Eco-modder makes FE presentation to Sierra Club

[Wonderboy]

I was the guest speaker at the local Sierra Club chapter's monthly meeting today. I borrowed heavily from 100+ tips and even used a few members' fuel log graphs. I recorded the presentation, but unfortunately the camera was made by sony and isn't doing the god damn thing it's fcking supposed to. I feel confident I did pretty well, and I at least did better that I expected of myself. Everyone really enjoyed it. I'll post the video later.

[MetroMPG]

Hey, congrats, Will!

From the Sierra club synopsis of the meeting...

Will Meredith will discuss “Optimizing Your Vehicle for Fuel Efficiency” at the May 19 general meeting. He will review a number of safe techniques and practices, any of which can be employed to increase the fuel efficiency of vehicles used on roads. Meredith describes himself as a 23-year-old Binghamton native who “builds/repairs/hates/loves computers for a living, and sometimes make websites.” Meredith says: “There aren't many things I'm not interested in. I believe information should be free, and I love sharing my knowledge and learning. I grew up with a nasty cultural addiction to energy; since my job doesn't allow for other forms of transportation, I do my best to use as little energy as I can while driving. “Being able to drive wherever one wants, whenever one wants, is a remarkable power, and with that power comes an oft-shirked responsibility.”

Looking forward to seeing the vid, if you can get that $(%(- &#&^$ piece of &#^$ to work!

[PaleMelanesian]

Out of curiosity, whose logs did you use?

[Wonderboy]

Heh heh good question Pale. Yours.

After of hours of wrestling with my mother's bullsh!t sony DV camera, I finally gave up and borrowed a friend's panasonic. The SONY camera didn't even work with SONY vegas. I don't buy anything sony anyway, but this firms my position up to all out boycott. Here's the link, thousands of dropped frames and all. Thank you sony.
Ecomodders who were mentioned / deserve credit as sources for my presentation:

Ernie Rogers - mentioned your whitepaper
CarloSW2/cfg83 - used your used vs. new car thing as a springboard for mine
dcb - Promoted the Guino
azraelswrd - used your "5 pillars of efficiency"
MetroMPG - Used your block heater info page, and actually gave a link to it

As for the graphs I used, I plucked these from the vine pretty quickly, so I didn't really take too much preference - I was looking for people who had quite a few entries and gave a good cross section of typical cars with really nice mileage, and a couple of "extreme" examples to show off. I do have to say that I do have a crush on Pale's graph. Graphs I used in order of appearance (If you don't recognize your own):
Funny's Rolling Lemon (02 Corolla)
99CamryPilot's Energizer Bunny (99 Camry)
McTimson's Turkel (93 Tercel) - Support local drivers!
PaleMelanesian's PaleCivic (96 Civic)
Big Dave's The Red Baron (00 F-350)
suchy21's The Ranger (93 Ranger)
SVOBoy's VeganPowa! (early 90's frankenstein) - yes, I called you lazy
MetroMPG's Blackfly (98 Metro/Firefly)

There are a few things I thought I should've stressed more, and things I should've stressed less. I'm open to any criticism, but keep in mind I don't often speak publicly, had never done anything like this before, and don't have any plans to do it again (so far). Enjoy - it's a long video, and I understand if it's TL/DW.

[PaleMelanesian]

Listening to your talk now.

Please understand, I'm trying to give some constructive criticism, not knocking anything you did. That said,

- Try to trim it down and hit the points faster. I think your audience will retain the information better that way.

- Try to sound more confident. You know this stuff, and you're presenting new information to them.

(I'm making a couple updates to my talk based on yours. The bicycle analogy for DWL is great.)

still listening...

[Wonderboy]

Thanks for the feedback!

There was a 60-something there that has been doing what we call "hypermiling" for 25 years who approached me after the presentation. He said that I might want to be careful in how I prescribed EOC in neutral, because he's had manual cars that didn't even like that - they wouldn't pop start. I never made EXPLICIT mention of going out to an empty parking lot and trying a few things out before taking them on the road, and I think that was a very important point I missed. There are a few things I wish I should've driven home harder and more concisely, or mentioned at all, but eh what are you going to do. I'm satisfied overhearing people talk about how much they enjoyed this month's meeting. I think I will do better if I end up speaking like this again - I'm surprised how comfortable I was in contrast to how nervous I was while preparing.

[PaleMelanesian]

That's another good point. I'm adding a note about "try this in a parking lot first" on my notes. I'm at work, so listening in the background. It'll take me a little while longer to finish.

[UfoTofU]

I'm glad you uploaded the video anyway

[PaleMelanesian]

I agree. The missed frames do not detract from the content. I do wish the video was at a different angle so we could see the screen.

[PaleMelanesian]

Finished, and it does sound like you got a positive response. Good work.

Thanks for the mention with my gaslog.

Some of my earlier criticisms worked out in the end. You did fine. It took you a few minutes to warm up is all.