So? How was MeFi Vegas 2003?

November 10, 2003 8:41 AM

So? How was (is) MeFi Vegas? How about Vancouver? Is Matt as tall in person as he looks on the internet?
posted by anastasiav to MetaFilter Gatherings at 8:41 AM (44 comments total)

Vancouver pics and blog entry linked at AntiMeFiVegas.
posted by riffola at 9:05 AM on November 10, 2003

eyeballkid called me on Saturday from Vegas, I also spoke with salmonberry and ecrivain. They all were having fun, no arrests but they were going to try to get fishfucker and salmonberry arrested before they left. attackthetaxi, kindall, and I think y6y6y6 were also present, along with ecrivain's friend Rob.
posted by riffola at 9:07 AM on November 10, 2003

Any pics from Vegas? Artistic nudes, obviously, preferred.
posted by UncleFes at 9:08 AM on November 10, 2003

Matt is around the same height as myself. I'd say he stands at around six feet, give or take a couple inches.
posted by antifreez_ at 9:33 AM on November 10, 2003

Man, I wish I was able to hit the Vegas meeting. Just couldn't get away...
posted by me3dia at 9:35 AM on November 10, 2003

AntiMeFiVegas was fun...it only lasted about 2 hours, but everyone had a good time. mathowie, timeistight, jeffj, Antifreez_, jokeefe and myself were there from MeFi, Dave Shea (of CSS Zen garden) showed up, as well as a friend of jokeefe's. As far as I know, only timeistight and I took photos. Unfortunately, the cafe was really dark, so every time I set off the flash, I blinded the entire table (which, understandably, wasn't too popular).

Matt seems like a really nice, down-to-earth guy. He was very personable and outgoing and patiently answered everyone's questions about MetaFilter and his upcoming projects, etc. He was able to find a WiFi signal at our table, so he logged into MeFi and gave us all a look at what he sees when viewing the site (we've been sworn to secrecy, but I distinctly heard one person say "My god...it's full of stars").

Of course, that was early on in the meetup. After a few drinks, the *real* mathowie showed his true colours. At one point, when I politely corrected a statistic he was misquoting, he whirled at me and shouted "Oh yeah? Well hands up everyone at this table who created MetaFilter! Anyone else?...anyone else? Yeah, that's what I thought, asshat!"
posted by filmgoerjuan at 9:37 AM on November 10, 2003

I only got three pics, which I merged together like so:

From left: filmgoerjuan, jeffj, mathowie, Dave "I don't read MetaFilter" Shea, jokeefe, and jokeefe's freind Elaine. antifreez_ and I are out of the frame.
posted by timeistight at 9:54 AM on November 10, 2003

…and mathowie posted a couple of snaps, too.
posted by timeistight at 10:04 AM on November 10, 2003

Nice stitching job, timeistight!

Aha...I wondered why Matt had his camera out but (apparently) wasn't taking any pictures. Sneaky fellow.
posted by filmgoerjuan at 10:08 AM on November 10, 2003

Is Matt as tall in person as he looks on the internet?

At what resolution? When I first met him, at 800x600, he stood about 267px, I recall.
posted by bradlands at 10:20 AM on November 10, 2003

Yeah, the Vancouver meetup was thoroughly enjoyable. Two hours of hanging out, and then on to further engagements. Did everyone make it to Caterina's opening that was planning to? Was the aquabus involved?

I was quite impressed at how Matt and Dave managed to out-geek the rest of the table with their discussion of browser standards. No sarcasm here, it was genuinely heart-warming to see that it's not only programmers like myself who enjoy discussing complex technical systems over beers.
posted by jeffj at 11:04 AM on November 10, 2003

I was quite impressed at how Matt and Dave managed to out-geek the rest of the table with their discussion of browser standards

I hear it works wonder with women, too
posted by matteo at 11:23 AM on November 10, 2003

heh. I got to Caterina's show on time, but used a car. I spotted the Segway rental place on Grannville Island on the way out from the show. Why didn't anyone mention that?! I tried to hit it the next day but had so many other things to do that I never got over there before dark. I would have loved to try my first segway.

Anyway, a couple corrections. I was taking photos, using my glass as a tripod. And Dave Shea didn't say he never read mefi, just that he couldn't sign up and then couldn't keep up with the site, so now he doesn't read it (because there's too much content, not that he holds anything against it).

