It is always fun to dream about prizes...
In your opinion....
(Excluding Road Tests)
The very first prize I ever won on element14 was a trip to the picturesque citadel city of Nuremberg to attend the Embedded World Exhibition. If you hang out on element14, you will love that show. The all expenses trip was listed as a $5K value - it included limos and extravagant meals. There were 2 strings attached though - I had to give a presentation of my project and do a TV interview - which is still available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcCRtNCvHV4&ab_channel=FarnellGlobal
That win also parlayed into an all expenses trip to visit Cypress Semiconductor in Beaverton - also an extravagant wine and dine affair. I snuck in a visit to Tektronix while I was there. And I also met Wonder Woman:
There is a lot happening in Portland. In one day I took in a Red Bull challenge, a big parade, and 2 car shows.
I think the most expensive hardware I ever won was a Taz 6 3D printer ($2.5K) This is also the the prize I use the most.
The current top of my wish list is a nice big 4K monitor - since all these tiny computer modules now have 4K HDMI, but the corresponding display costs way more than the computer.
I had heard that you won a prize to go to Germany but didn't know much about the details until now. Sounds like quite the trip. The Portland trip, too sounds like it was a blast. Scrolling down throuh your post I was expecting to see an image of the 'picturesque citadel city of Nuremberg.' You opted for a different kind of picturesque instead. 
My hotel was in the old city, inside the wall, and I got to walk around and take pictures, even though I did not have a good camera at that time. I probably should have put together a trip report, but I was still a newbie on element14. Here is a picture of the oldest sausage restaurant in the world - yes we ate there once.
My hotel was in the old city, inside the wall, and I got to walk around and take pictures, even though I did not have a good camera at that time. I probably should have put together a trip report, but I was still a newbie on element14. Here is a picture of the oldest sausage restaurant in the world - yes we ate there once.
