MeFi Tenth Anniversary Site launched

May 5, 2009 1:31 PM

Today we're unveiling the sub-site to organize meetups for the upcoming tenth anniversary. Let me run down the aspects of it with a few development screenshots:

1. The homepage will eventually look something like this. A list of all scheduled meetups and proposed ones still in the planning stages, along with a google map of them all. There is a link to organize one in your own town not listed.

2. If you want to organize an anniversary meetup, you'll see a signup screen a lot like this. We're asking for paypal addreses so that we can send some money your way after the meetup takes place ($50-100 in most cases for well-attended meetups).

3. A party in the planning stages will look something like this. You can spot the organizer, people can say whether they are attending or might be, and people can start several threads about the upcoming meetup.

4. Only the organizer can decide on the venue, date, and time, and they'll see something like this screen to pick out the exact meetup location.

5. When a venue/time is decided on, the meetup page for that city will look something like this. A huge obvious banner shows where and when it'll be, with a link to Google Maps to help you get there.

6. After a meetup takes place, we'll display photos from the event like the screenshot here. We're actually still developing a way to do this, most likely through the use of tags we'll ask you to put on the event photos. We'll have an "all photos from all meetups" page as well. We might incorporate twitter posts from attendees during the event as well.

This is still a work in progress, but we think it'll make things organized and make it easier for people to find nearby meetups and for us admins to be able to locate the organizer and help pay the bar tab for the evening.

There are likely tons of bugs so if you spot any problems during the process of organizing something, and please, please only apply if you are dead serious about hosting, organizing, and being the person on the hook for the event itself.

posted by mathowie to MetaFilter gatherings at 1:31 PM (285 comments total)

You do not have access to this page.
posted by iamabot at 1:34 PM on May 5

I got "You do have have access to this page" when I clicked on the first link.
posted by amyms at 1:34 PM on May 5

I don't have access to that page! How did you know, iamabot?

(this is cool.)
posted by rtha at 1:34 PM on May 5

"You do have have access to this page"
posted by amyms at 1:34 PM on May 5

Maybe unveiling means "show screenshots and tell us the URL".
posted by smackfu at 1:35 PM on May 5

You are now on the cutting edge.
posted by GuyZero at 1:38 PM on May 5 [2 favorites]

Maybe unveiling means "show screenshots and tell us the URL".

Maybe matt is trying to tell me something about showing up at the anniversary meet ups..
posted by iamabot at 1:38 PM on May 5

Well, you may not have access to that page, but I am experiencing an unexpected error while attempting to load the template error.cfm.

This is because I am awesome. And you're not.
posted by scrump at 1:39 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Ok, should work now.
posted by mathowie at 1:39 PM on May 5

Neat. Since it's worded as "applying" to be an organizer, I guess there is an unmentioned approval step somewhere?
posted by smackfu at 1:41 PM on May 5

BAMN! Got the New York page created, but having trouble following the link from the main page to get back to it.

"Element ASK_LAST_VISIT is undefined in SESSION.
The error occurred on line 315. "
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:41 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Huzzah! Thanks, Matt.

we're not going to be required to play Pearl Jam's Ten at the meetups, are we? Because, uh, I have to wash my hair that whole weekend if so.
posted by scody at 1:41 PM on May 5

Seems to be working now, though.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:43 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

If anyone else is unclear, you are looking at POSTS on each meetup page, not comments.
posted by smackfu at 1:44 PM on May 5

You get an error when you try to access the New York page when not logged in.
posted by camworld at 1:45 PM on May 5

Zowie, one of my photos made it into a screenshot. And I think EmpressCallipygos is in two of those photos. Which is great. 'Cause she is wonderful.
posted by ocherdraco at 1:49 PM on May 5

I may be able to help with NYC planning and resources. Besides venue, what else is needed? Are you looking for sponsors or just donations? Is there going to be a small fee for each person attending to help cover the cost?
posted by camworld at 1:49 PM on May 5

I'm already all over that Minneapolis shits, but maybe it should be called Twin Cities, unless st. Paulites are planning a separate, competing meetup.

Bastards.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:50 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

If you notice with the breadcrumb links, you can do cool stuff like this:

Show all US-based meetups
posted by mathowie at 1:50 PM on May 5

Someone make a Toronto meet up happen again. I can try and drink less this time.
posted by chunking express at 1:50 PM on May 5 [2 favorites]

Are their already mod-ly plans to organize something in the Portland, OR area, or should I consider applying for the position?
posted by dersins at 1:51 PM on May 5

I would like to sofa surf to a meetup somewhere nice.

Failing that, if I go to a bar by myself can I still get the tab paid? It'll be less than $100
posted by Rumple at 1:53 PM on May 5

Wow, this is pretty cool. And I could be in one of three different countries during those dates.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:53 PM on May 5

we're not going to be required to play Pearl Jam's Ten at the meetups, are we? Because, uh, I have to wash my hair that whole weekend if so.

"Ah-uh-ah, MeeeeFiiiii-eee-iii ... MeFi's still alive, hey-uh-hey-now-uh, yeeaaahhhh, MeFi's still alive ..."
posted by joe lisboa at 1:54 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

We've chattered a little bit about Portland-area stuff but haven't really pinned anything down, dersins.
posted by cortex at 1:55 PM on May 5

so that we can send some money your way after the meetup takes place ($50-100 in most cases for well-attended meetups)

Am I reading this right? FREE BEER!
posted by exogenous at 1:57 PM on May 5

Checking to see if dersinsette would punch me repeatedly in the throat if I offered to literally host a meetup....
posted by dersins at 1:57 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

It has a professional white background!!!
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:01 PM on May 5 [5 favorites]

paging rtha, gingerbeer, iamkimiam, locquacious...
posted by special-k at 2:06 PM on May 5

Am I reading this right? FREE BEER!

Yes free beer. Free as in beer. Yes.
posted by jessamyn at 2:06 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

I think 'moonMan would have my head on a platter if I hosted a meet-up. Besides, no one wants to come to my house anyway. My cat is a dick.

(So, uh, yeah. Someone in Southern New England... Host a party!!!)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 2:11 PM on May 5

$50-100 won't even cover my personal bar tab, but it's the thought that counts.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 2:11 PM on May 5 [2 favorites]

I just peed myself a little, am I the only one?
Please move this to AskMe if appropriate
posted by not_on_display at 2:16 PM on May 5 [2 favorites]

Throat punching has been suggested as an option, so I guess I won't be inviting all of you to hang out in the back yard with our chickens. Alas.
posted by dersins at 2:16 PM on May 5

paging rtha, gingerbeer, iamkimiam, locquacious...

Please do not punch me (or gingerbeer), but I think we're planning on going to Portland for that meetup. Of course, if the SFBayArea meetup is on a different night, we are so there!
posted by rtha at 2:19 PM on May 5

I think we're thinking that if your meetup had <5 we'll reimburse up to $50, >10 then you get $100.

We also want flickr photos of the bar tab at the end of the night. I think that'll make for an awesome photostream of just bar tab receipts.

Maybe we could also do a guessing game for the total bar tab of all meetups combined. Closest to the actual amount gets a t-shirt or iPod or something like that.
posted by mathowie at 2:20 PM on May 5 [4 favorites]

the outcome is clear: beer for free, for victory!
posted by the aloha at 2:22 PM on May 5

Someone make a Toronto meet up happen again. I can try and drink less this time.

Done. Rather than drink less, how bout less flash? We nearly got our asses kicked last time... on numerous occasions. As well, I'll match whatever Matt puts in for our debauchery.
posted by gman at 2:31 PM on May 5 [2 favorites]

Maybe we could also do a guessing game for the total bar tab of all meetups combined. Closest to the actual amount gets a t-shirt or iPod or something like that.

