Bay Area Meetups

[Virtual_Aardvark]

This thing: http://makerfaire.com/bayarea/2011/

So, is anyone going this year? I will certainly be there on the 21st and possibly the 22nd. Seems like a good place for the xkcd types. Alternately it's about time for a general Bay Area meetup.
EDIT: So I'm changing this to a general meetup in the Bay Area (probably SF). I'm aiming to schedule this in mid or late August as I know a few forumites may be in the area then.

Any takers?

[Meteorswarm]

I'm flying in on the 22 for the summer, so any time after that would probably be good. I'm missing the makers' fair though.

[Uffh]

I'm in town until August 2nd, if the meetup happens before then I'll definitely come.

[Aaeriele]

I'm obviously around, and would totally be interested, as long as it's before the end of August. (I'll be out of the country starting August 25th.)

[existential_squirrrel]

I'll be back in the area around August 13 or 14 to move into my dorm and be a part of freshman orientation at school. College starts back up again August 22, so anytime after then works for me.

I know I'm going to be swamped the 13th, 14th, 20th, 21st of August, so any weekend after then would be lovely (always looking for an excuse to go into SF for part of the weekend ) .
I'm just across the Golden Gate in San Rafael... could always meet at a restaurant there(?????)

[tes]

I'm in the area from August 7th to September 7th 4th, a meetup would be wonderful. August 12th to 14th are pretty much the only days I don't have plenty of time (I'm planning to go to the Outside Lands festival).

[Outchanter]

I'm around, so like, whenever, man. But being carless a location near BART would be preferable (unless people want to carpool).

[Virtual_Aardvark]

So it looks like the most people who have answered are available somewhere between the 15th-19th or the 22nd-24th. (Roughly. I just marked most of the hard no's on a calender.) Does this sound about right? I get that that's all weekdays but we could always get dinner or chill in a cafe or (since it's August) chill outside.

Aside from that are there any preferences for the East Bay or SF?

[Aaeriele]

I know joshz will be in town on the 15th, and NecklaceOfShadow will be leaving early on the 23rd, so the 15th might be better (at least relevant to those people I know).

(I'm also flying out of the country at 1am on the 25th, so the 24th is going to be a little hectic for me.)

[Virtual_Aardvark]

So that's one vote for the 15th. I have no objection. Does that sound like a good day to anyone else? If it is we can start talking time/place.

[Aaeriele]

(Note that since the 15th is a Monday, I'd have work until ~5pm or so.)

[tes]

15th is probably okay, and what Outchanter said.

[Virtual_Aardvark]

So an evening meetup on the 15th is sounding pretty okay so far. Does meeting up for dinner sound like a good idea? I know a lot of places right near BART in the East Bay but SF is maybe more convenient for a lot of people.

Bars are out because at the very least I'm not legal and they've gotten more strict about who even gets into the building.

Any other suggestions? There's a lot to do in The Bay.

[Æshættr]

I also work during the week, so the evening would be preferable. I'd prefer a location near BART, since traffic and parking are things I'd rather not deal with.

[Virtual_Aardvark]

So I was thinking either the Mission (Valencia maybe) or SOMA would be ideal places for a group of we don't know how many to find a decent place to get dinner. I unfortunately don't know SF restaurants that well so if someone has suggestions of places or specific cuisines (or has dietary restrictions) post ideas. Don't restrict yourselves to the areas I've named, those were just inspiration. If I can think of anything I'll mention it.

Aside from that how many people are available on Monday evening? Of those how many know they're coming?

C'mon people! We gotta plan this thing.

[Aaeriele]

I know a website which could help with finding a place. (God, that joke is so old for me... >.>)

Anyhow, I'll certainly be available. Don't have any particular dietary restrictions.

[Virtual_Aardvark]

So here's the plan I've come up with. We just wing it on where we eat and meet up somewhere surrounded by good, relatively cheap food.

