Hey everybody, wanted to give an update.
Right after posting this thread I got a nasty fever/flu. Today was my first day back in the office but I'm not 100% yet.
The Nashville showroom would be a great place to meet, but is undergoing renovations that won't be complete for about two months. However early June isn't so far away, and it would be a good housewarming party. I'd prefer to wait as opposed to renting a conference room in a Holiday Inn or whatever...it would be a much better vibe.
As soon as it seems we can lock in a date, we'll make it happen. So far everyone at Gibson thinks it's a great idea, so I don't think there will be resistance when it reaches the proposal stage.
BUT we could do the "mini-tour" beforehand. It would need to be after Frankfurt Musikmesse but before the second half of May, so it's looking like possibly last week of April/early May.
I'm checking through the PMs to see if there's a way to do the logistics that doesn't involve excessively long drives between cities. Then I need to come up with a budget and submit a proposal, although I'm quite sure it will be approved.
As a general comment, mixmkr said "I tend to think what I'm doing might underwhelm the normal crowd here, but I know it would be fun to do and hopefully useful to some." The whole point of this mini-tour is to see how real people use SONAR in the real world, and it doesn't matter if it's someone in a corner of a bedroom or in a million dollar studio. I've never seen a situation where two people who love recording got together and didn't learn something from each other.
This is gonna be fun! Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll be getting in touch with you individually soon. And if there are any others who want to be considered for the mini-tour, now's the time to send me a PM with your location.