How to, and how NOT to, organise a meet-up in the UK. Suggestions welcome.

[oggbashan]

After a couple of posts in the South UK meet-up thread I decided that it is worth starting this separate thread with comments from those who have attended either or both UK meet-ups on what has been found out for the successful organisation of a future event.

Fifty5, Tatelou and Matriarch are obvious candidates to provide advice for the future. Thanks are due to them for their work on the meets so far.

A couple of suggestions from me:

1. Research on pubs in the vicinity of the B&B should be done in advance. The Goat and Tricycle was the best but the pub with the sticky floor and the very loud quiz night was the worst. The Gay pub was entertaining but not as entertaining as Xchange. Wetherspoons are reasonable if the group is large enough to make its own ambience. Three people is not enough.

2. The cost of travel can be much higher than expected. Transport to and from airports can cost more than the flights.

3. A local base is a great help. At the first meet Fifty5's house was a convenient venue for those assembling. Whether some of us would be so brave as to invite a horde of AH people to descend on your family and dogs? Eff took this risk and we weren't quite as bad as we might have been.

Please add your suggestions and comments.

What was good/ would be good?

What is essential?

What precautions are necessary? e.g. protecting your RL identity. At least one person should know your real name and contact details.

Add your own suggestions to this list. E.g. A kilted Scotsman seems essential from now onwards.

Og

 

[hotchkiss]

Leave It To The Naughty Boyz

 

[kendo1]

Kilted Scotsmen are quite common up here.
The bus from the airport to Edinburgh city centre is £2 if I remember right.
Avoid the Festival at all costs-there are no rooms available in the whole of Edinburgh and the surrounding district-consequently,the prices go up.

 

[hotchkiss]

Kilted Scotsmen are quite common up here.
The bus from the airport to Edinburgh city centre is £2 if I remember right.
Avoid the Festival at all costs-there are no rooms available in the whole of Edinburgh and the surrounding district-consequently,the prices go up.

Ive been thinking about that and I am definately NOT wearing a crinoline dress for that one

 

[Guest]

Ive been thinking about that and I am definately NOT wearing a crinoline dress for that one

That's what you think...



(Ve have vays of making ze naughty boyz do anyzing ve vant. )

 

[kendo1]

Ive been thinking about that and I am definately NOT wearing a crinoline dress for that one

Look kind of weird on a dog anyway.

 

[matriarch]

Just had a quick look on Flybe.com.

Flights from Southampton to Edinburgh, towards the end of October (just used that time as a test)........ready for this...........£2.14 each way !!!

Honest, I kid you not.

Mind you, with airport taxes, it comes out at £39.98 for the whole trip!!

Now, I call that a damn good deal.

 

[Black Tulip]

Mat, you must be kidding.
I had a look and I can find direct flights from Amsterdam to Edinburgh, but not for that kind of money.

Piece of advice: make sure you can reach some members by mobile phone.

 

[oggbashan]

I think the organiser(s) should be familiar with the venue but not hold it in or close to their normal haunts. They might have to live with the after-effects!

A separate room for the main meet might be good to avoid upsetting the rest of the clientele, but not a non-smoking area. The proportion of smokers so far has been high and even non-smokers have slipped their halos...

Og

 

[hotchkiss]

That's what you think...



(Ve have vays of making ze naughty boyz do anyzing ve vant. )

Dont!!!!! I've gone all weak at the knees and stiff at the hips after reading that.

 

[snooper]

Identification marks (jokes aboud dancing banana badges notwithstanding) are essential. Swapping photos in advance could be a substitute. We spent an hour in Wakefield Wetherspoons' watching each other, wondering if we were supposed to be together.

I do think the RL anonymity is important, but depends on the person. Some of us don't care much who knows, others are utterly paranoid about it. If you follow the link to my web site you find out who I am; ditto if you use me as an editor. One of the authors for whom I edit has set up a new hotmail account just so that I don't even know who they are on Lit, let alone in RL!

 

[Black Tulip]

Snooper,

We swapped pictures and that worked fine.
I mean, if you're going to meet you'll have to show your face anyway. LOL

 

[matriarch]

Snooper,

We swapped pictures and that worked fine.
I mean, if you're going to meet you'll have to show your face anyway. LOL

Exactly.

And at least that way, the shock was already past by the time we all met.

Apart from that damn spirtle.......

 

[matriarch]

Mat, you must be kidding.
I had a look and I can find direct flights from Amsterdam to Edinburgh, but not for that kind of money.

Piece of advice: make sure you can reach some members by mobile phone.

Well, you know the easiest way for this. You take the same cheap flight to Bournemouth you did for last week, Lou collects you on the way to Southampton airport, and we all fly up to Edinburgh from there.

Minimimal cost, minimal fuss, maximum pleasure.

 

[oggbashan]

Well, you know the easiest way for this. You take the same cheap flight to Bournemouth you did for last week, Lou collects you on the way to Southampton airport, and we all fly up to Edinburgh from there.