I'd prefer a 'which city has the highest tab' challenge.
posted by gman at 2:33 PM on May 5

I'd like to propose we come up with an official Metafilter drink. Someone get on inventing one, pronto.
posted by misha at 2:35 PM on May 5

Blue curacao strained through a plate of beans?
posted by scody at 2:40 PM on May 5 [3 favorites]

You might want to change that link to "Nominate a city AND apply to organize" because I read that as "nominate a city OR apply to organize," and I don't wanna be organizing no party.
posted by desjardins at 2:43 PM on May 5

Please do not punch me (or gingerbeer), but I think we're planning on going to Portland for that meetup. Of course, if the SFBayArea meetup is on a different night, we are so there!

oooh Portland! I need a change of scenery. I may jump on that bandwagon too. But ColdChef's party is also tempting.
posted by special-k at 2:43 PM on May 5

misha, there was a whole thread on that topic. Behold, Metafilter: The Drink.
posted by desjardins at 2:46 PM on May 5

I'd prefer a 'which city has the highest tab' challenge.

We could do it arms-race style. We'll pay for the largest tab. And only the largest tab.
posted by cortex at 2:51 PM on May 5 [11 favorites]

We could do it arms-race style. We'll pay for the largest tab. And only the largest tab.

Ignore my well-meaning associate.
posted by jessamyn at 2:52 PM on May 5 [23 favorites]

I'd prefer a 'which city has the highest tab' challenge.

It's always New York, right? Even if few people show up and don't drink much.
posted by Airhen at 2:53 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Well? Hardly. If you want to win the kitty, you need to be ordering top shelf.

Also, please let us know where you will be holding your party, so that we can contact the bar manager and negotiate our vig on their take that night.
posted by cortex at 2:54 PM on May 5

We'll pay for the largest tab. And only the largest tab.

Is that before or after exchange rates? Because I've just been booking stuff in Japan (and hoping Tokyo hosts an anniversary party) and it sounds kind of scary. Fifty thousand yen for a week's accomodation. Which is actually totally reasonable once it becomes NZ dollars (a bit less than 800) but still fifty thousand currency units all at once!
posted by shelleycat at 2:59 PM on May 5

At least a few MeFites do RAGBRAI, right? It starts July 19, so anyone up for one at the start of RAGBRAI? Would it be the first Council Bluffs, Iowa meetup? (I may miss New York's, which I know everyone cares deeply about.
posted by Airhen at 3:01 PM on May 5

At cinemafiend's urging, I submitted my application to host the Birmingham, AL branch of the global par-tay.

I'm thinking bouncy castle, hallucinogens, and a good ol' Baptist footwashing.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:07 PM on May 5 [3 favorites]

Oh fucckity. Just looked at my calendar.
I am supposed to be in Yellowstone that weekend. damn.

must work with boss to postpone....
posted by special-k at 3:08 PM on May 5

At least a few MeFites do RAGBRAI, right? It starts July 19, so anyone up for one at the start of RAGBRAI? Would it be the first Council Bluffs, Iowa meetup?

Yes. There was apparently one other meetup in Iowa. so this will be the second one in the state. It might be worth the drive.

I'm not usually much of a plan-making type of person, but I'm interested in what kind of standards the mass meetups are being held up to. I may not be the best choice to be The Organizer of a meetup, but I'll certainly help out with the grunt work.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 3:14 PM on May 5

We could do it arms-race style. We'll pay for the largest tab. And only the largest tab. Is there any consideration for number of attendees vs cost of the bill? Or any thoughts of bail to be paid? (Have any Meetups ended in jail time, even if just over night?)
posted by filthy light thief at 3:18 PM on May 5

Well? Hardly. If you want to win the kitty, you need to be ordering top shelf.

Unless you're in London. Some brilliant marketing campaigners here have convinced them that Jack Daniels is good American liquor. So, its not uncommon to get some tiny bourbon cocktail for like £10 - yes thats $15 of your American dollars.
posted by vacapinta at 3:22 PM on May 5

I will be in Des Moines Iowa in October, incidentally, so maybe another meetup then? Just fyi.

Also the organizer doesn't need to do much, just mostly be the person who is responsible for the final choice of venue and be the go-to person for questions and etc. Maybe have a cell phone so people can call and say "are you still at the bar?"

We certainly don't expect people to have parties in their house, though that's fine, or really do much heavy lifting except maybe get mailed a few t-shirts [maybe] and get reimbursed for some drinks. As the organizaer you can also delegate pretty much any of this, we'd just like to have one contact person in each area and someone to moderate disputes if there are any as far as where/when to meet.
posted by jessamyn at 3:25 PM on May 5

OMG I want a bouncy house!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:28 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Unless you're in London.

I think there's some kind of weird proximity effect with booze, where when you get a sufficient distance from the locale from which a booze comes, it's possible for the polarity to reverse based on a fluctuation of the quantum import-label dimension.

Cf. Fosters being allegedly Australian for beer, etc.
posted by cortex at 3:32 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Hey, maybe one person at each meet-up could bring a laptop with a webcam, and we could simulcast to each other over MSN - linked together in one convo by one person from each meet-up providing an MSN address to "Add to Conversation".

And then at the stroke of midnight we could toast each other. And then light sparklers! And that's when the unicyclists would appear!
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:39 PM on May 5

I think we're thinking that if your meetup had <5 we'll reimburse up to $50, >10 then you get $100...

Um, uh, why, no--this isn't a meetup of twenty! It's ten meetups of two...
posted by Sys Rq at 3:41 PM on May 5 [3 favorites]

...aaaaaand I borked it.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:42 PM on May 5

This! Is! AWESOOOOOOOOOOOOME!
posted by Jofus at 3:43 PM on May 5

/kicks cortex into well.
posted by Jofus at 3:43 PM on May 5

...aaaaaand I borked it.

Drunk with anticipation, I see. Per capita, total bill, exchange rate, whatever. My money's on Toronto, fuckers.
posted by gman at 3:48 PM on May 5

Yessss.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:51 PM on May 5

If Chicago wants to compete for the most expensive tab, we're gonna need to move it to a more expensive bar. Or bring backup livers.
posted by SpiffyRob at 3:52 PM on May 5

(...aaaaaand they unborked it.)
posted by Sys Rq at 3:52 PM on May 5

I am supposed to be in Yellowstone that weekend. damn.

I'll take the trip for you, if you want.
posted by inigo2 at 3:54 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

All you drag racing fans can meet up in Augusta, GA that weekend. Seriously, if there is anyone interested, drop me a line and maybe we can set up that mythical GA meetup.
posted by TedW at 4:04 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

How about a tshirt design challenge? Just make sure there are girl sizes.
posted by theora55 at 4:10 PM on May 5

And professional white shirts.
posted by subbes at 4:13 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

SpiffyRob: naw, we just need to cut loose and not do it on a school night. I've seen the bar tab Eamon can run up when people go along with his crazy schemes. alas, I will not attend because I have to be at a reunion that weekend, in Wisconsin
posted by crush-onastick at 4:20 PM on May 5

And then at the stroke of midnight we could toast each other.

