seminars. Here's Jim presenting 'High Speed Internet on the Road.' Joline also came to visit, driving up for the day from Tucson. She got to meet all sorts of other people who stopped at our rig during the rally. (Joline is at the left) I love showing people our home. Many of them don't believe we both live fulltime in a 30 foot Class C with no slides. And, this week was extra amazing. Not only did we live in it, and have our normal offices, but people came by and dropped off computers for Jim to work on, we had guests in our 'spare bedroom', and I did some private lessons with a couple people who brought their computers over and we sat around the dinette. whew! We left a little time for fun too! Here I am in the limbo contest: Here's the winner: Yep, we had a great time! THANKS Nick and Terry! I hope we can work it out to be at your September rally in Ohio.

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Road Trip to the Gypsy Journal Rally

We sure do love to roll those tires ... even if it is only 10 miles! Just down the road right here in Casa Grande is the Gypsy Journal rally. We are here to give our seminars to this interesting group. It is quite an eclectic group who follow the Gypsy Journal. There are big interesting rigs: and little, interesting rigs: Right now, there are about 185 rigs here. Quite a good turnout! With more arriving today. and, there's space for plenty more. It may be just a large dirt field, but there are permanent hookups for each space. 15 amp electric and water for everyone. Really a nice rally setup. Here we are meeting up with our 'old friend' - who we've never met in person - 'Froggi' Donna. She has a blog, we have a blog, and we talk on different RVing forums, so it feels like we're old friends! And, here's Donna's home ... her Lilly Pad! She travels alone and is very involved in the Escapee's 'solo' group. Here's our home: And, here's the guy responsible for it all - Nick Russell of the Gypsy Journal. His blog is one of my favorites. I think this is going to be a fun week! If you're in the area, you can come visit on a day pass for $5. Come on down. Here's a map.

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