My boss mentioned that Poncho played at his sister's wedding a little while back, before I even knew he was a conguero. I asked him about it recently, and as it turns out, my boss's dad was Poncho's high school music teacher in California when Poncho latched onto his first conga. I guess they're still close friends. Cool story, and the closest thing I have to a Brush with Fame
On the issue of conga choice and endorsements, I think good, experienced players (not even great ones) can take just about any conga on the market today from any drummaker and get great sound out of it.
There may be a difference between the congas they play in public and the set they prefer to use when no one's watching. But I'll bet that preference is only partly due to sound. Just a thought.