5. My buddy Josh just got an empeg a few weeks ago. He's only posted.. once i think... heh. He rely's on me for all the updates the lazy ho. He's in DC at the moment though...

Maryland/DC sounds good to me, I'm in North Carolina

Add one more for Southern Louisiana, since I'm on the coast in Southern Mississippi. Only an hour or two away!

Well who wants to decide where to hold an east coast meet and who wants to be in charge of it?

I'm in New Jersey...I suppose I could make it down to Maryland. Count in one more for the east coast meet.

Perhaps somebody in Maryland should take the initiative.

How about somewhere between Louisiana and DC, like Atlanta. No shortage of Hotel rooms/venues, and someone's GOT to live there who could arrange a meeting spot. I can get T-shirts/Polos if anyone wants (pre-paid only), empeg team permitting, of course.

Just an idea...North Carolina's probably closer to halfway up the coast, though. Just realize that the same person doesn't have to do EVERYthing.

Just an idea...North Carolina's probably closer to halfway up the coast, though. Just realize that the same person doesn't have to do EVERYthing.



There is always TN.... Nashvegas is always nice.... Plus it would be a major impetus to make sure MY install is damn good...

I'd have to second the idea for Kansas... =) Seriously tho, I'm still up for the SF meet, even if it is a bit of a drive from Colorado.

I have a feeling that it is going to be very difficult to get everyone on the east coast to agree to one place to hold it. Someone mentioned PA a few weeks ago. Or I would also go to TN or NC. Maybe we need to pick a few states and take a poll on which would attract the most members.

Yeah.. I know... I was just throwing it out there.... I'd travel about the southeast/east depending.

Went to Woodside over the weekend, and to my surprise, the place we went to for our last US meet, Boulevard, is now out of business!

Just FYI...

- Jon

Aw, damn, that was a great location.

Okay, where else?

Half Moon Bay is an excellent location. In the off-season there are parking lots everywhere, restaurant... you have the ocean at the footsteps, curvey twisty roads a stones throw from the town... etc.

Calvin

Hmm, that's another, what, 30-45 minutes farther from the San Jose area, isn't it?

I wonder if we'd be reducing the turnout if we had it there. Still, I'm sure it's a great location.

Wait, if it's on the coast, wouldn't it be cold? A lot of what we do at the meets is outdoors.

It's exactly between San Francisco and San Jose. It's 30 minutes from San Jose but 30 minutes from San Francisco and within an hour of any part of the bay area.

Calvin

Wait, if it's on the coast, wouldn't it be cold?

This is California! It doesn't get cold...

Besides, if you want you can have it here in San Diego. It's sunny and 70s right now. Pretty much is year-round.

Half Moon Bay is a pretty good idea... i don't know any places down there though. Anyone live in the vicinity?

I don't recall any particular places but sometimes I zip over there in my convertible, there's a dive near main street that serves greasy fish and chips. Yummy stuff. Tastes fairly fresh too. The rest of main street has a mix of upscale and regular restaurants and such.

Calvin

Another vote for Maryland/DC.

There are lots of venue possibilities in the Bay Area, as mentioned. To summarize some factors to consider:
1. Schedule around a date when the UK Empeg people will be in town
2. Keep the distance to within ~1 hour drive from Sonic Blue in Santa Clara
3. Select a place to eat that can easily handle all the expected attendees and has (or is near) a large open (free) parking lot
4. Try to schedule it on a non-holiday/non-special event weekend to avoid crowds and hotel issues for out-of-towners
5. Give people at least a month to make plans

Also, some place that is relatively easy for people to find and is in a nice setting would be good.

Loren, skritch and others have already made some good suggestions. Here's one more:
Roaring Camp in the Santa Cruz mountains; nice setting, open eating, big parking lot...and a real choo-choo train!

Barry

That place looks interesting.... though i think we might get distracted by the trains!

Here's their website: http://www.roaringcamprr.com/

So Jon B., Is that Woodside joint just totally closed? Does it look like anyone's taking it over anytime soon?

What about Buck's?? We could relive some venture capital memories...
http://www.buckswoodside.com/

or Alice's in Woodside?

Ok, I've stopped the poll at 67 votes (I figure thats about the number of people that might be interested), and here are the results:

Feburary 4.48 % (3)
Early March 8.96 % (6)
Late March 5.97 % (4)
Early April 5.97 % (4)
Late April 4.48 % (3)
Early May 2.99 % (2)
Late May 22.39 % (15)
Early June 10.45 % (7)
Late June 10.45 % (7)
July 14.93 % (10)
Sometime later 8.96 % (6)

So it looks like Late May.

I hearby propose the official date to be Saturday, May 25th 2002. Location is still up in the air, but having an exact date should help.

And on another note, any other poll ideas? Do the east cost people want me to post one for your date range?

Saturday, May 25th 2002

That's perfect for me. I will be in the area attending BayCon 2002 anyway. Since the filking program at BayCon is usually evenings-only anyway, I don't think I'll miss much. Excellent.

And it's Memorial Day weekend, too, so a lot of folks will have an excuse for getting out of town. The only issue will be increased traffic/crowds for many places, but not enough to be a problem for our event.

This date's got my vote.

Right now, Boulevard is just closed. I'm sure that someone will acquire it and have another go at making it profitable...

Alice's would be very cool... I wouldn't actually eat the food there (nasty sewage problem that I don't believe was resolved correctly...)

Want me to look into that?

- Jon

Don't forget Half Moon Bay. Here is a list of restaurants:

http://www.coastsidelive.com/COMMERCE/food.html

Calvin

I can post a poll for what place to have the event at, if needed. Anyone want to summarize the possible places out there real quick?

I like the idea of the Tied House in Mountain View for all the reasons you mentioned. Its very centrally located for most Bay Areans. Plus it has its own brew pub with a fairly large room in the back. We've had a couple company team events there; if I recall it seats maybe 50-60 people??

Also for SF, a meet by Ocean Beach next to The Beach Chalet, also a brew pub, might be cool. Large parking lot by the beach, etc.

One other possibility is the new Chrissy Field Park area off of the Presidio. Large parking lots, barbeque area, scenery, and open space for other activites: frisbee, kite flying, and softball. Will need volunteers to cook burgers and bring a couple of kegs (I'll help). Pretty close to dowtown SF, where we can go rage afterwards....

--Andrew

A barbeque would be just perfect.

Calvin

A barbeque would be great, unless the weather goes bad. In which case, the BBQ area would need an indoor place for the meet nearby.

I much prefer the idea of a restaurant with a large banquet room, much like the Woodside meet. That worked out nicely when the weather went bad. We all came inside and all was well.

Oooo... Crissy field and Ocean Beach are great ideas. We could call the beach chalet.. i'm pretty sure they have a banquet type large area.

I am all up for any meet in the South East area. My traveling range is limited because I drive a Dodge Ram thats lifted and isnt exactly very economical on fuel, But Im in NorthEast Mississippi and would love to go to TN or New Orleans.