Whose midnight? PST for Metafilter? Or GMT because it's the meanest? Also, will the unicyclists be in on the bar tabs? Drunken unicyclery sounds like quite the challenge I wish to see.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:25 PM on May 5

I wonder if there might be a general page for issues that apply to ALL the meetups. Some of these might be: how to set up audio/video links, some sort of tool to help connect people looking for a crash pad with people willing to host (potential visitors should list themselves, hosts should be able to privately offer individual people a couch,) an exchange thread where music for a playlist could be posted -- it might be fun if at least for a while all the meetups played the same music. If one city comes up with a fun activity or special element, they could share that without everyone needing to comb all the threads.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:26 PM on May 5 [2 favorites]

Could there be a facility for people in an area to express interest in a meetup around that time, prior to someone having to go to the effort of arranging something?
Useful for those of us in areas with only a handful of mefites. Slack mefites, like me, who've never been to a meetup.

oh the shame
posted by coriolisdave at 4:40 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Whose midnight? PST for Metafilter? Or GMT because it's the meanest? Also, will the unicyclists be in on the bar tabs? Drunken unicyclery sounds like quite the challenge I wish to see.

Midnight on the International Date Line - the first moments of the new day for planet Earth. Unicycles optional.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:43 PM on May 5

Can we send you our paypal address just for kicks?

And I am going to MeMail a couple folks and gage interest.

Seriously though, what's the cash for? What are you wanting to see people do with it?
posted by cjorgensen at 4:46 PM on May 5

This sounds like a very good idea. I'm also very happy that a more professional colour is being used.
posted by ob at 4:50 PM on May 5

so that we can send some money your way after the meetup takes place

How are we supposed to buy the beer, then? I don't think you know who you're dealing with.
posted by lukemeister at 4:53 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Seriously though, what's the cash for? What are you wanting to see people do with it?

Basically just a bar-tab subsidy. Have a meetup, get some people together, have a drink on the site.
posted by cortex at 4:54 PM on May 5

Re Iowa: I am a terrible person to be planning it, as I live in New York and have merely driven through Council Bluffs and am not from Iowa. But Iowans or RAGBRAI cyclist, (and, hey, Omahans, cause we're talking the western part of the state here) , memail me if you want to discuss it.
posted by Airhen at 4:58 PM on May 5

I am supposed to be in Yellowstone that weekend. damn.

Surely some Yellowstone bears are Mefites, though they don't like when you call them Shirley.
posted by lukemeister at 5:06 PM on May 5

OK, though my back yard has been vetoed, I'm down for planning the Portland (OR) version of this.
posted by dersins at 5:08 PM on May 5

Okay Aussies, are you up yet? Let's talk Sydney.

I'm happy to help organise, but I feel weird about putting myself forward since I spend less and less time around here these days. tellurian? Ubu? Any other volunteers?
posted by web-goddess at 5:12 PM on May 5

OMG I want a bouncy house!

And you shall have one. What kind of video chat rooms is anyone familiar with? I'm seeing this multichannel one at www.camfrog.com. Let's hook up and test a few cities soon and see what kind of performance we can get.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:13 PM on May 5

I made a joke about holding a meetup in Slater. I got a few memails on it. I know there are people in Ames, Marshalltown, and Des Moines, so will send out some feelers. One of the few things that has made me feel like an outside on this site is that previously the closest meetup I could go to was in Chicago.

And cortex, thanks for the clarification. I was thinking site rental or something stupid. And was thinking that could be had for free.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:16 PM on May 5

Whee! Sign me up for the Toronto shindig!
posted by heatherann at 5:18 PM on May 5

Drunken unicyclery sounds like quite the challenge I wish to see.

As a not so good unicyclist I can attest that drunken unicyclery is a lot easier than you'd think.
posted by aspo at 5:27 PM on May 5

I wonder if we can get Gandalf and Lars Ulrich to show up in DC again...

tiny bourbon cocktail for like £10

Holy crap, good to know!
posted by JoanArkham at 5:39 PM on May 5

Two things--

1. I "applied" to organize the Portland version of this almost an hour ago. If it hasn't shown up at ten.metafilter.com does that mean my application's been rejected?

2. I know this has its own subsite and its own link in the header, but people have grown accustomed to seeing upcoming meetups in the sidebar. As this thread scrolls down the page perhaps it could have a link at the top of the "upcoming meetups" in the sidebar?
posted by dersins at 6:03 PM on May 5

gman writes "I'd prefer a 'which city has the highest tab' challenge."

Hey, not everyone lives in the centre of the universe. Some of us are population challenged. We got to make this per capita or maybe something like classes (IE: 1 attendee; 2-5 attendees; 6-10; 11-20; 21-50; 51-100; 101+). Or actual weight classes: everyone weighs in at the start of the meet up and we split it up into under 250s; 250-1000s and unlimited.

However considering it's just me and Razzle Bathbone locally maybe a regional meetup is in order. I know five fresh fish is in Vernon, Lemurrhea and Bearman in Kelowna.
posted by Mitheral at 6:03 PM on May 5

(So, uh, yeah. Someone in Southern New England... Host a party!!!)

I'd be up for planning/helping to plan a Boston area/Southern New England regional meetup, but I don't have a paypal account. I suppose I could get one, though, if no one else is desperate to take over the reigns.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 6:05 PM on May 5

1. I "applied" to organize the Portland version of this almost an hour ago. If it hasn't shown up at ten.metafilter.com does that mean my application's been rejected?

Looks like there's some sort of bug affecting the Portland meetup; the "look at meetups in Portland" page is throwing a CF error right now as well. Tinkering is presumably under way.

2. I know this has its own subsite and its own link in the header, but people have grown accustomed to seeing upcoming meetups in the sidebar. As this thread scrolls down the page perhaps it could have a link at the top of the "upcoming meetups" in the sidebar?

Yeah, it'd probably be good to do something like that.

I'd be up for planning/helping to plan a Boston area/Southern New England regional meetup, but I don't have a paypal account.

If you're gungho to organize but don't have a paypal account, drop us a line, we can certainly figure something out.
posted by cortex at 6:10 PM on May 5

How about the DC/MD/VA area? The 18th is my last day of comps so I'll be in the mood for sure.
posted by orrnyereg at 6:12 PM on May 5

So the meetups are three days? It's like friggin Woodstock, man, only with beer... and computers! Awesome! Count me in-ish on the drinkety parts (Philadelphia iteration), provided I can cajole/sweet-talk/chloroform Missus_A...
posted by Mister_A at 6:12 PM on May 5

web-goddess, I'm in for Sydney. I'll leave the official organising to longer-standing members, but I'm happy to help out.
posted by embrangled at 6:18 PM on May 5

Looks like there's some sort of bug affecting the Portland meetup

OMG I GAVE METAFILTER SWINE FLU!
posted by dersins at 6:19 PM on May 5

Did dersins just call himself a pig?
posted by shelleycat at 6:31 PM on May 5

dersins, Portland is all set. We were using that as a test case before we opened up the site so there were some strange things going on with Portland.
posted by pb at 6:33 PM on May 5

I'm on the hook for Atlanta now. Get in there and speak your peace, Atlantans, lest I decide that we're all going to Stone Mountain for the laser light show.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:49 PM on May 5

We were using that as a test case before we opened up the site so there were some strange things going on with Portland.

Hence all those bumperstickers that say "Keep the Portland Row In The Database Weird".
posted by cortex at 6:56 PM on May 5 [5 favorites]

Uh... the only option once you've clicked "maybe" is "no." I know it's polite to confirm early but really now... :)
posted by Kattullus at 6:57 PM on May 5

That is, in the "joining us" sidebar on a meetup page.
posted by Kattullus at 7:01 PM on May 5

Kattullus, just click "no" then "yes" to confirm. It's an extra click, but that doubly confirms you'll attend.
posted by pb at 7:05 PM on May 5

cortex writes "If you're gungho to organize but don't have a paypal account, drop us a line, we can certainly figure something out."

