Minstorms User Panel - 2006
These were a tight knit group of serious Lego Mindstorms experts and master builders, brought together in secret, and under an NDA (Non-Disclosure-Agreement) to influence and guide the design of the Lego Mindstorms NXT - the next generation programmable brick, a successor to the RCX, and the kit to go with it.
This group included Steve Hassenplug - who is also a major player in the GBC. They led the development of the initial servers, the programming environment, requested any additional parts, and ensured that when the box was sold there were enough parts to make some good initial models.