It was h2g2's biggest and best official party to date. It had been a nightmare to organise as Christmas was in the way, 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 Starbucks, with all 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 we 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 an Edwardian bank, it is large and roomy and yet it seemed like the majority of it was filled by h2g2 Researchers. They stretched as far as the eye could see and you could not miss the noise. 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 [Trying to find out who won] The name badges were all of a high standard but 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.