Update on Pre-meetup Events

Started by Raiden, February 15, 2016, 12:19:32 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Raiden

Hey guys.

So, as some of you already know, myself and another planning member (Aketuan) have been responsible for the camping trips preceding the meetups since 2012.

I'd like to think that the camping trips have been an important and memorable part of the meetup for those who have attended them. I've seen fossils, rare plants and animals, hordes of millipedes, scorpions, bats, coyotes, giant salamanders, waterfalls, lush forests, nearly inhospitable deserts, ancient petroglyphs, and abandoned mines. All of these were experienced with people who remind me, repeatedly, why I like this community as much as I do.

Unfortunately, this can't take precedence over my real life. I'm in the midst of preparing to relocate in order to finish my degree; this is something that is long overdue and will be expensive and difficult.

Because of this, I really can't say that I'll be able to attend AvatarMeet 2016. Aketuan is in the same situation, because he's started a new job that features frequent, mandatory travel and this makes participation in any capacity nigh impossible.

What this means is that I'm the only one who really "knows" the general process for putting together the pre-meetup camping trip. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but since it's still unlikely that I'll be able to attend, the rest of the people who go camping wouldn't really have any guidance; they'd show up to the campsite, but without any guidance from me, nobody would know what the plans were and there would be no food and no meals. Setting these up isn't terribly easy.

So, the point I'm getting at is that there might not be any camping this year, and I have little control over that. In order to ensure that camping is a part of the meetup this year, several conditions need to be fulfilled:

1) At least ten people need to be seriously interested in doing it; this isn't cross-country marathon training, but it isn't RV camping either; sometimes we can find campsites near lodges and cabins, but this is usually a tent-camping affair, which usually means that bathing/showering isn't going to happen until we make it back for the main meetup. Food is provided, but it is tightly organized into breakfast, lunch and dinner; the idea is to purchase everything we need and minimize trips to the store as much as possible. If you want snacks, feel free to bring them, but we won't include snacks in the meal plans.

2) We need at least 4-5 cars for transportation, and approximately one additional car for every two additional people:

Attendees              Vehicles (minimum)           

10                         -->              4   

12                         -->              6

14                         -->              8

16                         -->             10

The problem here is that so far we're down at least two drivers; Mikko and Aketuan both will not be attending and have been drivers for other attendees almost every year, and we've got at least one other attendee who often drives who will be unavailable for camping. So, if you want to come camping, and you can rent a car or drive yourself altogether, it would make a huge difference.

3) I really need another person to work on the camping planning with me, and perhaps even an additional person to help acquire food and organize meals with my planning partner if I can't be there. This is the trickiest part and even if we have 1) and 2) it'll never work without this. The rest of the planning team would need to approve it, but the camping probably isn't happening unless I can get some help. The only real requirements are that you need to be able to attend the camping and the main meetup, but some experience with camping/general outdoors stuff would be helpful.

So, that's why none of you have heard anything about this yet; "real life" has more or less stolen away three of us at once. I'm also making a series of polls to address the numbered items above; feel free to comment on this post, but I'm mostly going to be paying attention to the poll results, so if you have anything important to say or you want to explain your position on these things it'd be better to do it there.



Trouble keeps me running faster

Save the planet from disaster...