Sockpuppets for everyone who attends.
posted by Mitheral at 7:05 PM on May 5

grapefruitmoon: "I think 'moonMan would have my head on a platter if I hosted a meet-up. ... (So, uh, yeah. Someone in Southern New England... Host a party!!!)"

I'm in the same boat. Love to host a party, Missus Plutor would filet me alive, also afraid of commitment. But I'll show up with Harpoon growlers aplenty.
posted by Plutor at 7:16 PM on May 5

July 19 is during Otakon :(
posted by yeoz at 7:19 PM on May 5

Did dersins just call himself a pig?

I figured everyone pretty much already knew that about me.
posted by dersins at 7:33 PM on May 5

Plutor: "I'm in the same boat. Love to host a party, Missus Plutor would filet me alive, also afraid of commitment. But I'll show up with Harpoon growlers aplenty."

Ummm, Plutor, remember, you can't host the Boston Meetup. It's you, me, the Mods and the Beatles (maybe) in Tokyo! Don't tell me you were drunk when you promised us that. And if you're not there, all I'll do is be nervous all night, clinging to jessamyn and asking her to translate what the other guys are saying for me. And she hates doing that.

Unless the Beatles DO show up, and then hey, jam sesh.
posted by not_on_display at 7:36 PM on May 5

I'd like to come to the Sydney one, too. Historically, Tellurian is the mother hen ^h^h^h^h leader of the wolf pack when it comes to sorting Sydney meetups. Maybe Firday evening on the 17th to kick off the anniversary weekend? I don't think 11am Sunday morning to timezone linkup with the Americans would be as festive.
posted by bystander at 7:37 PM on May 5

Hey, a morning champagne brunch? (With pastries! And possibly even strawberries!)
That sounds terribly civilised, to me.
posted by coriolisdave at 7:50 PM on May 5

dersins: I know this has its own subsite and its own link in the header, but people have grown accustomed to seeing upcoming meetups in the sidebar. As this thread scrolls down the page perhaps it could have a link at the top of the "upcoming meetups" in the sidebar?

I like this idea. List it as "HOLY SHIT, IT'S THE MOTHERFUCKIN' 10TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY YEEEEEAH!"
posted by Pronoiac at 7:51 PM on May 5

So I just clicked through a link in RA, and it appears to not be formatting properly, this is what it gave me:

http://.metafilter.com/15/Portland-yo#53
posted by mrzarquon at 7:57 PM on May 5

I've signed up Vancouver as a location - and volunteered myself (I love volunteer as a transitive verb) to help organamize.
posted by birdsquared at 8:05 PM on May 5

thanks, mrzarquon, fixed up!
posted by pb at 8:27 PM on May 5

New Orleans is representing. And I'll repeat my offer here: I'll match mathowie's bartab for those coming to the NOLA meetup. Double your drinking!
posted by ColdChef at 8:36 PM on May 5

When you say "hosting", does that mean you prefer these at someone's house, or would a bar suffice?
posted by eamondaly at 8:45 PM on May 5

I "applied" to organize the Brisbane version of this almost an hour ago. If it hasn't shown up at ten.metafilter.com does that mean my application's been rejected?
posted by dg at 8:52 PM on May 5

Of course, when I say "an hour ago", I really mean five or six minutes.
posted by dg at 8:53 PM on May 5

How many Meetups can one person attend, I wonder?
posted by desuetude at 8:56 PM on May 5

dg, Brisbane is on the list. New meetup cities show up on the bottom of the list on the front page.
posted by pb at 8:56 PM on May 5

Shall I be mother?
posted by tellurian at 9:16 PM on May 5 [3 favorites]

Suggestion: alphabetize (or otherwise organize) the list of participating cities. Will make it easier for ppl to find their hometurf parties, and suckle beer from the teat of mother MeFi.
posted by not_on_display at 9:22 PM on May 5

I'd put my hand up for organizing a Korea (presumably Seoul) event, but I'm coming back from 12 days in Canada the week before, and won't be online for much of that time away (and probably won't much feel like travelling all the way to Seoul again so soon after anyway). Not sure how many of us are in Korea these days, but I encourage somebody else to do the honours, if you're so inclined. I might even get up the gumption to hop on the bus and attend.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:28 PM on May 5

true not_on_display, alphabetized.
posted by pb at 9:31 PM on May 5

Thanks pb - must be some kind of laggy thing happening (or I'm just slow), because it wasn't on the list and it wasn't on the map, despite all the different sorts of refreshing-type activities I engaged in.

All good now, though.
posted by dg at 9:34 PM on May 5

tellurian - please do! I'm happy to help however I can.
posted by web-goddess at 10:07 PM on May 5

Whip up a batch of scones then please and I'll put the kettle on.
posted by tellurian at 10:15 PM on May 5

Yeah, I guess we could work on the "host" terminology, because really you should do this at a bar, not your house.
posted by mathowie at 10:20 PM on May 5

We don't mention "host" on the anniversary site anywhere. That was just in this thread. I think we call the top dog "organizer" everywhere else.
posted by pb at 10:23 PM on May 5

Unless you live in a bar, or have a totally sweet house

for the record, if I ever fulfill my dream of owning a bar, there will be mefi nights
posted by mrzarquon at 10:23 PM on May 5

I'm pretty sure tellurian would be happy to take scones & tea to the pub.
posted by bystander at 10:25 PM on May 5

Dammit, I'm in Tanzania those dates.

Soo...anybody coming to my meetup in Zanzibar?
posted by nudar at 10:36 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

Bitchin. I'm going to be in DC that weekend for a conference. I definitely hope I can get out to wherever the meetup is.

Because everything in DC is like ten minutes apart, right? It's like a little Lego town in my head.
posted by sugarfish at 10:41 PM on May 5

Um, the kerning on that "Mefi Tenth" logo, isn't it a little off?

*ducks*
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:47 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

@vacapinta:
blahhrgrrrrllll!!! When single malts are so much better! I'm leaning toward Europe because I want to see the Henry VIII exhibit and new Magritte museum.
posted by brujita at 11:04 PM on May 5

Yeah, I guess we could work on the "host" terminology, because really you should do this at a bar, not your house.

Yeah, I mean, I love you people and all, but not enough to try to clean my apartment to the extent necessary to invite you all over.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 11:10 PM on May 5

desuetude: "How many Meetups can one person attend, I wonder?"

If someone organizes a Seattle meetup, it would be quite tempting to try to hit Portland-Seattle-Vancouver....
posted by emyd at 11:26 PM on May 5

if Portland is going to be Sunday, then Vancouver should do Friday night and Seattle Saturday. Then it would be doable.
posted by jacalata at 12:40 AM on May 6

I just set-up Nairobi, Kenya, but I don't see any of my "more inside" details. Hope me, pb-wan-kenobi?

(nudar, if you can pop over from Zanz for the night I have a futon you can crash on)

If we can pull this off our bar tab is gonna look awesomely huge in Kenyan schillings.
posted by allkindsoftime at 2:03 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Bug: The ability to flag, but not favourite in '10th' threads, gives the whole thing a negative vibe. What the hell am I gonna flag anyway? Venue suggestions I disagree with?
posted by gman at 3:58 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Agreed. I wanted to favorite something StickyCarpet said in the New York thread and felt hamstrung.
posted by ocherdraco at 4:31 AM on May 6

I'm going to be in the Maldives on my honeymoon for that weekend. I'll gladly go have a drink at one of the bars if any other mefites happen to be at the W resort in the Maldives at the same time!
posted by Grither at 5:11 AM on May 6

I'm sure someone who is not me will get DC on the board soon. Right? Right?

