h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Everyone comes prepared with a little something that must be new:

If your name comes out of the hat, you stagger to the front and speak up with a short entry, pome or ditty which then goes in, say,

We could discuss what we would like from a search function.

Many years ago I actually was a coder for a Google competitor (before Google became Google). Unfortunately, my job was to code the distributed, multi-threaded high availability database - the search chaps were in the room next door. Otherwise, I could actually be useful person in such a workshop.

Slightly off topic, I do actually have a new form of search engine to build into the Guide, but I need to get the database cleared up first.

I used to organise conferences for a living. In fact my friend and I were responsible for getting Bill Gates and John Scully (then the head of Apple) on the stage to give a keynote speech together.

After that it's all downhill in the world of conference organising.

Er... what was i going to say? Oh yes, one of our most popular panels was one where we had about 15 speakers who got 5 minutes each to talk about whatever it was they thought was relevant (this was in the early 90s when Multimedia and CD-ROM was all sparkly and new)

I'm not sure what sort of panels we could have, but I'd love to hear ideas

I was trying to instigate a ukulele workshop. Recumbentman would have to be there, though.

F22126884?thread=8293476&show=5&skip=11

If you're not in Ripley, you'll have to work the link out yourself.

http://h2g2.com/entry/A87758509/conversation/view/F22126884/T8293476/page/4/#P110800125 That should do it.

A couple years ago I went to the London Meet and enjoyed it immensely.
The quiz seemed hard for me. The walking tour of central London, starting from Trafalgar Square, was a lot of fun.

Do we have to inject work into the agenda, though? I think the balance should be on the side of fun events.

I really need to get this fixed.

Anything that's done would always be optional.

I'm not sure if I'd call it work though, even though it's in the name workshop it's often things to help people learn or do something.

Thinking about it, the only meet I went to was in a pub I would have gone to anyway...

Fun means different things to different people!

I like a nice conference myself (with plenty of networking time) and I find quizzes fun, but a walking tour would be hard work for me...

I must admit, a ukulele workshop sounds tempting

Keynote speaker and demonstration from KB, on carving turnips

If I go to this meet-up, I don't mind giving a workshop, being a guest speaker, presenting something, or anything else you want me to do. I;ll teach people to play the tin whistle, or solve the Rubik cube, or fill them in on the thinking behind the First Crusade.

But I'm not sure whether I'm going, as I still rather fancy the idea of a Lanzarote meet, and kipping on Lanza's sofa.

Actually, a brainstorming session culminating in writing an entry sounds like rather a good idea. Given content, I can guarantee that I produce an entry which will be accepted into the Guide.

It needs a strong hand. You don't write an entry by getting lots of people to say things, bunging them all together and submitting it. You have to have an approach...

I've not gotten to go to many meets (darn ocean and continent are in the way for most of 'em) but, like many people (most? everyone?) have already said, I enjoy sitting and talking with people I've only seen online. Or, rather, in my case, listening to people I've only seen online talk to each other--or watching my daughters take over the entire conversation (What can I say? They're more entertaining than I am, once they get going!)

Big Skype video calls would be a great addition to meets

Oh! Oh!

Cooking workshop with 2legs!

Bread-baking and nighthoover-theology combined workshop? zen-baguettes

Or... once my research has finished..... a talk on the over 2000 years of history, of the most important town/place in the entire UK

What, Salford?

You can do your research over here: C546

B<<B (No-one will penetrate this cunning disguise)