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

Well, we can have a LARGer on the 4th, then those of us without bidet relatives can get all innocent on the 5th (and possibly 6th), and possibly slip in a little'n during the week.

Hmm, could get messy.

OK...How about Sunday 6th August?

RF

Why not do the Saturday too? Seems like there's some interesting music on both days.

A long term mini meet with booze 'n tunes.

Whisky Cats are cool...saw them there last year.

I'll prolly go both days.

I may have a ginger beer shandy on Saturday,

RF

The friday night will be best for us n prolly Genie too.

What's happening on the Friday then? I can do anything, anything, anything at all!

Count me in.

RF

would just be a croydon pub crawl

I think it's time for a West Midlands and Wales meet.

Weston Super Mare, anyone?

B

I would like to see inflatables in a pub in the northwest. Say maybe in blackpool, liverpool, southport, er preston...no maybe not preston.

Just seen this thread, I must confess I havn't read it all but thought of a few ideas. I too have some free entry passes to Kew. It has areas for picnics, cool areas, for those flaked out, kids play areas, art exhibitions, cafes where you can try beer made with Kew hops. It really does have a lot.

When in London I always love St James Park (nr Green Park and Piccadilly). You are guaranteed to make friends with squirrels, and all sorts of ducks and geese. I got some great photos of the pelicans there the other day. Its also not too far from a Japanese tea shop, where you can try some amazing Japanese sweet cakes, made from things like pumpkin, chestnuts etc.

Also, there is the Serpentine, which has the art pavillion (can't get the news page on that as the bbc search has recently got very useless)every year and also now this solar powered boat http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5189318.stm

Borough Market was voted best market, its very crowded, but for foodies its great and if you like the 12% Scottish ales such as Gordons, you are sorted. You can walk along the Thames to the Design Museum from there. We often don't go round the museum, but we always enjoy their coffee and cakes, and its a great view of the Thames.

There are also great places near Fleet Street and St Pauls, roads called 'By the Kings Wardrobe' for instance and lots of groovy bits to find. Even stone beavers in Oxford Street. We could also arrange a tour of the older parts around Fleet Street, some beautiful architecture there.

I guess for those of us who are not into pubs and hate smoking, we are looking for more than that and also something to fill the awkward silences you get when meeting people for the first time.

Oh and don't forget the free festivals. Croydon has some great music at its festival, we have seen some great bands there. Always the first weekend after the 13th July.

Regents Park has a free festival called Fruitstock on the early bank holiday in August.

Just a few random observations about meets from someone whose been to a few, under different circumstances.

1) Without wanting to be unkind, the idea of using a pub outside central London (effectively zone 1 of the tube system) is pretty much nonsense. The added journey time to and the difficulty of getting back for those using rail links to get to/from the other side of London is prohibative - Bod knows 2Legs used to have the Penderals Oak before last orders to get the last train, so frankly he'd have about time to turn the bike round in Hendon. To be honest if you are going to hold the meet in Barnes you may as well hold it in my local (34 minutes from Liverpool Street).

2) The problem of afternoon activities has always been a thorny one and I don't know a way round it, particualrly if people are not prepared to make the effort to meet 'half-way'. The original Hyde Park meet was brilliantly effective because everyone made the effort to attend (whether they played stupid games or not) and mix. If everyone is going to take the attitude 'I don't want to do this/I can't/ won't do that' I kind of wonder why people want to have a meet in the first place rather than stay at home and do exactly what they want on their own. And yes, winter meets are always a problem because of the weather. It may be that the suggestion of the move to a spring/autumn timetable might work wonders here.

3) Organizers need to pay attention to newer members when things are suggested. When the Penderal Oaks was...withdrawn from service, I know at least one suggestion was made of an alternative venue that was available for saturday evenings (unlike the one we ended up in which had to be persuaded to open the doors), would have been really glad of the business, is a CAMRA recommended pub, does excellent food and is in a historic part of London. That suggestion wasn't just turned down, It was *COMPLETELY IGNORED*. Hardly a way to make a newbie feel they are welcome.