I had a good time, it was mellow, relaxing, and fun. I don't know about Carlsberg beer though, I drank one after the other after the other and didn't feel a thing.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:28 PM on November 10, 2003

Vancouver has a Segway rental place?

MeFiVancouver meetup, anyone? ;)
posted by filmgoerjuan at 1:38 PM on November 10, 2003

It's odd to think of timeistight as being only one - well, entity. Where's heopensawindow, goosesteppingpoxii, and the other guys? They couldn't make it?
posted by yhbc at 2:05 PM on November 10, 2003

heopensawindow
he left metafilter a few threads back:D
posted by thomcatspike at 3:33 PM on November 10, 2003

posted by MiguelCardoso at 3:52 PM on November 10, 2003

I am under orders not to speak of MeFiVegas. Salmonberry will kill...

What was that noise upstairs!?!? Did you hear tha
posted by eyeballkid at 4:01 PM on November 10, 2003

Oh, that crazy Charles and his unspecified allegations!
posted by PrinceValium at 10:04 PM on November 10, 2003

Eyeballkid tell us all, or I will torture you with wet cottonballs.
posted by ginz at 2:37 AM on November 11, 2003

Looks like mellow fun...

A few observations/questions:

Matt is looking less like Morissey/Terry Hall as he gets older.

dash_slot still holds the MeFi gathering 'closest to arrest' title

Do we get to see the MeFi user #1 screen shot?
posted by i_cola at 4:17 AM on November 11, 2003

I'm having trouble believing MeFi Vegas ever happened. *cries*
posted by ginz at 9:24 AM on November 11, 2003

Jeez, you know you've been doing a website for a while when members can actually watch you age.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:05 AM on November 11, 2003

Oh, i-cola, now you've done it - you've gone and reminded mathowie of his own mortality. Can the end of MeFi as we know it be far behind??
posted by anastasiav at 10:38 AM on November 11, 2003

I'm with ginz--show us pics, or we'll know it was all just a drug-induced fantasy ; >

I'm sure matt has an avatar somewhere in the wings--ready to comment in meta and delete mefi posts.
posted by amberglow at 11:09 AM on November 11, 2003

PC Plod is looking younger, Matt's looking , err, thirtysomething.... I may soon have to admit to middle age.

What do I do then, q, ole buddy? (",)
posted by dash_slot- at 3:07 PM on November 11, 2003

My MeFiVegas gallery is up. There are a few artistic nudes, but you have to cross your eyes to see them. And of course, I wasn't allowed to post every picture from the event. You see, Salmonberry seems like a really nice, down-to-earth person. She was very personable and outgoing and patiently answered everyone's questions about her EVIL empire. Then she found a portal to her underworld and gave us a glimpse of her immense power. (I've been sworn to secrecy, but let's just say it's good to be #13248).

Beyond that, I have only two words: bikini bullriding.
posted by ecrivain at 7:24 PM on November 11, 2003

re: segway rentals

I was in Vancouver last week, and I too wanted to rent one. However, it is closed until next April as it is moving locations. Evidence here!

ps. Vancouver is the shit. First visit and it didn't rain once in the entire week. I'm going back in December...
posted by krunk at 7:44 PM on November 11, 2003

If you expect it to not be raining in Vancouver in December, I fear you are bound to be disappointed.
posted by kindall at 7:59 PM on November 11, 2003

Ha!

[monty burns]

excellent.

[/monty]
posted by jonmc at 8:05 PM on November 11, 2003

Cool! But i can't believe they stopped doing the pirate battle...Do they still have the misting things on the sidewalks? And did any of you win?
posted by amberglow at 8:15 PM on November 11, 2003

Fishfucker won big time. And then he got arrested. Maybe.
posted by ecrivain at 9:09 PM on November 11, 2003

Nice atriums, eh photos guys.
Guess I'll have to check into #mefi for the juicy bits.
posted by ginz at 11:24 AM on November 12, 2003

If you expect it to not be raining in Vancouver in December, I fear you are bound to be disappointed.

I was expecting it to be raining in November too...
posted by krunk at 12:12 PM on November 12, 2003

Juicy bits? What juicy bits? The emphasis was on roundtable discussions, mainly focusing on concerns about MeFi becoming a place of intellectual inbreeding (I didn't take part in that one as I was busy WINNING AT ROULETTE).