It's like a little Lego town in my head.

You know, it kind of is.
posted by JoanArkham at 6:40 AM on May 6

Can I nominate my favorite official Metafilter drink again?

A $5 Flameout:

Mix 25 ml blue curacao and 25 ml Bacardi 151 Rum
Pour into shot glass, light on fire
Drop into a pint of Gray's Oatmeal Stout
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:43 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]

Seconding or perhaps thirding the request that someone organize for Boston. If I'm going to go to my first meetup, it would be awesome to have it be the tenth anniversary.
posted by marginaliana at 6:46 AM on May 6

I do not recall ever seeing a Brazilian on this site. Anyone? If I have to I will get one of my local trainees to sign up, just because I love the idea of free MetaFilter beer that much.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:59 AM on May 6

Can we do more than just have a drink on MeFi? I mean, I realise you're only paying for drinks (thanks!) but if I wanted to throw MeFi an actual birthday party in Dublin complete with balloons, party bags, MeFi cupcakes, and ridiculous hats - and we can organise the bank for that amongst ourselves - would that be OK?
posted by DarlingBri at 7:19 AM on May 6

Heh. You are manifestly not limited to the mefi "have some drinks" budget—if you want to organize and self-fund something crazy, organize and self-fund that bad mother.

We don't want anybody getting in over their head just because they feel like their compelled to put on a superlative shindig or whatever, but as long as you know what you're doing there's no reason you can't think big.
posted by cortex at 7:38 AM on May 6

I'm thinking that a Milwaukee meetup is needed, but I'm probably not the best choice to organize it: I'll blow all the money on gasoline, road flares, ammunition, and bail.

Just like all my parties.
posted by quin at 7:39 AM on May 6

Why am I not surprised that Chicago is all about the monthly meetups but no one wants to step up to the plate and organize a big one. Myself included.
posted by misskaz at 7:44 AM on May 6

Stupid bug report: if someone's name is cutoff because it is too long, like here for EmpressCallipygo..., the name isn't right justified correctly. In both IE and Firefox.
posted by smackfu at 7:51 AM on May 6

We don't want anybody getting in over their head just because they feel like their compelled to put on a superlative shindig or whatever, but as long as you know what you're doing there's no reason you can't think big.

On the other hand, on July 20th there's gonna be a vote, and whoever participated in the worst party gets thrown off Metafilter. So keep that in mind.
posted by inigo2 at 7:58 AM on May 6

cortexAdmin: We don't want anybody getting in over their head just because they feel like their compelled to put on a superlative shindig or whatever...

Wootness. FYI, Dublin may single-handedly bankrupt MeFi. A pint is €4.50, or about $6 US. We could have 3 people and we'd STILL have the highest freakin' bar tab...
posted by DarlingBri at 8:38 AM on May 6

Why am I not surprised that Chicago is all about the monthly meetups but no one wants to step up to the plate and organize a big one.

May I humbly suggest that it is quite easy for a Chicagoan to hop aboard a train and be whisked away south to New Orleans? Just think of Amtrack as your designated driver.
posted by ColdChef at 8:40 AM on May 6

jacalata, emyd - then perhaps I should host Sunday brunch in Olympia!
posted by epersonae at 8:44 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Why am I not surprised that Chicago is all about the monthly meetups but no one wants to step up to the plate and organize a big one. Myself included.

I'd totally do this if I knew the Chicago bar scene, but I live way way out in the 'burbs.

I might consider organizing Milwaukee if no one else steps up. Not sure if my parents will appreciate me stumbling in drunk at 3 am, and I'm sure as hell not driving back to Illinois at that hour, even sober. (BMW + Illinois plates + in Wisconsin + after midnight = ticket)
posted by desjardins at 8:46 AM on May 6

you know what, fuck it. It will be nice to get out of Illinois for a night or two. CHEESEHEADS UNITE
posted by desjardins at 8:47 AM on May 6

So I just posted up sunny St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Mrs. Bango (who is a member here but does not have the time to participate regularly or at all actually) and I promise to have a good old time on a WiFi-equipped-white-sand beach in honor of the auspicious day.

If there are any local Caribbean Mefites (Puerto Rico, St John, BVI etc) that I don't know about please come and make this the greatest Mefite lime ever!

If there are any traveling Mefites who have been looking for a good excuse for a Caribbean vacation - well I can't think of a better reason! I would be happy to help anyone make travel arrangements and would even consider hosting a couch-surfer or two if our expectations seemed compatible. Feel free to MeMail me.

Note to The Powers That Be: Unless this thing gets way more notice than I am expecting it to I will not be needing any funds, but I sure would love to get my hands on a Metafilter T-shirt.
posted by Bango Skank at 8:51 AM on May 6

Boston, Boston, Boston! ACK!

Also the surrounding Metro area.
posted by explosion at 8:58 AM on May 6

No San Francisco meetup yet? Seriously? Is Sactown gonna have to show you how it's done?
posted by Big_B at 8:59 AM on May 6

May I humbly suggest that it is quite easy for a Chicagoan to hop aboard a train and be whisked away south to New Orleans? Just think of Amtrack as your designated driver.
posted by ColdChef

Don't try and poach in the Toronto thread, undertaker.
posted by gman at 9:02 AM on May 6

I do not recall ever seeing a Brazilian on this site. Anyone?
I'm pretty sure there was someone in Sao Paulo. He had this incredible website with underground grafitti and stuff (which was posted to the blue), but I just can't remember his name.
posted by dhruva at 9:12 AM on May 6

Dublin may single-handedly bankrupt MeFi. A pint is €4.50, or about $6 US. We could have 3 people and we'd STILL have the highest freakin' bar tab

Six dollar beers? In L.A., that's called a dream come true.

Speaking of L.A., looks like the lot of are all actively avoiding pulling the trigger on organizing... C'MON, KLANG! I call you out, man!
posted by scody at 9:14 AM on May 6

I can't "Maybe" for multiple meetups? ColdChef's wicked words are making me think about New Orleans as a possibility, but New York still seems more probable; in an ideal world, I'd like to "Maybe" both of them.
posted by Greg Nog at 9:16 AM on May 6

Ah here: Ig
posted by dhruva at 9:20 AM on May 6

I don't know about the "no house" thing. We've got wireless, a pool and jacuzzi, Xbox, Wii and PS3--all the good geek stuff already. And I'm thinking one of those grilled cheese parties sounds awesome....any Floridians interested?
posted by misha at 9:20 AM on May 6

May I humbly suggest that it is quite easy for a Chicagoan to hop aboard a train and be whisked away south to New Orleans? Just think of Amtrack as your designated driver.

Tempting - and I have a cousin that lives there too. Unfortunately, my husband and I have spent an obscene amount of money on our sick kitten over the past two weeks, which has blown our vacation budget for the entire year right out of the water.
posted by misskaz at 9:26 AM on May 6

May I humbly suggest that it is quite easy for a Chicagoan to hop aboard a train and be whisked away south to New Orleans? Just think of Amtrack as your designated driver.
posted by ColdChef
The only meetup I've ever gotten myself to was when I was in New Orleans in December for the Biennial. The Bacchanal planned seems in every way equal to three days of looking a great art.
I would love to join you - and might if I get get all my ducks in a row. Heck, I'd even drive and would have room for a passenger or two.
posted by readery at 9:26 AM on May 6

¿Y donde están los Mexicanos?
posted by dhruva at 9:32 AM on May 6

The RSS feeds all seem to not be implemented. I'd like to subscribe to the Boston thread.
posted by Plutor at 9:32 AM on May 6

Don't try and poach in the Toronto thread, undertaker.

