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Gigafactory July 29 event thread for posting attendees photos and reports

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A great omen from the gods ... blessing the factory with a rainbow :cool:

I didn't notice when I took this photo, but is that a cloud or N Tesla looking down at the event?

Face is too round to have been Nikola Tesla. Edison, perhaps, glowering over the gigantic facility named after his rival?

No no, it is Aeolus who is looking for the windmills that he should provide with winds ;)

image-jpeg.188016
 
Someone on Twitter posted that Tesla Employees were making fun of intoxicated customers at the party.

So my questions are:

Were there intoxicated people at the Gigafactory party?
Were the intoxicated people customers, Tesla employees, or both?
If so, how intoxicated were they? (mildly drunk as in cheerful? Intoxicated to the point of being unable to drive? Falling down drunk & puking?)
Did Tesla employees in fact make fun of drunk customers?
What did Tesla employees say?
Did any customers mistreat or abuse Tesla employees?
Did any Tesla employees mistreat or abuse customers?
 
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Someone on Twitter posted that Tesla Employees were making fun of intoxicated customers at the party.

So my questions are:

Were there intoxicated people at the Gigafactory party?
Were the intoxicated people customers, Tesla employees, or both?
If so, how intoxicated were they? (mildly drunk as in cheerful? Intoxicated to the point of being unable to drive? Falling down drunk & puking?)
Did Tesla employees in fact make fun of drunk customers?
What did Tesla employees say?
Did any customers mistreat or abuse Tesla employees?
Did any Tesla employees mistreat or abuse customers?
I'm not sure what your motivation is here, but yes, there were a lot of very inebriated folks at the end of the evening. I assume they were all taking the shuttle back to their hotel and not driving.

I wasn't everywhere, nor was anyone else, so to definitively answer any of your other questions would be inappropriate, imo.
 
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And to be clear, I didn't experience a single employee making fun of a customer - but that was my experience. That has nothing to do with someone else's experience.

I will say that one of our tour guides was unprofessional, to the point that, more than once, one of us asked her to step it up (she had the speaker, we couldn't hear if she wandered off - and she tended to stop and talk with her friends). So I can see later in the evening that it might turn into something else. Our other tour guide was professional.
 
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Thanks for the perspective Bonnie.

I wanted to investigate this matter about alleged misbehavior at the Gigaparty, but I felt that an in-depth inquiry belonged here rather than in the Investor thread. The Gigafactory is obviously a critical component of the Model 3 ramp. I strongly discourage drunkeness and its associated risks in an industrial setting.

I suspect this may be part of why Tesla decided to hold a separate press event earlier in the week: journalists and analysts would get serious info and Q&A session, and not be distracted by a party. The crucial information therefore makes it out to the public -- without any possible negative or irrelevant tales about the festivities.
 
Thanks for the perspective Bonnie.

I wanted to investigate this matter about alleged misbehavior at the Gigaparty, but I felt that an in-depth inquiry belonged here rather than in the Investor thread. The Gigafactory is obviously a critical component of the Model 3 ramp. I strongly discourage drunkeness and its associated risks in an industrial setting.

I suspect this may be part of why Tesla decided to hold a separate press event earlier in the week: journalists and analysts would get serious info and Q&A session, and not be distracted by a party. The crucial information therefore makes it out to the public -- without any possible negative or irrelevant tales about the festivities.

Short-Term TSLA Price Movements - 2016
 
And to be clear, I didn't experience a single employee making fun of a customer - but that was my experience. That has nothing to do with someone else's experience.

I will say that one of our tour guides was unprofessional, to the point that, more than once, one of us asked her to step it up (she had the speaker, we couldn't hear if she wandered off - and she tended to stop and talk with her friends). So I can see later in the evening that it might turn into something else. Our other tour guide was professional.

I think she never stepped it up. I'm assuming it was the same guide that was on my tour because she was doing the same thing. So me and my daughter just went to the front where the head tour guide was at so we could hear.
 
I would agree and I am not sure why all this really matters anyway. It's was a party...a celebration and booze, so some immature behavior is to be expected.
I'm not sure it matters much either. The only incident where criticism of a Tesla event was reported widely was the whole Stewart Alsop incident where Elon personally cancelled his Model X order, and that was largely because of the gossip value (similar to the Daimler shareholder meeting and a fight over sausages).
 
Thanks for the perspective Bonnie.

I wanted to investigate this matter about alleged misbehavior at the Gigaparty, but I felt that an in-depth inquiry belonged here rather than in the Investor thread. The Gigafactory is obviously a critical component of the Model 3 ramp. I strongly discourage drunkeness and its associated risks in an industrial setting.

I suspect this may be part of why Tesla decided to hold a separate press event earlier in the week: journalists and analysts would get serious info and Q&A session, and not be distracted by a party. The crucial information therefore makes it out to the public -- without any possible negative or irrelevant tales about the festivities.


The drinking was in tents outside in the parking lot, not inside the gigafactory. There was no mixing of alcohol and an industrial setting.
 
The Gigafactory Grand Opening Event reminded me of the "Model S Ride Event" held on October 1, 2011 in Fremont. Those vehicle factory tours occurred until 1 AM back then and much was an empty building that now features high capacity assembly lines. In the same way, this beginning is the start of major production yet to come.

I appreciated seeing the ground work for cell manufacturing and the battery assembly now in progress. It wasn't staged; the workers were on their regular Friday evening shift assembling Powerwalls and Powerpacks. The cells they use now are being shipped in. Eventually, cells will be made at the Gigafactory as cell manufacturing is fully operational later this year.

Here is a panoramic photo from the observation location prior to the wind and rain. The building site is the width of the photo where you see the orange construction fences. We were enjoying some champagne at this location and making toasts to Elon and the Gigafactory. Cheers!

Gigafactory Site.jpg
 
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Arrived early and enjoyed the early tours, overview location, and added conversation back at the factory while waiting for the wind and rain to stop. The party, food, test rides, music, presentation and extended late night Model 3 viewing were fantastic.

Enjoy the photos and the videos that have the ">" icon at this flickr link: Tesla Gigafactory Grand Opening
 
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Arrived early and enjoyed the early tours, overview location, and added conversation back at the factory while waiting for the wind and rain to stop. The party, food, test rides, music, presentation and extended late night Model 3 viewing were fantastic.

Enjoy the photos and the videos that have the ">" icon at this flickr link: Tesla Gigafactory Grand Opening

Thanks for the snaps @Mark Z Looks good. You pulled in an entire shift at the party! :)
 
Thanks for the snaps @Mark Z Looks good. You pulled in an entire shift at the party! :)
Agreed. Great pics @Mark Z
Thanks! It was great to see @AEdennis at the presentation area.

For those who looked at the photos earlier in the day, I have updated the titles and descriptions. If someone can explain the room with all the pipes on the wall in this photo: No description please post or PM the description. The doors hanging down appear to be access to ventilation.

It's taken time to post and document the pictures. My explanations are simple since I didn't record all the descriptions during the tour. Some manufacturing processes were kept secret. The experts on the forum should provide us the details over time.