Late with my thank you's here, nice post Tim!
I owe some extra thank you's, y'know, cuz people took care of me and stuff.
Avalanche, you'll make a great mom some day. ;) Thanks everyone.
My overall reactions from the whole trip... NATS is run by some great people first and foremost. They really took care of us, perhaps me more literally than others, and the excess was welcomed.
We spent a couple days dealing with the people most responsible for writing the software, and they're all nice and intelligent people. I was happy we were actually able to provide input, as they'd already been through this stuff so many more times than we had, and being able to "play catch" (pitcher or catcher??) with them helped advance a lot of the conversations. It's only natural that we'd bring up many of the same things they've talked about ad nauseum amongst themselves.
I loved the new look and feel, and the fact that NATS 4 owners will automatically get the upgrade. Though they're adamant in naming it 4.1 for many reasons that were discussed with us (and promptly forgotten!), it really seemed to me much more like NATS 5, or at least 4.5! At least from the perspective of an affiliate.
On the real people, there's precious few companies who really take care of this industry. We all laud guys like Ron C because without them, how fucked would we all be. The vast majority of people in our industry aren't business people, and many of those that try end up abusing our trust and screwing us any chance they get. We all have our own horror stories, many of them shared amongst us. The people behind NATS should be also given that kind of respect for continuing to invest in our growth. Who among us hasn't profited from their work? Everyone knows how hard things are at the moment, and here they are with their best software yet. I just wish I had this 5 years ago y'know?
In business there's always risk and opportunity, and it would have been real easy for them to switch focus away from this and onto the next thing, milking what's left like everyone else has done. Limiting risk and looking for new opportunities. You and I profit from their choice to re-invest in this industry.
NATS will never be 3.0 again, so keep beating that dead horse until you're satisfied. I know for myself that I'll be much happier to use NATS 4.1 where I can, because it has better tools for me. I mean I still have my great grandfather's hammers, and sometimes I still use them, but there's something to be said about a non-wooden handle.
Now I'm sitting here in my hotel room in Las Vegas, went to the Palazzo to watch the Miami Boston game tonight, planning my next business adventure here, life is good.
Thanks again to everyone!! If I could do it all again, I would have worn a bib. ;)