Oh, I'm poaching from EVERYBODY. In fact, stay at your frigid northern meetups and send your wives and girlfriends down to sultry New Orleans for the weekend.
posted by ColdChef at 9:50 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

I don't have a wife or girlfriend. Will you take my husband?
posted by desjardins at 10:37 AM on May 6

I don't have a wife or girlfriend. Will you take my husband?

I will, in fact, take your husband. I'll take all your loved ones! Bwahaha!
posted by ColdChef at 10:39 AM on May 6

Plutor, comment feeds are go.
posted by pb at 10:42 AM on May 6

And thanks for the heads up on long names smackfu, those should look better now.
posted by pb at 10:45 AM on May 6

Never mind my question, pb, I see my More Inside now...must have been an update delay on my end or something.
posted by allkindsoftime at 10:59 AM on May 6

No, I see what you mean, all threads are missing the [more inside] indicator. Adding that now.
posted by pb at 11:02 AM on May 6

Toronto is killing it. Booyakah! Booyakah!
posted by chunking express at 11:16 AM on May 6

stav, why don't you just stay in Canada a little longer and travel to a meetup there? Surely you will be hailed as the king you are.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:24 AM on May 6

Note: Everyone needs a 10th anniversary party.

Shouldn't 10th threads show up on the Grey proper, to increase visibility (and hopefully, attendance)? It will increase FP traffic but it may be worth it.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:27 AM on May 6

Oh, I'm poaching from EVERYBODY. In fact, stay at your frigid northern meetups and send your wives and girlfriends down to sultry New Orleans for the weekend.

By July we're actually out of our igloos.
posted by gman at 11:50 AM on May 6

...throw MeFi an actual birthday party...complete with balloons, party bags, MeFi cupcakes, and ridiculous hats

MeFi cupcakes? I love that idea! I love to bake, too. Maybe I'll bring some special birthday treats to the Portland meetup.
posted by velvet winter at 11:59 AM on May 6

Shouldn't 10th threads show up on the Grey proper...

We already have 28 posts at the Anniversary site, and the MeTa front page only handles 10 posts at a time. We still need to be able to discuss site issues here and the thinking behind the separate site was that planning 30+ meetups simultaneously would drown out just about everything else. We've been talking about ways we can further publicize the anniversary site as the dates get closer, so hopefully most folks will find out it's happening even if they miss this post.
posted by pb at 12:00 PM on May 6

I think people will probably notice the new '10th' added to the navbar.
posted by chunking express at 12:02 PM on May 6

Perhaps make this thread, with its link to the MeTenth site, "sticky" either at the top of the MeTa main page, or at the top of the meetup sidebar?
posted by dersins at 12:03 PM on May 6

Come on Chicago, step up. I'd do it but I've not yet been to a meetup and I know nothing about the Billy Goat where meetups are usually at.

If there are any other northwest Indiana Mefites who want to come along to Chicago, we can meet and ride the South Shore together. I usually get on at Dune Park.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:54 PM on May 6

We've been talking about ways we can further publicize the anniversary site as the dates get closer, so hopefully most folks will find out it's happening even if they miss this post.

Once the various times and places has been established, might this be the one time that "users close to..." could get just a single piece of spammy invite?
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:05 PM on May 6

And I'm thinking one of those grilled cheese parties sounds awesome.... -misha

Grilled Cheese party? You obviously need to have a sock puppet party, for all the sock puppet accounts to attend.
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:11 PM on May 6

Is something supposed to happen when you click on the map pins on the home page? Because it doesn't. For me. I'm using IE 7. (I know, I know. I'm at work.)
posted by desjardins at 2:51 PM on May 6

I do not recall ever seeing a Brazilian on this site.
This is probably not the best site to seek out Brazilians ...
posted by dg at 2:53 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

If there's a demand for such a thing, I could "organize" but not "host" a Providence meet-up. Dunno what the spill-over would be like with the Boston folk.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 3:02 PM on May 6

desjardins, yep you are supposed to see the city name and a link to the planning thread for map markers on the home page. I fixed up the IE7 issue, so the points should be clickable for you now. You might have to reload to make sure you have the latest version of the page.
posted by pb at 4:02 PM on May 6

This should probably be in the sidebar under "Upcoming Meetups", eh?
posted by heatherann at 4:08 PM on May 6

This should probably be in the sidebar under "Upcoming Meetups", eh?

Yes, we're going to wait til it's been debugged and generally up and running first. Is there some reason people are having the confusion between organizing and hosting? I think it's fairly clearly written that one person needs to be a point person for each geographical location and that we do not expect any of these meetups to happen in anyone's home. Is there text someplace that is confusing people?
posted by jessamyn at 5:27 PM on May 6

Is there some reason people are having the confusion between organizing and hosting?

I think its my fault for bringing up the possibility of literally hosting a meetup near the beginning of the thread. Sorry.

Not really sorry.
posted by dersins at 5:41 PM on May 6

Wow, talk about a big gaping hole in Middle America. Anybody want to volunteer from AR/OK/TX? C'mon, represent hicks!
posted by CwgrlUp at 5:41 PM on May 6

CwgrlUp -
We seriously have a MeFite in Fort Smith? I'd volunteer to host at Rolando's or the Burger Barn or that place that replaced Cuco's, but that would involve being within 30 miles of my parents on a non-Thanksgiving occasion.

We did an Oklahoma City meetup a couple of years ago that went okay, and I think there're some Tulsans around. Would you be willing to go west?
posted by ormondsacker at 6:44 PM on May 6

FAVORITES PLEASE
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:12 AM on May 7 [6 favorites]

Wait, is that "favorite me" or "favorites there?"

I favorited the comment, just in case.
posted by Pronoiac at 2:01 AM on May 7 [1 favorite]

We've been talking about ways we can further publicize the anniversary site as the dates get closer, so hopefully most folks will find out it's happening even if they miss this post.

Another vote for a MeTa sidebar link under "upcoming meetups." Because I missed the link that is there until I did a text search.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:52 AM on May 7

It'd be nice to be able to add myself as a 'maybe' in more than one meetup.

The way things look now I'll likely be in either London, Paris or Berlin around then.
posted by vacapinta at 6:58 AM on May 7

I fixed up the IE7 issue, so the points should be clickable for you now.

Works great!

/mapgeek

now, where the hell are the Chicago peeps? Step the fuck up already. Not that I can attend, what with volunteering to organize the Milwaukee thing, but come on...
posted by desjardins at 8:10 AM on May 7

Oh, the shame. It covers me like a comforter in the winter except it gives the opposite of comfort (or warmth).

I can step up for Chicago. It will need to be the 18th or 19th though as I am totally unavailable on the 17th. Sorry about that. No Paypal account right now though. I've gotta set up something.

Put us up on the Big Board!!
posted by zerobyproxy at 9:09 AM on May 7

First were lazy, then we were drinking, then we were hungover. But Eamon stepped up.
posted by SpiffyRob at 10:54 AM on May 7

Another vote for a MeTa sidebar link under "upcoming meetups." Because I missed the link that is there until I did a text search.

