Yes, of course i will come take a look there.

Well, SWMBO & I are now booked for a B&B downtown, a block or so from the central bus station area. We plan to stay there for a few nights, taking trains/buses out to some of the surrounding sights and whatnot, before heading to Heathrow for the (direct) flight home.

On the front side of the meet, we're taking the train over to Belgium for a few days. Oughta be fun!

Cheers

Being largely flat, Cambridge doesn't really have a downtown or for that matter an uptown.

Of course, if you want to liken Cambridge's compelling and attractive nightlife centre to a gravitational well, that might make sense. Though some might question the empirical value of such a comparison.

Silly me. I was mainly going by the definition from The Pocket Oxford Dictionary I keep at hand here, like as if that would have any relevance to Cambridge!

Cheers

I just checked flights to get from Houston to London for the empeg meet. Wow, approximately $1100 (including taxes) for a coach class ticket on any of the days I might want to travel. Anybody done any better?

That's probably as good as it's going to get. With oil hovering around $120 a barrel ticket prices aren't going to go down anytime soon. I looked at www.kayak.com for prices.

We're currently thinking along the lines of splitting the day into a morning event - possibly clay pigeon shooting - and the main party in the afternoon and evening. We expect about fifty guests and I don't think my new garden is up to the job, so I'm looking to book a venue. That will introduce some additional cost but between fifty of us I don't think it will be too much of a problem.

I'll assume that most of the guests intend to stay in Cambridge, and will organise transport to our venues from a central location.

I'll be looking for some volunteers to help organise various aspects of the party within the next week or two. It may also be nice to organise some events for the Friday and/or Sunday, so if you have any ideas or can contribute please get in touch.

If you haven't been added to the evite please hassle me!

Cheers

Rob

I've put together an itinerary for your consideration. Please get your comments to me as soon as possible so I can gauge whether this will work for everyone. The costings are (fairly accurate) estimates right now.

Morning Shoot

Clay pigeon shooting at Haddon Lodge near Peterborough. Akai Digital did this at Christmas and it was great fun despite the freezing conditions - which I'm sure won't be an issue in July! The shooting ground has several traps with different trajectories such as pigeon, grouse and rabbit. We split into groups of about five and work through all of the traps, with prizes at the end for the three top guns. Each group has expert supervision and tuition, and the activity is suitable both for people who have never so much as held a shotgun and for experts alike.

The cost would be £50 per person which includes cartridges and transportation from and back to Cambridge.

Lunch at a Cambridgeshire country pub.

Afternoon

Your own time around Cambridge, or a city tour if there is interest.

Evening

The empeg 10th birthday party at Chilford Hall near Cambridge. This local vineyard was the venue for the empeg 5th birthday party and is set in beautful Cambridgeshire countryside. A working vineyard, the venue boasts a fully restored nineteenth century hall and courtyard.

For those that care to partake, the evening will begin with a vineyard tour and wine tasting at £5 a head. You'll see the vines and the wine making process, and sample from Chilford's award winning range.

Dinner in the courtyard will comprise a hog roast, rib eye steaks, lamb kebabs and locally made sausages served with a range of salads, cheeses and desserts. Vegetarian options will also be available. A pay bar will be open throughout the party and we'll pre-pay for a firkin of local ale and soft drinks. Perhaps the vodka luge will make a welcome return!

We have some special events lined up for the party, and of course the empeg disco will be powered by your playlists! We have the venue until 1am.

The cost for the party including venue hire, dinner, beer and soft drinks will be around £40 a head. Other drinks will be from the pay bar. A coach from and back to Cambridge will be arranged, pricing to be determined but certainly cheaper than taxis.

Please let me know what you think of the itinerary and whether the costs are acceptable. I have us pencilled in for both events and need to confirm with the venues within the next week.

Cheers

Rob

It sounds excellent Rob, really looking forward to it.

I believe we still need to arrange a repairs desk venue in there somewhere.

Cheers

How about an empeg workshop session during the afternoon before the party? I can make an electronics facility available to anyone who wants to come along and get work carried out on their empeg, or just hang out and chat tech.

Rob

Sound great! Geeks with guns. Wine, Firkins of Ale and Meat. What could go wrong?

One small question, will there be a recommended/advised hotel this year? I guess the coach will leave from only one spot in cambridge?

Cambridge is so small that any city centre hotel is within walking distance of any other. The out of town hotels would take a taxi ride.

If folks want to be at the same hotel for socialising then we could certainly recommend one... who's still looking for accommodation?

Rob

Me

And me

me too...

Cheers,
-Peter

A room for 2 somewhere will be required

Cheers

Cris.

Count us in for the afternoon and evening. One small problem, I'd love to contribute a playlist, but I don't have a functioning empeg at the moment. Is there a way round this?

Ach. Waiting to see how things go, but it is looking like I may spend early July working relief elder care on east coast. I could still get some sort of ticket with miles depending on how it goes.

Fark, I have shot so many things but not skeet.

Nicola and I have booked into a B&B, from out findings cheapish hotel rooms are hard to find that weekend in Cambridge centre.

Cheers

Cris.

I happen to have a 'spare' empeg; if you can send me a USB stick (or simply point me at a URL somewhere) then I'll see what I can do.

PS - we're both looking forward to it. We'll drive up there early and stay for the evening. Fine with the costs. It'll be the first time we've ever used or even held a gun though

On further inspection it's possible I think I can create frankenpeg from the working bits of my two players. It'll only be a 16MB player but what the hell, maybe Mark can breathe life into my 32MB one which appears to have IDE and Ethernet problems.

Now, got to create a good playlist.....

Sure! Bring it along to the meet -- it may be fixable there, but if not I could bring it home with me for extra TLC, and then post it back to you.

cheers

You have email.

I'm thinking about one of the hotels close in - as Claire fancies wandering round Cambridge for the day - so probably going to grab a room in the Hilton, unless everyone else is staying miles away.

I was thinking about the Hilton too, but they don't appear to have any rooms.

Ignore that, I was looking at the wrong month

The Hilton is in a great location in the city centre, it's at the mill pond which is a great place to drink in the summer!

Second good bit of news is that it wasn't always a Hilton so it should be nice! I had a friend who was a porter there and he helped Robert Plant with his luggage.

So are we going to see you there Adrian?

I'm going to specifically make sure that I'm not doing anything that weekend!

So I should definately be there!

Nice one!

To anyone else who's still undecided wether or not they're going to attend. Be there or be square(er)!