It seems to only really work with 8/25/18, not 08 or 2018.
1)We need to get a sense of how many people are planning to attend the meet-up in the Mt. Rushmore area Saturday and/or Sunday June 12-13 in order to plan for what kind of space to reserve and for how long. The more people who come, the more activities, “sessions,” etc. we can have. Generally-speaking, the fewer the people who come, the less time we will likely spend together and the more informal the meet-up will be. If we have a good amount of people, we can have more discussions, discussions can be devoted to more topics, people can volunteer to lead a discussion on their area of interest/ expertise, discussion leaders might require audio-visual set-ups to use slides, etc. The longer the amount of time we spend together, the more thought needs to be given to the comfort of the venue, its amenities, food, what to do with the people (spouses, etc.) you are bringing with you, etc.
2) We also need to get an idea of how much money people are willing to contribute to venue rental, catering/refreshments, etc. The more people we have, the greater our needs will be per #1 above.
3) Defconw and I will be looking into venues and making executives decisions. I will defer to Defconw on this, as she lives in the area and I have never been there. If some of you have suggestions because you have been to the area and have been to a venue that you can recommend, please Freepmail her, as she is in a better position than I am to know what venue you are talking about. I have no idea if Defconw is a recluse or socializes a lot and has been on the planning committee for various events during her life in S.D., and thus how easily finding venues will be for her. I just know that I do not know a damned thing about the area.
4) The meet up will most likely take place in Rapid City because it is the largest city/town. Be prepared, however, for Keystone or some other nearby town to be the site and to drive from your lodging from one town to another. For security reasons, the specific site or even town will not be disclosed on this thread and will be freepmailed to you in June.
5) Some of you indicated on the old thread that you plan to attend. You need to indicate that here as well.
6) Knowing that life throws us curveballs and you may not feel comfortable saying you definitely are going to attend, I ask that you instead provide the percentage chance you will attend along with the dollar amount of how much you are willing to contribute.
7) You need not have taken place in the voting on the date and place to attend. You just have to be willing to go along with what was decided by the people who did take part.
8) If you are a lurker and have never posted on the Q thread but you have a few posts under your belt elsewhere on FR that we can judge you by and you wish to attend, you can express this wish. I will not be the one judging you solely. All the Q thread mainstays who are attending get to weigh in on your attendance since they will have to either put up with potential trollness from you or benefit from your insight. You could be a cool person and have never given us a hard time. There are a few people I’ve seen post good stuff on Q-related threads or threads about issues Q people are concerned about. If you are just a lurker and have not joined FR and posted by now, sorry not sorry, you are out of luck. We cannot take the chance that you pretend to be a friendly but are really ANTIFA. Better luck next time.
9) Of course, if you posted on the Q thread but only as troll, it goes without saying that we don’t want to see your troll butt at our event. We can’t stop you from showing up in S.D. in June, but we can refuse to Freepmail you the details on the event.
10) You have until March 22 to post about the intensity of your intention to attend and your budget for contributions to venue rental. After that point, Defconw and I will start the process of figuring out venues and possibly booking one right away if something seems good and requires a deposit be made quickly to secure it. You will be included for the purpose of attendance if you have indicated a strong propensity to attend. Whether or not you can be added in later if you have a last-minute change of mind depends on capacity limits of the venue.
11) Defconw and I will make an executive decision about a venue based on the information available to us about prospective attendance and what people seem willing to spend. We will get the best place we can for the money and that allows the most flexibility in terms of upgrades, kitchen facilities, proximity to places for people to order individual meals from and have delivered, etc. If it seems as if not that many people express a high probability of coming, maybe I will just change my hotel room to a suite, although that really isn’t the best idea for a variety of reasons. Maybe we will just end up in the meeting room section of a Panera or something.
12) I will not be posting anything about the specific location where we will meet for security reasons. Instead, Defconw or I will Freepmail you that information within a week of the meet-up. Probably Defconw will email you, as she is a better position than I to give you directions, such as “turn right at the ranch with the spotted cows, then left at the ranch with the llamas, go 1000 feet and turn left at the ranch with the brown cows,” etc.. I do not mean to make fun of S.D. These were actual directions given to me last year in Ohio, only the ranches were farms. It is also possible to get lost in the farmland of such states as NJ, NY, MD, and DE. Don’t ask me how and why I know. I like farm animals. I’m kidding. Perhaps.
13) You need to get yourself somewhere near Mt. Rushmore by mid-morning June 12th and preferably need to be checking into lodging Friday night in order to reap maximum benefit from the greatest FR event in over a decade.
14) Refer all questions about good and bad places to reserve lodging and distances between points to Defconw, as she lives near Mt. Rushmore and I have never set foot in S.D. I haven’t even set foot in most of the states bordering it. I know nothing about camping. STOP ASKING ME ABOUT CAMPSITES PEOPLE! Why people think someone named CheshireTheCat knows about camping is beyond me. I like farm animals and cats, not wolves and bears. I have booked a refundable room at a chain I have had good experiences with and that I believe will easily allow me to switch reservations from their facility in Rapid City to one in another town and affords me all the creature comforts I deserve. I just looked up places on the Internet and looked at the comments made by people who stayed there and went with my instincts.
15) I think I covered all the bases here. If you think a real #15 needs to be added for the good of the order, let me know.