It's going there. We're still finding bugs and would like to finish testing it with the MeTa True Believers first and then yeah we'll publicize the shit out of it, trust me.
posted by jessamyn at 11:36 AM on May 7

Austin is now open for debate & selection!
posted by batmonkey at 11:42 AM on May 7

MeTa True Believers REPRESENT!
posted by Meatbomb at 11:50 AM on May 7

jessamyn: MeTa True Believers

Oh god... there's gonna be Kool Aid at the anniversary meetups, won't there?
posted by Kattullus at 11:50 AM on May 7

there's gonna be Kool Aid at the anniversary meetups

FLAVOR AID, DAMMIT! I AM SICK AND GOD DAMNED TIRED OF YOU INTERNETS PEOPLE CASUALLY IMPUGNING THE GOOD NAME OF OUR NATION'S FINEST ARTIFICIALLY-FLAVORED INSTANT DRINK MIX!
posted by dersins at 11:56 AM on May 7 [2 favorites]

No Pittsburgh yet! If Cleveland is having one than the 'burgh has to have one. I'm pretty much organizationally challenged so I don't know if you want me running it but do it if no one else jumps in in the next few days I'll start things.
posted by octothorpe at 12:19 PM on May 7

Nitpicking suggestion: instead of having the text read:
"X attending - N maybes," make it
"X attending + N maybes"
posted by exogenous at 1:01 PM on May 7

heh, I think a plus sign actually makes it look like more of a math problem than a dash. I made it a dot, hopefully that's less confusing.
posted by pb at 2:29 PM on May 7

Thanks pb. This is going to sound weird, but, um, now it looks like multiplication. A comma maybe? Sorry to be a pest about it. I blame being traumatized in too many math classes.
posted by exogenous at 3:07 PM on May 7

Oh god... there's gonna be Kool Aid at the anniversary meetups, won't there?

Well, there will be Kool-Aid pickles in New Orleans, I can tell you that.
posted by ColdChef at 3:09 PM on May 7

This is going to sound weird, but, um, now it looks like multiplication.

Normally you would use a slash in this case. But I know what you would say about that one.
posted by smackfu at 3:13 PM on May 7 [1 favorite]

Comma. It should be a comma.
posted by dersins at 3:19 PM on May 7

i.e. Portland, OR (16 attending, 21 maybes)
posted by dersins at 3:27 PM on May 7

Metafilter: it should be a comma.
posted by ocherdraco at 3:33 PM on May 7 [1 favorite]

So, although I am nobody, I still want to know where the heck the Bay Area (NorCal, I mean) listing is!

(Maybe that's the problem--nobody wants to know! OH NO.)
posted by wintersweet at 3:38 PM on May 7

wintersweet, no one wants to kick things off!

Lazy lazy lazy.
posted by blithecatpie at 4:08 PM on May 7

Wintersweet, we've got two attending and a maybe in Sac/Davis. That's 150% the current turnout for Nairobi.
posted by aniola at 4:28 PM on May 7

How about an ampersand? Or ", also"?
posted by Pronoiac at 5:13 PM on May 7

ampersand? He'll be having his own meet-up in the middle of buttfuck nowhere Manitoba.
posted by gman at 6:03 PM on May 7

Come on San Francisco, get it together!
posted by patr1ck at 6:03 PM on May 7

Is there some way that we can search if a particular MeFi has responded for a meetup, and if so, where he/she plans to attend? Is this a really bad idea in some way that I don't understand?
posted by hawkeye at 4:50 PM on May 8

Depends. What's the consensus on stalking?
posted by dersins at 4:57 PM on May 8

hawkeye writes "Is there some way that we can search if a particular MeFi has responded for a meetup,"

Do a site specific google search (IE: add Site:ten.metafilter.com in the search field) for their username.
posted by Mitheral at 5:51 PM on May 8

Gotcha. Thanks.
posted by hawkeye at 9:17 PM on May 8

Will these threads be archived/accessible after Ten is retired?
posted by subbes at 1:12 PM on May 9

I'm presuming we'll keep ten around forever.
posted by cortex at 2:55 PM on May 9

This is gonna rock. Can we have a unified flickr set for all cities? Maybe someone can curate the set, picking the best shots, and then we can order bound photo albums from QOOP or some such?

Explosion!
posted by mds35 at 8:13 AM on May 11

I see that the "maybes" are no longer listed next to cities whose meetups are scheduled. Feature or bug?
posted by dersins at 11:26 AM on May 12

That's a feature. We'd like to encourage people to shore up their attending status for scheduled meetups. We added the attending and maybe counts to the location pages next to the status headline so you can still get a sense of the numbers quickly.
posted by pb at 11:58 AM on May 12

And speaking of attending lists, we just added a "Guests?" option below the attending lists so you can let everyone know if you're bringing a non-mefite or two to the meetup. Hopefully that will help give a more accurate headcount.
posted by pb at 3:56 PM on May 12 [1 favorite]

This might be a 'London' problem, but we're having a rolling three day event in London - would there be any way for us to have attendee radio buttons for each of the three sub-threads we've started in there?

Or am I just being a pain in the arse?
posted by Happy Dave at 7:13 AM on May 14

A thought - if most (all?) of the organizers are listing Paypal accounts, will there be some way for attendees to offer to buy drinks for other location's attendees. Say, for example, I want to buy PB a beer for helping make the site so shiny, will there be some way to do that?
posted by birdsquared at 7:59 AM on May 14

That's a brilliant thought. Especially if everyone chips in a few dollars for Columbus, so I don't have to limit myself to PBR to get absolutely shitty.
posted by Juliet Banana at 8:29 AM on May 14

Hey Happy Dave, yeah that would be kind of a pain in the ass to put together. The attending lists are tied to a specific location, not a specific thread. We're also showing the attending list at the location level, so we'd have to rethink how the anniversary site is designed for multiple meetups in one location.

For now, I'd pick one "main meetup" and use the London attending list for that. Then ask folks to respond in particular threads if they're planning to attend any of the "sub-meetups". It'll mean a bit more work and ambiguity for the organizer of the sub events, but I think London will be in the minority having multiple events.

birdsquared, I don't think MeFi wants to get into brokering money exchange between folks. If you want to buy someone a drink across the country you could always fire up MeFi Mail and ask them for a PayPal address directly to send a few bucks.
posted by pb at 9:40 AM on May 14

Cool, pb, that's pretty much what we're doing, but that's me, always looking for a software solution to a laziness problem :-)

Thanks again for the existing functionality, it's a cracking bit of kit.
posted by Happy Dave at 10:21 AM on May 14

pb, fair enough.
posted by birdsquared at 8:23 PM on May 14

I noticed we've only got 6 continents covered. There must be some mefites in Antarctica no?
posted by vacapinta at 5:06 AM on May 15

If I wasn't hellbent on going to NOLA I'd let mathowie send me there. If we have confirmed parties on six continents, we should consider sending someone.
posted by jessamyn at 7:31 AM on May 15

That would be awesome, but Antarctica in July is going to be COLD.
posted by exogenous at 8:45 AM on May 15

The meetup in Antarctica will be purely symbolic, so I suggest you send a purely symbolic mod.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:00 AM on May 15

If a bunch of people send postcards to Antarctica (possible?) they would all "meet-up".
posted by smackfu at 9:08 AM on May 15

The meetup in Antarctica will be purely symbolic, so I suggest you send a purely symbolic mod.

You mean {0®73>< ?
posted by exogenous at 9:09 AM on May 15

You should give an account to someone who's already there. Insta-meetup.
posted by desjardins at 9:16 AM on May 15

You'll have to pay the tab in Antarctican Dream Dollars. I don't think Paypal does those.
posted by not_on_display at 9:53 AM on May 15

I had a roommate who would disappear the whole North American winter to do geology research in Antarctica. There's more places to party down there than you think.
posted by Juliet Banana at 10:50 AM on May 15

To make a meetup, you'd have to give two accounts, surely.
posted by jacalata at 10:52 PM on May 15

Gawd, if you are looking for volunteers to go to Antarctica, pick me !!
posted by seawallrunner at 9:44 AM on May 17

The DC meetup we've discussed has two venues: an afternoon non-alcoholic venue and an evening venue at a bar. Is there a way to register both on the venue selection page?
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:38 AM on May 20

We're finding the same thing with NOLA, a few separate deals. Lemme check and see how this might work.
posted by jessamyn at 6:50 AM on May 20

It's official - Chicago's doing a block party. I'M SURE YOU'RE ALL JEALOUS!

