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

A thread was started on Noesis about this by Mu Beta. I have gone to the trouble of copying it all out:

Mu Beta
It seems to me that we should be celebrating the release of the new site with the communal consumption of beer and a bad pub quiz. Might be an ideal opportunity to release some h2g2.com T-Shirts as well.

But, if we have one, can we PLEASE not have it in London? It's difficult to drive to, and accommodation costs a fortune. The only people it's convenient for are those from the home counties, and they all claim to hate going into The City. Plus there's no reason to have it there now we're not based at the BBC.

Birmingham? Oxford? York? Cardiff? Or does anyone have a better suggestion?

TriG
As long as it has a train station I'll get there. With Sail&Rail everywhere outside North Wales is the same price, so it makes no difference. Somewhere I have relatives and thus free accommodation would be nice, but not essential (London, Chatham, Brighton).

Vip
Both Birmingham and Manchester are pretty central (for England, anyway) and easy to get to from anywhere with a train station or an airport.

Ben
Brum's got an airport, and you'd hope it wasn't too far from London for the people who start fitting outside the M25.

The other question is when.

Could we fit it in in November, do you think?

The traditional month was January. If we went for the last weekend of January, then (1) people on monthly pay packets would have been paid, most likely, and (2) it would be a year since The Announcement and 11 since Rupert

(That is fitting, as in 'having fits' you understand).

Vip
I could fit it in November and almost certainly not at the end of January, but I am but one person.

K-B
Can we have an Arctic Circle meet we can get to by dog sled? 'Twould be awesome.

Mu Beta

Last weekend of November is good. I'm booked up for the other three.

Ben

Well at the moment you are two. The problem, presumably, is that by the end of January you will in fact be one person!

Rev Jackruss
ok hows about Glasgow or Edinbrugh if /or Bristol or somewhere in norfork, is that a place well anyways you know want im on about

Mu Beta

Not a ~Censored~ clue, actually

Mr Dreadful

Birmingham gets my vote. Edinburgh would be lovely, but IMO is FAR too far to travel just for one evening, same with Bristol if you look at it the other way.

Beatrice (my fairies: TC)

End of November's not good for me as I'm getting married - but that's only one vote. Sounds like a great idea, and I'd support an ex-London venue.

Mr Dreadful

Invite us all to the reception. Problem solved.

Sho

Düsseldorf?
< evilgrin>

Pal
Nottingham
It is close to an airport and has got lots of pubs, including the oldest inn inn England. Besides I can get there for £3.50 return.

ps not many cockneys live there.

Hyperstar Sponge

Well for these that don't attend can we please have some pictures of it on here/H2G2 afterwards?

Hygenic dispenser

I think that The Hazel Pear in Acton Bridge would be ideally located for everyone.

Alec trician

erm...florida is er relatively nice at this time of year, and talk about central, we're practically on the fogging eeeequator.

we're expecting a little sunshine and sea breezes with maybe a little more sunshine from around er now till Zarquon makes it back.

Norfolk in november....hmmm

alec

Magwitch

Somewhere fairly fairly central would be good for me. End of November is also good.

Nottingham would be like walking back in time for me. Used to take the Trans Peak coach to there on a regular basis. Twas rather excellent

Pal

Buxton
Buxton
Buxton
OR
Derby

Ben

Heh.

Can't get a good curry in Buxton though. Seriously. I had the blandest, wimpiest, most pathetic curry in the world in Buxton. Fabulous flirty service, looked great, smelt fine, tasted of ...... nothing at all.

Nice opera house though.

Radox the Green

Obviously Bristol is good for me but I'm tempted to suggest Coventry, as that's where the Beeb put us pretty much the whole time they were running h2g2. It would be sort of symbolic for a NewHootoo meeting. Surprisingly easy to get to from Bristol/Bath too, head out of Bath on the old London Road and turn off left at Box to follow the Fosseway all the way to the end. Quicker than the motorway in fact.

If you wanted somewhere more Southerly, The Falcon at High Wycombe has some good food and drink. It's been a while since I've been there but there used to be a pub opposite that had a late night disco on Friday nights too. If it's still going, that might be a fun way to round off the evening, the atmosphere was quite good there.
If you want a good Curry, it has to be Dursley, near Gloucester. The. Best. Curry. EVER!

Magwitch
Bradford has the best curry houses, shame it's a dump

Edited for after thought.

Buxton'd be cool, some lovely stone circles and henges round there.

Trig

I really don't care as long as it has a train station. But I don't think I can get any more time off before the end of the year. The Irish Discworld Convention is in November. Thinking of going to London in January anyway to see Tim Minchin's Matilda. Could squeeze in a noohootoo meet while I'm there. And since I actually enjoy long train journeys ....

Tavaron da Quirm

Ooooh, a meet? Maybe I'll manage to come this time... *hopes*

Ben

It would be wonderful if you could

Asteroid Lil

*sighs and looks wistful*

I have the most exotic scenery, but the transportation is lousy and the local hotel only has three rooms. But it's a nice hotel; nobody has been shot there since 1881.

Vip

We could always have two meets; one to celebrate the launch of h2g2 and the other as the restart of the hootoo meetups.

A shame 2legs is away at the moment.

Ben and I had also discussed this at some point, somewhere on a thread.

