Abi's Community Column
Created | Updated Sep 10, 2002
It was h2g2's biggest and best official party to date. Organising it had
proved to be more difficult then expected, but by the end of the night,
everyone agreed it had been a party to remember.
Raindrops keep falling on my head
Saturday dawned just like the Summer party of 2000. Rain was coming down
in a way that made me certain we would have to cancel the scavenger hunt.
Sitting in a branch of Starbucks, with the prizes, quiz sheets and copies of
The Paper Post, I looked fruitlessly for signs of blue and a taxi to
take me to the pub. When I finally made it to Lord Moon of the Mall, a
lovely big pub on Whitehall, I could not believe the sight that greeted my
eyes. The building was originally a large Edwardian bank and yet the
majority of it was filled with h2g2 Researchers. They stretched as far as
the eye could see and the walls resounded with joyful chatting. There were
old friends to greet and new people to say hello to. It really was a sight
for sore eyes.
Predictably, as soon as we cancelled the scavenger hunt, the weather
eased off. Lots of brave and intrepid Researchers decided that an afternoon
spent tramping round London didn't seem like such a bad idea after all.
Groups were quickly dispatched with a disposable camera and a list of tasks
to accomplish. Others decided that staying in the warm and dry was a better
option, though some attempted to accomplish the tasks regardless. I left
soon afterwards in order to track down some of the teams and see how they
were getting on. This proved to be a bigger job then I expected. I managed
to find one team as they visited Hamleys toy store. The wisdom of doing this
on a Saturday afternoon was questioned as soon as we walked through the
door. The place was heaving with parents and children and the group was
separated on more then one occasion. After trying to contact another team
and failing, I decided to cut my losses and head to the pub to help them set
up for the evening's events.
The Sutton Arms
As soon as Researchers started arriving, I knew I was in trouble. They
were tired, cross and fed up of wandering around the city. Some tried to
strangle me, others threatened never to speak to me again. One even tried to
make me look at her blisters. They cheered up, however, when Mark offered
them the fabled Moxons that would buy them a restorative drink from the bar.
The Landlady of the pub and her staff provided plenty of good food and music
and soon everyone was in high spirits. It quickly became apparent that there
were so many attendees, the upstairs bar had to be opened!
I had designed the pub quiz to make everyone wish they read the edited
guide a bit more often! The final round, however, was based on what the
Editors had received for Christmas. Well done to the winning team - Wumbeevil, fords_prefect,
Other Person, Sam &
Metal Chicken.
The name badges were all of a high standard, with the exception of the
white BBC address labels that I gave out to those who had forgotten to make
one. In the end the winners of that competition were Wumbeevil, fords_prefect,
Candi, Titania, Toccata, Tube and Whisky. Congratulations to everyone who took part, the
badges were so good this will probably become a permanent feature of future
parties.
Time to go home
The problem with h2g2 meet-ups is that they are over all too quickly.
This one was no exception and soon everyone was rushing to catch the last
tube home. Some slipped away quietly, others complained heavily about not
having anywhere to sleep. I met a few Researchers on the Hammersmith &
City line and we chatted about the day's events. I was glad to get into bed
that night, but sleep was elusive at first. There was so much to think
about!
Thank you to everyone who helped put the party together, the Sutton Arms
for hosting us, Ekki for managing the RSVP
list1 and most of all to everyone who came along and made it the
success it was.
time.