Minimimal cost, minimal fuss, maximum pleasure.

Or use Eujet (www.eujet.com) into Manston Kent and then to Edinburgh. If there is a long stopover either way I could collect you and return you to Manston.

Og

 

[matriarch]

Well, you know the easiest way for this. You take the same cheap flight to Bournemouth you did for last week, Lou collects you on the way to Southampton airport, and we all fly up to Edinburgh from there.

Minimimal cost, minimal fuss, maximum pleasure.

OK, I've had my travel agent hat on.

You can fly from Amsterdam to Bournemouth (depending on time/date, I'm using early October as an example only), for 5.99 EUR return (honestly). There is only one flight, and it leaves Amsterdam at five to ten in the evening, arrives in Bournemouth at ten past ten UK time.

You either get a B&B for that night or persuade Lou to give you a bed, and then the next day, in Lou's company, make your way to Southampton airport, only a 40 minute drive away, and for the princely sum of either £2.14 (roughly 3 EUR), for the very early flight at 6.45 or £18.14 (25 EUR roughly) for the other 4 options that day, you can fly to Edinburgh.

For the return its even better. All the return flights to Southampton are only £2.14 each. I kid you not.

So......for a maximum outlay of roughly 60 EUR, you can fly to Edinburgh from Amsterdam.

How does that sound???

*removes travel agent hat, and returns to being Mat*.

 

[Black Tulip]

Hah, my stubborn streak came out and I searched some more.
I can either use Easyjet for a direct flight under 100 euros or use my thousands of airmiles to fly KLM for 75 euro, there and back again. LOL

If it's somewhere at the end of October I can come. Fall break will give me a week off.

Otherwise it would have to be a weekend.



Edited to add: damn, Mat. I was so proud of me finding it out on my own. LOL Can't beat you, can I?

 

[matriarch]

Hah, my stubborn streak came out and I searched some more.
I can either use Easyjet for a direct flight under 100 euros or use my thousands of airmiles to fly KLM for 75 euro, there and back again. LOL

If it's somewhere at the end of October I can come. Fall break will give me a week off.

Otherwise it would have to be a weekend.



Edited to add: damn, Mat. I was so proud of me finding it out on my own. LOL Can't beat you, can I?

Ah, but your's is a direct flight, and you don't have to pay for or beg for, lodgings for the night.

You win.

 

[kendo1]

Heriot Watt University is seven miles from Edinburgh city centre-about 20 mins by car or bus. It has single rooms for 37.50 a night B&B
http://www.eccscotland.com/

I'll check other places for availability and prices.

 

[kendo1]

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/areaedin/self.html
List of cheaper accommodation.
Bruntsfield Youth Hostel is good (and no, you don't have to be a youth!)
10mins walk from the centre, good pubs.

 

[Guest]

OK, I've had my travel agent hat on.

You can fly from Amsterdam to Bournemouth (depending on time/date, I'm using early October as an example only), for 5.99 EUR return (honestly). There is only one flight, and it leaves Amsterdam at five to ten in the evening, arrives in Bournemouth at ten past ten UK time.

You either get a B&B for that night or persuade Lou to give you a bed, and then the next day, in Lou's company, make your way to Southampton airport, only a 40 minute drive away, and for the princely sum of either £2.14 (roughly 3 EUR), for the very early flight at 6.45 or £18.14 (25 EUR roughly) for the other 4 options that day, you can fly to Edinburgh.

For the return its even better. All the return flights to Southampton are only £2.14 each. I kid you not.

So......for a maximum outlay of roughly 60 EUR, you can fly to Edinburgh from Amsterdam.

How does that sound???

*removes travel agent hat, and returns to being Mat*.

Wow, Mat! That sounds brilliant! Very affordable, we'll both be there, that's for sure!

BT, if you decide you'd prefer this option, you are more than welcome to kip at my place for one night. I don't have a spare bed, but we could kick Adam out of ours for the night and he could sleep on the sofa.

Or in the dog's bed.

 

[matriarch]

Wow, Mat! That sounds brilliant! Very affordable, we'll both be there, that's for sure!

BT, if you decide you'd prefer this option, you are more than welcome to kip at my place for one night. I don't have a spare bed, but we could kick Adam out of ours for the night and he could sleep on the sofa.

Or in the dog's bed.

I'm bringing a camera......sounds like some interesting pics to be had

 

[Black Tulip]

I'm bringing a camera......sounds like some interesting pics to be had

Who zaid you vere invited too?

Hehehe.

 

[matriarch]

Who zaid you vere invited too?

Hehehe.

spoilsport.

 

[oggbashan]

Who zaid you vere invited too?

Hehehe.

She has to come to add some decorum to the activities of the naughty boys and girls.

Oops. That's my role, not hers. She's as bad as... never mind. This could get embarrassing.

Og