ALA Midwinter/Philly Meetup

I think the last Mefibrarian meetup was a resounding success--so who will be in Philadelphia for ALA Midwinter (January 11-15th)? Philly Mefites should of course join us!

I propose a meetup either on Friday the 11th or Sunday the 13th (I'm being selfish--my sibs both live in Philly and I'm hanging with them on Saturday night). Maybe locals can suggest a good bar/restaurant type place? It would be awesome to see everyone again and meet new people too!

posted by leesh to MetaFilter gatherings at 6:02 PM (76 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

Count me in for either day.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:47 PM on December 18, 2007

Damn, I will be arriving in Philly one month later exactly. :(

Are there lots of Philly Mefites? I'd like to finally make it to a meetup.
posted by Deathalicious at 6:34 AM on December 19, 2007

Friday is better than Sunday for me. (I'm a suburban boy)
posted by qldaddy at 6:34 AM on December 19, 2007

Is anyone going to invite this guy?

I would have linked to his Bibliophile CL post but he has removed it.
posted by saucysault at 6:51 AM on December 19, 2007

I missed the last one so count me in, either day. What's ALA Midwinter?
posted by scalefree at 7:39 AM on December 19, 2007

ALA Midwinter is one of the two annual conferences of the American Library Association, so many Mefi librarians (and assorted members of the publishing industry) will be descending on your city! Obviously it's an excellent excuse for a meet-up.
posted by leesh at 7:47 AM on December 19, 2007

I might be up for it, either day. I presume it's at the Convention Center?

Possible places: Fergie's, Moriarty's, Fado.

(I'm trying to get us away from Old City because I hate it so much).
posted by misanthropicsarah at 11:17 AM on December 19, 2007

Late on the 11th would be awesome. Is anybody coming to YALSA game night, which is that night from 8-10? We'll have Rock Band open play, and Wii Sports & Super Smash Bros. tournaments. Could be fun pre-meetup fare, although it's $40, which is INSANE, but that's ALA. I'm running tournaments so I'll be there regardless. Be sure to say hello if you come!
posted by ulotrichous at 12:05 PM on December 19, 2007

OK, let's officially say sometime on the evening of 11th then. I'll let the locals choose a place. :) I'll add it to the sidebar thingie now!
posted by leesh at 12:32 PM on December 19, 2007

I'll be in Philly at some point in January. It may very well be this exact weekend. Who knows! It would be the sixth metropolitan area I'd met-up in, and I'm not even trying.
posted by Plutor at 2:14 PM on December 19, 2007

I'm up for a meetup whenever. And I concur with misanthropicsarah - NO MORE OLD CITY.

We could assemble for delicious Vietnamese at either Vietnam or Vietnam Palace, since they're convenient to the Convention Center. (And pretty, and tasty, and not expensive. And hey, when's the last time you had a Mai Tai?)
posted by desuetude at 2:58 PM on December 19, 2007

Yay Vietnamese! I'm in (and I assure you that meeting up with everyone is the real draw, not the Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk, and the bun cha gio, and maybe some lovely pho...drool).
posted by chihiro at 3:48 PM on December 19, 2007

Ooooh -- I would love it if this happened! I don't know that I'd be able to make it, but I'd sure try! Anything Center City would be excellent.
posted by mothershock at 4:46 PM on December 19, 2007

Vietnamese food scares me, but if desuetude & I can stare down raw beef, I can take on some pho.

We (me & dmd) are good for Friday the 11th. Yay!
posted by miagaille at 6:55 PM on December 19, 2007

miagaille, Vietnamese food scares you? What?! Pshaw. It's totally less scary than kitfo. You'll be an addict when chihro and I are done with you.
posted by desuetude at 7:42 PM on December 19, 2007

I'm in and I'm happy you already chose Friday night. I have a meeting on Sunday.
posted by initapplette at 8:40 PM on December 19, 2007

Oh good, it will be awesome to see you again!

And Vietnamese sounds yummy.
posted by leesh at 6:46 AM on December 20, 2007

Vietnam is awesome! I will try to come to this but it's always a challenge as I have 4 kids...
posted by Mister_A at 7:06 AM on December 20, 2007

I'm not registered for ALA, but I'm nearby . . . and I do have a fondness for Vietnamese food (tho' there's a great Burmese place in Philly's Chinatown as well), . . . and I should head down during mid-winter to meet up with another attendee . . . I might even be able to bring a jujube along.

