It's been another fantastic build season, my eighth with the team. Another burly, neat machine has made its way out of the build space, on its way to the venue at the University of Denver. I've really enjoyed interacting with the student engineers this year: Russel so kind and respectful, his warm smile spreading easily across his face; Mike so serious and intense, appearing to have become so mature as a Senior. There's never enough time to get to know the kids as well as I'd like.

It's been an extraordinary pleasure to work with my departments this season. Sarah rocked as VP of animation, drawing together the largest Animation team I've seen in all the years I've been with the team. The all-rookie animators turned out to be extremely creative, talented people. They took to the 3 DS Max software instantly and produced an interesting, well-executed animation that tied in beautifully with the overall Wild West team theme for the year. Their Wild West Wind Machine rolled out beautifully.

I'm ecstatic with the efforts of the Team Relations and Public Relations/Inspiration departments. They're all psyched about the Wild West theme. It's a ton of fun to see everyone pumped up about the “care and feeding” of their Hobby Horses. For the first time ever, I think we'll have buy-in for our spirit plan from the entire team. Beth created another sweet T shirt design. Ethan's enthusiasm has added total energy to the whole process of dressing and preparing to train the team to be supportive participants in the bleachers. Everyone is going to have a blast in Denver.

Last but not least, I'm blown away by the website department. The students are so sophisticated with their computer skills that I'm overwhelmed and even a little weirded out by what they can do. They're total geeks! Preston's range of ability is flat out amazing. No wonder he's already working in the corporate domain. Watch out for that guy: he's going to make a huge contribution somewhere soon.

I'm proud of 662. Everyone is making a difference. Every year is great, but I think this is our best one yet.

See you in Denver!