4) Meets, like the site, have gone downhill in recent years. The main mark of this has been the increasing clique ridden nature of both. I think it says quite a lot that with a few exceptions the bulk of this quite lengthy conversation has been half a dozen or so of what I might unkindly call 'the usual suspects'. SLG attended two meets in two years. She was roundly ignored by most of the attendees (and indeed was made to feel positively unwelcome at one of them). One of the vital functions performed by the italics was getting the less forthcoming members of the community integrated. Whilst I realise it stops people drinking to a certain extent, I think the organizers need to consider having some form of official meet and greet policy and some way of making newbies feel they are included. And frankly that doesn't just extend to newbies. The last meet I was at we had to check with the bar staff Iwe were in the right place because nobody paid the slightest bit of attention when we came in. Having said that I think it is essential to a) mix the pub teams up and b) farnkly stop basing *all* of the quiz round the site. That really is excluding to newbies and frankly those like me who simply don't pay attention to the site over and above who I'm replying to at any given time.

5) Don't expect miracles. Most internet groups are drawn together by a commonality of interest that goes beyond *merely* being part of the group. Hootoo denizens are marked by their singular lack of commonality outside of the site. You may have reached saturation now of people who are that interested to meet each other in real life, given that they have nothing immediately in common.

Mu Beta - what the hell *is* an 'Official meet these days. Surely now the community has developed in to a series of semi-autonomous regions that hold meets as and when it pleases them. I don't London is any more official now than Scottish Researchers of the East Midlands or any of the others. Again, that is doubtless part of the reason for the falling attendances - when the italics organized two meets a year and had freebies and prizes there was a certain amount of cache in attending the London meets. I'm not sure that exists anymore.

Just my tuppence worth.

.

Point number three got my attention... I'd certainly be more likely to drop everything and come to a Meet if it was at a CAMRA approved pub.

Well get your backside over to A3501622 then: We've gone one-better than CAMRA approved pub, and gone for CAMRA organised beer fest!

Unfortunately I'm already booked that weekend.

So - did anything materialise last weekend?

Hostile - I agree with some of your points. But I'm sure I'm not part of a clique (living so far away) and never had trouble finding out whether I was in teh right place or feeling left out. I'm very sorry if this happened to people before, and if it did, I see your point about the italics being there to prevent it happening. Serephina suggested that "oldies" took on "newbies" as buddies to prevent that, but the idea didn't take off.

And as for the quizzes being based on H2G2? I only remember one being like that, and it was based on entries in the guide, so many of the questions could also be answered by anyone who happened to know those particular facts, even if they hadn't read the actual entry.

Last January it was entirely a music quiz (set by Jimster and Paully), and the one ReddyFreddy did was, too.

We are all quite entitled to think up our own quizzes. A general knowledge quiz where the answers can all be found in the EG is a pretty good basis.

Good food is also a good reason to choose a pub. However, mixing and mingling is more difficult when you're juggling plates. Sandwiches is a good compromise.

I* agree with some of the points made. However, being a newbie myself 3 years ago and attending my first Meet then, I felt it was for me to approach names that I knew and present myself rather than the other way around. I would have felt overawed if people approached me initially.

Also as there is less 'Official' input, then surely it is down to those who are prepared to 'officiate' to do so.

I am not saying anything is right or wrong, and appreciate any input but it is worth bearing in mind that, if no-one takes ownership, then nothing happens.

This London Meet was a case in point where, if someone hadn't noticed that an evening venue hadn't have been booked, then it would have been a disjointed afternoon Meet, and then . Luckily the situation was retrieved with days to spare. The only reason for no food (my decision) was that it would have meant a larger deposit, and a greater amount to be consumed to retrieve the said deposit.

Also the ideas for the afternoon events are purely that. No more and no less.

Good points though, and I largely agree.

Well, voting has closed, and all the votes counted. Saturday 21st October is the putative date for any potential Autumn meet, so if people are interested but were waiting for a definite date, there it is! Now get on over to the meet page and sign up! A1322847

RF

Sorry, A13222847 !

RF