I'd be happy for a Meet anywhere in England, mainly because I believe a fair number of researchers live in that part of the , and for most Intercontinentals, Heathrow is the main airport, and it needs to be remembered they have the most expensive and longest journeys, as well as needing to source reasonably priced accommodation.

Outside of London could be good, as there would / could be a different afternoon activity compared to normal.

November would not be good as a) too late to get hotel deals, b) travel costs will be high, c) Intercontinentals do not have enough time to plan journeys, d) taking time off for occupations, if long journeys are necessary, e) needs to be easily accessible by Public Transport, i.e. close to a main hub, like Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Carlisle, etc. Not somewhere like Barry or Matlock please.

Please also consider those who are mobility impaired, such as 2legs, lil and myself. Edinburgh crippled me, literally, as the combination of cobbles and steep gradients was just too much, and the Zoo and Prince's Gardens where a step too far. And also those on low inches / unemployed, re: accommodation / travel costs etc...

But that is just my . January would be good, but many would still be recovering from the Festering Season's expenses, which was why the date of Meets was moved forward, plus there was less likely to be disruption from the weather, and outdoor events would be possible, as it would be warmer.



MMF

"The only people it's convenient for are those from the home counties, and they all claim to hate going into The City."

Not *all* I love going into London.

I can't get away for weekends anymore, so somewhere close enough for one night would be perfect. ie London. But wherever it is, it has to be near the person organising it, because they need to find a venue, possibly an afternoon activity and maybe look out places for people to stay. So before trying to organise where, perhaps organise *who* then the where will fall into place.

There are advantages with London:
* easily accessible from "Overseas" with possibilities of finding bargain fares if planned well in advance.
* accomodation at reasonable cost can be found - if planned well in advance
* a multitude of activities of variuos kinds to be done with or without other Hootoo denizens.
* the Underground where even yours truly finds her way around

I've been to the Spring(summer) Meets almost annually since the Mid 2000ies (?) , only deaths and severe illness have interfered with that. I tend to stay a few days, and therefore I prefer to be somewhere where there are other things to do before/after the Meet itself. Even if the Meet and related activities are the reason for going, that is one day and I will be around for maybe three or seven more.

If the (un)official Meet is going to be somewhere outside London, please consider accessibility for us "Overseas", thank you.

Of course anyone may organise a Meet anywhere anytime.

There are plenty of advantages for not-London too:

Manchester and Birmingham are both very good hubs for flights and for railways. They both have railway links directly into the city centre (London does too, I know, but I like B'ham International as it's small and therefore blissfully easy to get out of).
They also have the added advantage of being smaller cities, so you don't then have to travel miles to get to wherever the meet it being held.
They're still big enough to have tourist attractions, art galleries, museums etc. as well as pubs.
Everything is cheaper, especially travel, accommodation, and food/drink.

The only thing they don't have is a link with the Eurostar, I suppose.

Here is the list of destinations for Birmingham:

http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/destinations.aspx
and
http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/destinations/destinations-list.aspx

And here is the list for Manchester:

http://www.airportdirecttravel.co.uk/manchester/guide

May I humbly suggest that those who would have to fly check the options out comparing London, Manchester and Birmingham?

We have folks near enough all three to be able to organise events.

Ben

Until the gawds-of-the-lottery smile, or atleast 5 years after work retirement, I am not going to be able to attend any UK'ish sorts. And there are a lot of folks I'd love to meet in the flesh. More than just the 7 or so I met during our 'staggered-Meet' of '07 that included Essex, Wales, Ireland (and Norn Irn) and Manchester

It is a bit of a trek from your neck of the woods, isn't it.

I can organise Birmingham (I lived there for four years) but if someone local would like to do it please, please speak up.

I also rather like canal boats (as previous meet attendees can testify). Not that I'm suggesting we take the canal tour again, or anything...

Hnads up anyone who'd be in Belfast end of November for our reception, then

Are you askin'?

I've done some flight checking re London/Birmingham/Manchester.

From the Far North flying to Birmingham is significantly - appr 40% - more expensive than flying to London or Manchester. I haven't dug into accomodation cost which might or might not compensate that difference in price. However, I've not done any extensive searches, so there might be other ways to get to Birmingham.

I've been to the far north, Alert of Nunavut. Somewhere within a few hundred miles of the North Pole. This time of the year, it is getting dark and by November even the weekly flight is questionable ...

There are always dog sleighs, Nick.....

40%, huh? That's definitely swinging it in favour of Manchester then.

Gets me off the hook for organising...

Can I suggest waiting and seeing? There are several EU researchers and their mileage (ho ho) may vary. I'm not sure where Lanza habitually flies from; or about flights from Frankfurt, Malmo / Copanhagen, or Spain. If we end up with B'rum, DQ could pehaps travel to London by train and share a car to Birmingham?

I could help arrange Manchester - I have a quite a lot of expertise when it comes to the Curry Mile.

So, northeast Ohio is out, then?

And I might be able to cover the delights of Hulme, Moss Side and Salford.

Unfortunately not the pubs though. Some let off a and destroyed most of my haunts. Even Tommy Ducks has gone. The infamous Knicker Bar. As has the Swinging Sporran, a.k.a. Gyrating Jock-Strap to us student types.

Wah! I don't recognise any of it!!!



MMF