It was fun. At least I had fun. I don't know about anyone else there, I wasn't really paying attention to their wants and needs. So as long as eyeballkid keeps his mouth shut, everything will be fine....just fine.....
posted by Salmonberry at 10:38 PM on November 12, 2003

i'm like, totally having a vegas update after my head stops spinning.

also, we went to disneyland, bitches.

yeah.
posted by fishfucker at 10:28 PM on November 13, 2003

i'm like, totally having a vegas update after my head stops spinning.

That's scheduled for what...2007? 2008?
posted by filmgoerjuan at 8:15 AM on November 14, 2003

Um, not to rain on the Vegas fun parade, but we - y6 and I - showed up Friday, went to the meetup place - no one was there. Of course we had no idea how to tell where people were - just somewhere inside one of the smaller casinos. And then I didn't know how to tell if I did see the group of people who we were trying to meet up with - no red carnations, no specific spot to look - it was kinda difficult. But we did get in late, so we figured we'd try again the next day. y6 called and was told the hotel lobby to meet up in - and when we got there we were told that everyone was at breakfast and that we'd meet up later - somewhere, not sure, someone would call. We wandered around Vegas for a few hours - no call. So we went on with the second half of our trip.

I checked the website and MetaTalk on my cell Friday and Saturday to see if there was any hint of what was going on, any link to someone that might be posting about this somewhere, anywhere - nothing.

Not to be snarky, but I participated and helped put together another Vegas meetup with someone coming as far away as Australia (we had around 10-15 people meetup, maybe more) - and sure we had some problems, but all but one blogger managed to find the group and hang out at least part of the time. We also met in an area and would smile and talk to anyone approaching us - "hey, you here for the blogger meetup?" So people wouldn't have to wander around, looking at total strangers and wondering whether to go up and ask them questions. We also used several websites to indicate to people where we would be staying and where the next meeting was - whether it was breakfast, gathering in a lobby to go to see something, etc. There are several places to get online in Vegas if you don't have access in your hotel room (the Aladdin does) or you don't have a laptop with you. Ours wasn't at all a perfectly planned setup - in fact there were huge disagreements and frustrations in the group of people doing the planning - but we managed to communicate once we got there. My main goal was to make sure no one felt left out or snubbed in any way, as seems to happen with some meetups.

Sorry to have missed meeting folks, but next time give us some concrete times and places to look. Luckily we were traveling somewhere else after Vegas so it didn't really ruin our trip.
posted by batgrlHG at 10:58 AM on November 14, 2003

batgrl:

i'm glad the rest of your trip went smoothly, as I feel somehwat personally responsible for missing you guys. My cell phone doesn't function as well as it should (the ringer volume is super low and can't be turned up, and i don't usually notice the vibrate due to all the medication) and so we didn't get your calls until we were leaving the original meetup place. i'm really sorry we missed you.
posted by fishfucker at 11:43 AM on November 14, 2003

Hey - thanks for that. I admit, I did wonder if it was something personal! Though, as I always enjoy saying, I am in no way responsible for the conduct and verbiage of y6, I did wonder....
But yes, meeting up with people in Vegas is difficult.
I had LOTS of difficulties in our meetup last year with people who kept saying "don't plan, just like, let it happen" - because I'm always the person that will get lost and not be able to find the rest of the group - and then hear "we looked for you! we must have just missed you!" And even being one of the planners, it happened to me anyway!

But really, thanks for saying that. I feel better.
posted by batgrlHG at 11:53 AM on November 14, 2003

Also you have no idea how silly it is wandering around a bar and wondering if you should go up to a group of strangers and say "pardon me, but are any of you the fishfucker?"
If I'd had something to drink I *might* have done that.
Make that lots to drink.
posted by batgrlHG at 11:56 AM on November 14, 2003

batgrl, you're not alone, I ALSO missed the group Friday night at Ellis Island, and I'd even met one of the party before. It didn't matter, I didn't see her and she didn't see em. It didn't help that it always seemed to take much longer to get places in Vegas than it should, so people were late a lot.

I'm sorry you didn't get to join us at some other time.

I suggest a "buddy system" for the next such event. Each person has another person who they will contact with news to make sure they've heard it.
posted by kindall at 12:29 PM on November 14, 2003

Jesus, if I'd known Kindall was going to be there, I'd have gone!
posted by jonson at 4:02 PM on November 14, 2003

Jesus was there? Musta missed him.
posted by kindall at 4:47 PM on November 14, 2003