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Happy 10th Anniversary! - A Decade of element14 Community

A long, long time ago, in an office cubicle far, far away (from me anyway, there's a lot of water between us), a group of people came up with an idea (probably more than just the one, they're bright people) that it would be perfect if makers, engineers and hobbyists had a place to come together to help one another with their electronics, designs and concepts based upon hardware, software and equipment that they use in their day to day lives at work and as part of their hobby outside of their careers.

 

And lo', the element14 Community was born:

 

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The website was styled very differently 10 years ago and based upon the feedback from its members, and the staff that have worked on it over that time it has evolved to what we have today. Here is a brief look as to how it has changed over the years (you can press on the images for a full size rendition):

 

{gallery} element14 Community over the years

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10 years of Community: 2009

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10 years of Community: 2010

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10 years of Community: 2011

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10 years of Community: 2012

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10 years of Community: 2013

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10 years of Community: 2015

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10 years of Community: 2019

 

And we've provided lots of different programmes and campaigns over that time as well:

 

  • element14's The Ben Heck Show which has evolved into element14 presents which still creates great, complex and fun projects that are made to inspire your creativity based on your suggestions.
  • RoadTests & Reviews where you have the opportunity to put hardware through its paces for free and have your feedback given directly back to the suppliers
  • Webinars, Training and Events to educate you on features and functionality on the latest products and technologies so that you can interact directly with suppliers and members of staff
  • Concept development such as the DreamBoard and Dream SensorBoard allowing you to explain and put together ideas you have for real world hardware.
  • Talking of giveaways, there's also Project14 which follows a theme every month and gives you the opportunity to win $100 of shopping cart purely by showing and demonstrating your projects.
  • Tech Connection gives you the definition on new and upcoming standards and technical information with Tech Spotlights and
  • Essentials rounds everything out by putting you to the test on your knowledge of standards and products after teaching you what you need to know
  • Though who could forget about Design Challenges - the large competitions where you blog it out against others to build a project to solve a real-world problem, or show a proof of concept to win big prizes with free equipment.

 

The element14 Community Team are always hard at work to provide the best experience to our users and add new features, including the behind-the-scenes development team that have maintained and upgraded the Jive platform which the Community runs on.

 

 

 

There have also been a number of key milestones over the past ten years as the Community has developed and grown.

 

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As new features and groups have been added to the website, so have the number of fantastic and contributing members, and the Community would be nothing without you!

 

Talking of you, our members:

 

  • What have been your key defining moments over the past 10 years as part of the Community or in Tech?
  • How long have you been a member?
  • What are your fondest memories of the element14 Community or
  • Perhaps most useful or surprising technology from 2009?

 

Now it wouldn't be fair if I didn't answer these myself, so I'll start:

 

  • What have been your key defining moments over the past 10 years as part of the Community or in Tech?

 

I'd have to say getting to work for the element14 Community ! I've met so many creative and capable people while here, and had some fantastic opportunities to give back to the Community as well.

 

  • How long have you been a member?

 

Actually 6 years, I joined as part of a BeagleBone Black challenge pitting one Hackspace against another!

 

  • What are your fondest memories of the element14 Community or

 

I'd have to say one is definitely being 'Bitten by the Bug' which saw a campaign of gifting technology from member to member at Christmas, Giving the Love Bug to You! Teasing the Perfect Pair!

 

  • Perhaps most useful or surprising technology from 2009?

 

Social Media combined with GPS coming to mobile phones - this was a pretty great combination to be able to socialise with various groups from around the world and I've since used my phone to navigate around the place more times than I can count.

 

Add your comment below and you'll pick up the 10th Anniversary Community badge! Work out how you can go the extra mile, and you may unlock the golden version image

 

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Don't forget to get involved with other activities around the site, doing so might earn you something a bit more:

 

10 Year Challenge | Tell Us What You Can't Live Without for an ESP8266, Arduino Uno, or Arduino Nano!

In Honor of element14's 10th Birthday: What is Your Favorite RoadTest Bundle?

 

Or perhaps browse some old content posted by one of our news bloggers, for a trip down tech' memory lane!

Parents

  • 10 years ago in computer years was about 4 computers ago.

    So here is my baseline from 10 years ago:

    • I was still running Windows ME with a lot of Visual Basic 6 programs
    • I had not tried an arduino. I was interested in simple low cost microcontrollers and was using things like BasicX from Netmedia
    • I was using an Olympus E-100RS digital camera with a whopping 1.3 Megapixels of resolution (now it is a 20Mpixel Panasonic FZ1000)
    • I was sporting a corporate Blackberry in a hip holster. (now I have several android devices at home and a corporate i-phone)
    • My main fabrication machine was a drill press
    • The technology that blew me away in 2009 was the 3D movie Avatar

    The big maker milestones for me since then include:

    • launch of Raspberry Pi in 2012 - its non-intuitive success means it went far beyond a few die-hard makers
    • discovering element14 in 2013 - this changed everything - it changed what kind of projects I did, it changed how I did them, and changed how I documented them
    • learning to use PSoC4 with PSoC Creator from Cypress Semiconductor - this helped win my first design challenge and a trip to Germany in 2014, where I got to meet some element14 members and staff.
    • winning a Cel Robox 3D printer road test in 2014 - this sparked an instantaneous and complete paradigm shift in how I design mechanics and packaging
    • Each road test, design challenge, project14 or special project I do on element14 is a special and memorable milestone for me. I summarize these activities in a blog each year: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 ....
    • I finally started to win some instrument road tests in 2016, which have provided an enormous boost to my bench instrumentation and my test capabilities. I still find it hard to believe I now have several instruments that I could never justify purchasing on my own.
    • I was worried that the acquisition by Avnet would adversely affect the forum, but it has only been getting better.
    • 2017 saw the introduction of Project14 which adds a whole extra dimension to participation on the forum. I think participation by the Top Member group in defining Project14 was the most satisfying contribution that group has had to the forum.
    • In 2017 I was awarded the Member of the Year trophy, Project of the Year and Road Tester of the Year - that was indeed a special milestone.
    • In 2018 I tried collaborating on a design challenge - that was a milestone and a challenge in itself
    • 2018 saw the sad end of the Ben Heck Show but the rise of element14 presents with some really great content.
    • Over the last 10 years, from my perspective, the forum has continuously improved, and it is very significantly better than even a few years ago. The current staff have done a great job in making element14 the best technical forum on the planet. The quality and the quantity of member generated content is going up and so is the quality and quantity of staff generated content.

    If I had to pick a favorite project in the last 10 years, I think it would be my Sudden Impact Design Challenge. I didn't win anything for it, but it combined analog and digital hardware, wireless charging, software, firmware, rf, mechanics, 3D printing, packaging, and physiology, to create an almost production ready product that crossed over from technology into sports and was actually used in hockey games. My hockey buddies still talk about it even though it has long faded from the forum spotlight.

    image

    And one more link from 2014 celebrating what the forum is about:

     

    It is great to be able to celebrate 10 years of element14 success and happy memories - element14 needs to be celebrated - it is such a rare and massive and special accomplishment.

Comment

  • 10 years ago in computer years was about 4 computers ago.

    So here is my baseline from 10 years ago:

    • I was still running Windows ME with a lot of Visual Basic 6 programs
    • I had not tried an arduino. I was interested in simple low cost microcontrollers and was using things like BasicX from Netmedia
    • I was using an Olympus E-100RS digital camera with a whopping 1.3 Megapixels of resolution (now it is a 20Mpixel Panasonic FZ1000)
    • I was sporting a corporate Blackberry in a hip holster. (now I have several android devices at home and a corporate i-phone)
    • My main fabrication machine was a drill press
    • The technology that blew me away in 2009 was the 3D movie Avatar

    The big maker milestones for me since then include:

    • launch of Raspberry Pi in 2012 - its non-intuitive success means it went far beyond a few die-hard makers
    • discovering element14 in 2013 - this changed everything - it changed what kind of projects I did, it changed how I did them, and changed how I documented them
    • learning to use PSoC4 with PSoC Creator from Cypress Semiconductor - this helped win my first design challenge and a trip to Germany in 2014, where I got to meet some element14 members and staff.
    • winning a Cel Robox 3D printer road test in 2014 - this sparked an instantaneous and complete paradigm shift in how I design mechanics and packaging
    • Each road test, design challenge, project14 or special project I do on element14 is a special and memorable milestone for me. I summarize these activities in a blog each year: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 ....
    • I finally started to win some instrument road tests in 2016, which have provided an enormous boost to my bench instrumentation and my test capabilities. I still find it hard to believe I now have several instruments that I could never justify purchasing on my own.
    • I was worried that the acquisition by Avnet would adversely affect the forum, but it has only been getting better.
    • 2017 saw the introduction of Project14 which adds a whole extra dimension to participation on the forum. I think participation by the Top Member group in defining Project14 was the most satisfying contribution that group has had to the forum.
    • In 2017 I was awarded the Member of the Year trophy, Project of the Year and Road Tester of the Year - that was indeed a special milestone.
    • In 2018 I tried collaborating on a design challenge - that was a milestone and a challenge in itself
    • 2018 saw the sad end of the Ben Heck Show but the rise of element14 presents with some really great content.
    • Over the last 10 years, from my perspective, the forum has continuously improved, and it is very significantly better than even a few years ago. The current staff have done a great job in making element14 the best technical forum on the planet. The quality and the quantity of member generated content is going up and so is the quality and quantity of staff generated content.

    If I had to pick a favorite project in the last 10 years, I think it would be my Sudden Impact Design Challenge. I didn't win anything for it, but it combined analog and digital hardware, wireless charging, software, firmware, rf, mechanics, 3D printing, packaging, and physiology, to create an almost production ready product that crossed over from technology into sports and was actually used in hockey games. My hockey buddies still talk about it even though it has long faded from the forum spotlight.

    image

    And one more link from 2014 celebrating what the forum is about:

     

    It is great to be able to celebrate 10 years of element14 success and happy memories - element14 needs to be celebrated - it is such a rare and massive and special accomplishment.

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