You're also all invited!
posted by misskaz at 11:44 AM on May 20

We're beta-ing a system where we can have a major meeting and related mini-meetups which should be ready to go live soonish, fyi
posted by jessamyn at 3:24 PM on May 20

We just added the idea of "bonus meetups" to the anniversary site. If you're an organizer for a location you now have the option to set up additional meetups once the primary meetup is set. After setting the first, primary meetup you should see a link under the map to "add bonus meetup". From there you can add another date/time/venue for the location. The new meetup will show up on the map and will be listed under the primary meetup date/time.

If you include a link to the thread where you're discussing that particular bonus meetup, we can point folks there to RSVP.
posted by pb at 10:19 AM on May 21

The Wellington, New Zealand meetup is the only meetup not visible on the map when is loads. This feeds New Zealand's natural inferiority complex.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 2:28 PM on May 21

You have a beef, Wellington?
posted by Rumple at 2:31 PM on May 21 [4 favorites]

If it's any consolation, the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska meetup is also not visible by default. Unfortunately Google Maps' course zoom controls mean that if we zoom out one level we get repeating continents. (Try it by clicking the [-] button the left.) And we'd probably field questions like, why doesn't the 2nd New Zealand also have a meetup scheduled? So we chose the lesser of two evils on this one.
posted by pb at 2:49 PM on May 21

Hey, so what is up with possible video chat from other MeFi meetups-- who's down with this concept? Should be we start a new MetaTalk on the subject? We have some bandwidth to play with and Albuquerque is totally there.
posted by signalnine at 10:49 PM on June 10

Hey, so what is up with possible video chat from other MeFi meetups-- who's down with this concept?

That would put the kibosh on the drunken antics from people who may have to look for a job. I vote no. It's much more entertaining to make up stories the next day, anyway.
posted by desjardins at 9:34 AM on June 11

How's about some sort of communal web thang - be it an irc chatroom, a communal whiteboard, or some other multi-user interactive site? Being an internet community meeting up, in many cases, simultaneously, it seems wasteful to not take advantage of the situation...
posted by birdsquared at 8:32 PM on June 24

This long time, occasional lurker and new member would be happy to host a South Pole, Antarctica meetup. But, so far I've yet to find the advertised signup screen. Have I missed a deadline, or are there restrictions that apply to new members?
posted by eotvos at 7:38 PM on July 2 [1 favorite]

Hiya, eotvos! We may have disabled the new-proposal functionality already, but we can totally figure something out (and by "figure something out" I mean "make pb hack the db") regardless.
posted by cortex at 8:43 PM on July 2

That would have been awesome eotvos. Unfortunately you're too late (On July 1st, we'll no longer accept new city nominations to go into planning.). You could try contacting the mods and plead for a special dispensation.
posted by tellurian at 8:45 PM on July 2

Yay! another continent.
posted by tellurian at 8:45 PM on July 2 [2 favorites]

I added a meetup for McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Thanks for the offer eotvos, and welcome to MeFi!
posted by pb at 6:58 AM on July 3

Now I want to ditch the PDX meetup and go to the South Pole - eotvos did say South Pole and not McMurdo, yeah? They're far apart!

Also, this time of year, cold. Really cold. So hmmm, maybe I'll go to PDX anyway....

(Not that a meetup in McMurdo wouldn't be awesome, but...the South Pole!)
posted by rtha at 8:10 AM on July 3

oops, I just assumed McMurdo. Didn't know the South Pole was habitable this time of year, but I know next to nothing about Antarctica. If someone sends me the coordinates of the location, I'll set it up.
posted by pb at 8:31 AM on July 3

90°S
posted by Kattullus at 9:24 AM on July 3 [12 favorites]

Thanks much. Time to start talking to people here about details.

And, yes, we're at the South Pole. The meetup is most likely to be within a couple hundred feet of the geographic pole marker itself, so -90 S lat by anything works. (Though, I've found in the past that google map applications sometimes choke on particular longitudes and not others.)
posted by eotvos at 6:59 PM on July 3 [1 favorite]

Since 100 feet is about 1.136 arc-seconds of latitude, we can probably come up with a more accurate latitude and longitude. The USGS marker that was intended to be placed there says 89°59'43.6''S, 24.8°W, that might be good enough for anyone driving by to realize they're in the right place.
posted by Plutor at 7:08 PM on July 3 [2 favorites]

Neat, Plutor. I wonder if that marker is still buried here.
In the interest of absurd accuracy, I borrowed a gps receiver. The meetup will most likely be at 89°59'56.9" S, 124°39' W, to within twenty feet. (That's the conversation nook in the galley, should any polies without a gps unit want to find it.)
posted by eotvos at 8:08 PM on July 3 [8 favorites]

wow, way cool, and other such amazed gibberishness
posted by infini at 1:22 AM on July 4

Since 100 feet is about 1.136 arc-seconds of latitude...

Yeah and down there 100 feet is like 180 degrees of longitude, so precise coordinates are definitely warranted!
posted by rlk at 7:20 AM on July 4

wow, amazing that you're at the South Pole. Unfortunately yeah, Google Maps struggles to place -89.999 on the map. I'll switch the meetup location, but the map previews might not work very well. We're pushing Google Maps to its limit.
posted by pb at 8:07 AM on July 4

Cool! I enjoyed reading that comment of yours about sewage / electrical systems down there.

100 meter poopsickle would be a great band name.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:14 AM on July 4

You better post pics.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:07 PM on July 4

So. Awesome. rtha - can I get a ride?
posted by ooga_booga at 1:04 PM on July 10

I'll let my curiosity trump my embarrassment of my ignorance: what sort of culture exists at the South Pole? In my mind, which knows next to nothing about Antarctica, the only people at the pole are a few researchers, and if I just wanted to "stroll down" there, I'd need all sorts of permits. If I'm right, who is going to go to the meetup? Is it a joke?

My guess is that I'm wrong. That there's some sort of thriving culture down there, and that on the day in question, eotvos will have to keep answering the doorbell.

In any chase, this thread has gotten me really curious. eotvos, what's going on down there????
posted by grumblebee at 3:42 PM on July 11

Does anyone have a MEFI meetup sign that I can print and put up at our restaurant table so all the (Ottawa)MEFi'ers can find us? I'm no good at teh graphic arts.
posted by storybored at 9:04 AM on July 14

I usually just scrawl "METAFILTER" on a handy piece of paper and fold it in half and prop that up.
posted by cortex at 9:07 AM on July 14

I'm gonna start a MeTa thread about printables and etc for people to bring to meetups.
posted by jessamyn at 9:24 AM on July 14

grumblebee: the various stations on the Ice have a thriving culture, even (perhaps especially) the winterovers at the Pole. It's scientists and support staff there, and yeah you'd need a permit or a job to go there, but no one will be traveling to there this time of year - it isn't possible. Only them what's there will be there. See bigdeadplace.com for lots of interesting and wacky Antarctican stuff. Or search the blue - there have been good posts on Antarctica, mrzarquon's in particular.
posted by rtha at 9:39 AM on July 14