I know at least two mefibrarians . . . I wonder if I know any more?
posted by deejay jaydee at 11:18 AM on December 20, 2007

I am not a librarian, but I've been told that I have a librarian look about me. In any event, I'm in Philly, and I'll suggest The Nodding Head as a good microbrew/relatively quiet/decent food option. It's also got quite a bit of space for larger parties, unlike Vietnam. (And *ahem* don't go to Vietnam Palace, everyone knows that Vietnam is THE location for Vietnamese food in Philadelphia!)
posted by greekphilosophy at 12:30 PM on December 21, 2007

I have to admit, I love beer, and I've disliked Vietnamese food every time I've tried it, so I would incline toward greekphilosophy's suggestion. (But I guess any place with Mai Tais can't be all bad.)
posted by Horace Rumpole at 12:36 PM on December 21, 2007

I'm fine with either place, as long as Nodding Head will be convenient for the out-of-towners to get to. It may be a better option if there are a lot of us, but I think the locals should have final say . . .
posted by leesh at 3:23 PM on December 22, 2007

greekphilosophy, I protest. Nam Phuong is actually THE place to for Vietnamese food in Philly.

But I think that the librarians should have the final say on where they wanna go. Emerge from the stacks and speak up!
posted by desuetude at 3:48 PM on December 22, 2007

I'm with desuetude on both counts. Librarians, what think you?
posted by chihiro at 8:51 AM on December 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oh, I'll eat just about anything -- but I would like a place that has enough room to move around and talk to people, rather than being confined to one seat at the table.
posted by initapplette at 3:35 PM on December 23, 2007

I'll eat just about anything, but I would like a place that has enough room to move around and talk to people, rather than being confined to one seat at the table.
posted by initapplette at 3:36 PM on December 23, 2007

whooops. Sorry about that.
posted by initapplette at 3:36 PM on December 23, 2007

Actually, I just personally like the atmosphere at Vietnam. And now that Vietnam Cafe is open in UCity, I'll be able to convince my fellow choiristers that we should get Vietnamese food more frequently!

And truth be told, I just absolutely adore their Tofu Chow Fun. The flat noodles are so good and smokey and the tofu is just perfectly lightly fried. (I actually went there last night before the Philly Pops concert, so I'm still on a Tofu Chow Fun high.)

In any event - Nodding Head is at 15th and Sansom, so it is pretty centrally located. But I agree. The librarians should make the call, since they are the ones who have to do important stuffs.

Desuetude, where is Nam Phuong?
posted by greekphilosophy at 6:41 AM on December 24, 2007

Is this open to philly-local non-librarian types?
posted by Orb2069 at 10:15 AM on December 28, 2007

I do believe it is. I'll be there and I'm not a librarian. I just play one on TV.
posted by greekphilosophy at 10:36 AM on December 28, 2007

Orb2069, the non-librarians have invited ourselves along. (But I'm totally down with librario-talk.)
posted by desuetude at 10:37 AM on December 28, 2007

I can do either day, other than the 11th before 5p (Class). Is there a treatment for over-hyphenation?
posted by Orb2069 at 11:09 AM on December 28, 2007

Hey, I said in the original post that "Philly Mefites should of course join us!" Everyone is welcome.

As for a meeting place, I'm leaning toward Nodding Head--Vietnam was mentioned in one of the conference publications as a good place to go, so it may be crowded. And I second initapplette on wherever we meet being a casual setting where we can swap spots and talk to new people every so often. Of course, I have no idea if Nodding Head fits the bill, seeing as I live in Florida.
posted by leesh at 7:48 PM on December 28, 2007

So. Is it decided?
posted by desuetude at 5:06 PM on January 3

Friday the 11th at some time and some location? Nodding Head unless locals have a better idea?
posted by leesh at 5:28 PM on January 3

I've never been there so I can't say if Nodding Head will suit our purposes. The website looks good, though.
posted by chihiro at 5:52 PM on January 3

[Nods head]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:29 AM on January 4

That menu looks great--yay! So what time does everyone want to meet? Do we need reservations?
posted by leesh at 7:16 AM on January 4

I would think on a Friday night reservations would be advisable. As to time, I'll be getting in early on Friday, so whenever is fine with me. (But not too late, I've got an 8AM meeting on rare book cataloging on Saturday, and it would be rude to start snoring.)
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:38 AM on January 4

The Nodding Head has two distinct sections - one that is seating for dinner, and one that has larger seating areas for drinking and the like. Personally, I like the drinking areas large semicircular booths (they are huge) because they offer quite a bit of milling around opportunity, but have tables suitable for drinking/eating at. I don't know if they do reservations for those, but it would be worth finding out. I also don't know if they permit food in the bar area, but I almost think they'd be crazy not to. (But Philadelphia has a lot of strange laws where drinking is concerned, so I would also not be surprised.)

I suppose it depends on what the total number of participants would be. Can we get a roll call going so that someone can make a reservation? (I'm happy to do so, btw.)
posted by greekphilosophy at 9:12 AM on January 4

Present!
posted by chihiro at 9:16 AM on January 4

I am definitely in.

