Not weird at all!  I see young kids at lots
of trade events.  It is good.  If you are
real clever, you will collect biz cards from
folks and you may get yourself an internship,
part time or summer job.  We have a guy
here we have been nurturing since he was
16.  He goes to college now and still works
for us part time.  We make sure he does not
work too much because we want him to learn
and get As.  It is an investment for us and
him.  He knows our products, lives close and,
most importantly: fits in and we like him.
He is (almost :-)) treated as an equal
(he's been here 4 or 5 years) and knows
his stuff.  He gives us fresh ideas and
finishes all the pizza at meetings.

Go for it, you will NOT regret it.

-Walt...

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Hamel [mailto:TekPhobia@AOL.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2000 9:46 AM
To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: [OT] Would it be weird?


Hello all,
I got a quick question for everyone...

Texas Instruments is having a workshop showcasing their new MSP430 mcu
in
Porland, OR. For a low price of $49, their giving a hands-on demo their
product, plus, "An MSP430 starter kit consisting of a demo board, the
simulation environment, assembler, compiler and the MSP430 documentation
is
included in the workshop price."

Now, I love embedded technology and microcontroller project development.
I
called Ti and asked if there were age restrictions -- they said no.
Being
that I'm 17, would it look weird or be out of place for me to sign up
and
attend? I think it would be a great opportunity to see what the embedded
market is like, plus learn a bit along the way. I understand that this
workshop is intended for engineers and such (I am considering a career
in the
field), but their not losing much and I'm gaining a lot.

So, I appreciate your guys's thoughts on this as most of you ARE in this
industry.

Thanks in advance,

Tim Hamel