Posted on 08/25/2018 10:11:20 PM PDT by ransomnote
If you ever need to call up this warehousing thread to check it, put 8/15/18 in the search box to call it up. Remember it as Christmas in July 2018.
I have a question for those in the know:
Driving through North Dakota/hitting Bismarck from the East:
Worth it?
Yes or no.
Sorry meant 8/25/18.
Meant Christmas in August 2018 as a way to remember the warehousing thread.
Sorry, working fast while listening to training video for work to see if I have to answer a question to prove I’m paying attention.
I usually just put 8/25/18 into the search box and I find it.
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.
I will go first.
There is a 79.1% chance I will attend.
I am willing to contribute what one night’s lodging costs me toward venue rental/food, which is $139.
If you are planning on attending, you should be booking soon. Lots of places for camping. Freep mail me and I can help steer you in the right direction. I have a for sure back up venue or two depending on how many are coming and how long our event lasts. I also have a few other ideas.
I am here, so I will be there.
Mark
Thanks for posting this - I actually copied your post to a word document and printed it out. It’s also on OneDrive in case Bill Gates wants to attend.
Anyway, YES, I’ll be there, Lord willing’ and the creek don’t a’rise.
I’ve already booked a suite at the Residence Inn Marriott in Rapid City. I’ve decided to stay about a week so that I can wander around in the days ahead of the meet-up with my trusty camera and pile of lenses and such. I think that it will be a great photography opportunity, and that’s my hobby of sorts.
I’m good for $100-200 for expenses if needed to secure a location for the meetup. I’m sure it will depend on the size of the group. I’m as comfortable in a pavilion with steaks on the grill as I am in a meeting room at some elegant hotel. Maybe the governor will come out and meet us. :)
I will be in town through the 13th, and will be heading back home on 6/14.
Please do not send private replies to me or Defconw regarding your propensity for attending this event. Also, please ask certain general questions of Defconw regarding campsites, lodging, etc. on this forum rather than via Freepmail because other people might have your same question.
We need to show everyone who might go how this is taking shape so Defconw can narrow the venue search appropriately.
I don’t want people to have a problem with our judgement on how to proceed.
If we limit the information available to people about how many people it seems likely to attend, people will think we are hiding something or made a bad call.
OK
Side note - thinking of the possibility of getting in some range time while in the area. There’s reportedly a shooting range near Sturgis, Buffalo Chip Shooting Complex, that I’m scouting out to see if that is even feasible. If so, during the week leading up to the meetup, I’m thinking that anybody that feels the urge to do a little rifle or sidearm plinking might want to meet there (that’s provided that they’re open to the public, not too expensive, and just available in general). I’ve sent them an email and await the reply.
Otherwise, I’m plotting out some photography stuff mostly, want to take in as much as I can of the area. So much to see within 100 miles of Rapid City.
Bump! Talk to me later about a free shooting range.
I will do that, cibco!
I'll be there, hopefully with Grandma. (Yet another g-grand baby is due about then and The Ladies seem determined to attend...)
Guess I can kick in a Hundred or so.
May just boondock instead of take up any "real" campsite so best way to spot me is by the MT plates on (most likely) a fairly dirty white pickup.
(I work my outfits, keep the machinery super squared away but don't waste water/time on wash jobs.)
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I thought 20+ people from this thread would attend. But that was when I thought things were going to be different- happier and more settled - not only in June but far enough in advance of June that people would be excited to attend and would be making hard plans to do so.
The longer we go with things still being, let’s just say, “ambiguous,” the more this is going to cut down on attendance.
So, anyway, this was my dream:
I thought we could spend a big chunk of Saturday together and a few hours on Sunday.
I had a cool guessing game/icebreaker planned that would require us to move about in the room, mingling with each other, guessing who we are, and then introducing ourselves.
I thought people could do some presentations on things that they know about and would be helpful to people, such as html and navigating the digital space, political organizing, natural health, etc.
I thought a few of the originals could do a panel discussion thing on the the history of this thread and where to go from here.
I thought we could have a friendly games of something— darts, cornhole, whatever, comprised of cats versus other animals, colors versus sizes, etc. based on screennames.
I thought we could have some sort of dinner or barbecue thing where we bring in the people we traveled with.
I thought we could do some sort of interfaith prayer Bible discussion thing on Sunday.
If the group were big enough and the space were right, I thought there might be some block of time when two things could go on simultaneously in different rooms and people choose which is more interesting to them.
I thought perhaps some people would be up for wine tasting of the local wines along with some they brought from their state.
I had other dreams as well, but you get the idea.
And there would be some “free time” for just hanging out.
If people didn’t like some of these ideas and had suggestions for cool things I had not thought of that people liked better we would do those.
But now, I don’t think it will work. I think if we have under ten people it will be more of a happy hour thing, which can be fine. Maybe something where we hang out and talk to each other for a couple of hours and then bring in the people we came with and have dinner together. Maybe while they are talking we have a place for them to hang out with each other until we are ready for them to join us.
If we have between 10-20 people, I guess maybe we can do something sort of like a luncheon or early dinner barbecue type thing. We could have snacks first and a couple hours perhaps during which some guided discussions can take place, general mingling, some time for something like cornhole or darts, and then bring in our traveling partners for the main eating part.
So, obviously what we do is dependent on the number of people coming. I don't want Defconw to have to put unnecessary effort into this. That is why we need to know this month what attendance is shaping up to be.
There is a lot to see there, regardless of group size. And I think that some touring/sightseeing could well be a positive thing.
I’d post a link here and there on the present day thread for people that haven’t been paying attention.
85 %. Chance for me and my dear husband . I think we’re good for 200-300 pus hotel, etc-whatever that may be.
85 %. Chance for me and my dear husband . I think we’re good for 200-300 pus hotel, etc-whatever that may be.
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