The exhibit floor is open from 5:15-7:30 pm on Friday night, and I do love to go and scoop up advance copies from all my favorite authors/publishers and enter raffles for umpteen iPods and food-laden gift baskets which I never win. So, sometime after 7:30 then?

Or whatever time is most easily reservable.
posted by initapplette at 9:19 AM on January 4

I'll definitely be there! 7:30 or 8ish works for me.
posted by leesh at 9:40 AM on January 4

Me too. Wanna say eight to give you librariotypes time to get over there?

And I'm totally looking forward to the cool party favors from initapplette, right?!
posted by desuetude at 1:22 PM on January 4

I am going to try to make it!
posted by mothershock at 7:39 PM on January 4

Aye!
posted by Orb2069 at 6:53 PM on January 6

I'll be there.
posted by lagreen at 10:26 AM on January 7

okay, so 7:30ish this friday at the nodding head?

who's gonna have the metafilter sign/crown?
posted by misanthropicsarah at 7:41 PM on January 7

Ack this snuck up on me. I'm in, though.

Is anyone else taking a train in?
posted by potch at 8:55 PM on January 7

I can't get there until after 10:30... anybody think they'll be there that long?
posted by ulotrichous at 6:42 AM on January 8

ulotrichous, there's a good chance some of us will still be around. (Check this thread if case we move!)
posted by desuetude at 6:45 AM on January 8

potch, I'll be taking the R7 into Suburban Station.
posted by lagreen at 7:02 AM on January 8

Gah!

I now have the flu, so I wont be in attendance. (And at the risk of being uninvited, I wont plan on toting hand sanitizer and wearing a surgical mask or gloves! Groan!)

But everyone have a wonderful time, and make sure to come back this way to fill me in on all the lovely goings-on.

Patrick
posted by greekphilosophy at 5:59 PM on January 8

greekphilosophy, I think that you should attend, wearing your official Metafilter face mask. That way, we won't have to make a sign.
posted by desuetude at 6:39 AM on January 9

I'm at work until 10, but I can head to the city after that if folks will still be around.
posted by ludwig_van at 5:08 PM on January 9

Any volunteers to make some sort of Metafilter sign? Or should we come up with another way of identifying ourselves?
posted by leesh at 2:54 PM on January 10

Any volunteers to make some sort of Metafilter sign?

I think that'd be you. :)
posted by desuetude at 6:42 AM on January 11

I don't think the pad of paper in my hotel room is big enough to actually get anyone's attention . . .
posted by leesh at 12:46 PM on January 11

Bah, be creative.

(Just in case, perhaps whoever has the crown could bring it?)
posted by desuetude at 1:17 PM on January 11

Hey everyone, sorry I didn't make it back last night! Dinner took longer than expected (though it was delicious--I highly recommend the vegetarian chinese place down the block from Nodding Head) and my roommate wanted to get back. I hope it was a fun meetup!!
posted by leesh at 3:41 AM on January 12

pics pls.
posted by 31d1 at 8:30 AM on January 12

Sorry I didn't make it! I wound up getting held up with the SO. Hope everything went well!
posted by Orb2069 at 11:10 AM on January 12

That was a blast.
posted by potch at 3:09 PM on January 12

I had a great time. Thanks everyone!
posted by chihiro at 4:27 PM on January 12

I came over to MetaTalk to see if there was a Philly meetup anytime soon, and ugh. Missed it by two days. I hope everyone had a smashing good time. See you all at the next one.
posted by edverb at 6:45 PM on January 13

Pictures?
posted by ludwig_van at 8:52 PM on January 13

Alright, alright, everyone keep your pants on. I was away for the weekend and just got back...I'll post pics tomorrow.
posted by desuetude at 9:23 PM on January 13

everyone keep your pants on

lol too late
posted by ludwig_van at 10:58 PM on January 13

Aww, I love the little post-Meetup orgy of contact-adding in my sidebar.

Clarification: Will post photos tonight, since they're saved to my home computer, not work. In case anyone's waiting for photos before re-pantsing.
posted by desuetude at 7:49 AM on January 14

I had a great time too!

Although as expected, I won no gift baskets.
posted by initapplette at 2:06 PM on January 14

Sorry edverb! I wondered if you and Mrs. edverb would be there (and if you'd listened to the new Rush album yet). I will MefiMail you next time, just in case!
posted by chihiro at 6:24 PM on January 14

ALA Midwinter/Philly Meetup December 18, 2007 6:02 PM Subscribe

ALA Midwinter/Philly Meetup
December 18, 2007 6:02 PM Subscribe