I say we all meet at the 16th and Mission Station at the top of the escalators at the exit of the same name. That's about two blocks from Valencia and all sorts of interesting Latin American restaurants or exiting SF type weirdness. Around 6:30-7:00 so no one has to wait around alone after dark.

Does this sound like a good idea?

[Aaeriele]

I could do that.

[Outchanter]

Tuesday would probably work better than Monday for me personally, but I'll see if I can make it. Who else is planning to come?

I'm not familiar with many SF restaurants but I have been to an African themed one near 16th and Mission which is pretty cool: http://www.yelp.com/biz/little-baobab-san-francisco

[Virtual_Aardvark]

Okay, bold makes it official.

We all meet tonight between 6:30 and 7:30 at the 16th and Mission BART station, at the top of the big escalators. We plan the rest from there.

See ya'll later!

[tes]

I will be there.

[Aaeriele]

For anyone who isn't sure they'll recognize other folk, and thus wants something to look out for: I will probably be arriving on the earlier end of the time slot (around 6:30), and I should be fairly easy to spot if you look for these things:

1) My bag (this specific color scheme):


2) My shirt - I just got a new one in the mail from Woot today, so I'll be wearing it:


3) And finally, I'm typically wearing a black jacket that says "Yelp" on it on the front (it's fairly small though, so I'd stick to the previous 2).

[Virtual_Aardvark]

I will be holding a sign/open sketchbook that says XKCD. And remember the top of the escalators, outside. Googlemaps can show you what it looks like.

[Æshættr]

I won't be able to make it up there tonight. Maybe next time.

[fuzzycuzzy]

arghhh... missed out; oh well, there's always a next time

on a sidenote, has anyone actually gone geohashing?

[modularblues]

Oh man I missed out too Geohashing sounds like a good excuse to go forth and have some trip(ping).

[existential_squirrrel]

I can't believe I missed it sad e_squirrrel is sad.

We should hold another meet up in Late September or November.

[PictureSarah]

Bakemaster and I might be interested in a meetup at some point...we're not in the Bay Area, we're in Sacramento now, but it's a lot closer than we've been up until now. Traveling is largely limited by time and finances and an unending lineup of remodeling projects, though. We shall see.

[mayhaps]

bumping the thread to see if anyone's thinking about a Bay meetup again? how'd the last one go?

[Virtual_Aardvark]

The last meetup was pretty cool. I'd love for another to happen if other people are up for it. I know there's a couple people in the immediate area. There's no need for a huge fora-wide thing. Who wants to get together and just chill?

[Frenetic Pony]

"Chill" as in the beatnick style chill, or as in the gangster style chill? I'd prefer the former, it usually involves more in the way of coffee and bad poetry, rather than guns.

Either way I'd be interested.

[Virtual_Aardvark]

...Beatnik

Which is actually a good direction to go in. Between the Beat Museum and the coffee shop/square block ratio in The City, bad poetry and coffee is pretty easy to manage.

[existential_squirrrel]

chilling would be good. I need an excuse to get out of San rafael...

[Virtual_Aardvark]

Well, hey. Lets plan something.

Our one week of winter is over and all the typical Bay activities are open to us. It would be cool even to do a regular thing with forumites just cause we're never all here at once but a good number are frequently here. Like a monthly meet at a cafe or what have you. Whoever's in the Bay shows up.

I'll also ask now: is anyone planning on traveling here for Pride? I know some people on the fora have come a long way before for the gayest day of the year.

[mayhaps]

my spring break's the last week of the month. I'd love to get up into the city. we could hang out then? (if it's convenient for more than just me of course. oh, and I know I'm not too much of a regular here - small post count and whatnot - but I promise I'm at least 67% interesting!)

[existential_squirrrel]

I'm travelling the last week of this month, but I'm game to go in to the city this weekend (saturday) or this coming one

I like the idea of doing a coffee shop meet up.

PM me if interested in meeting up whether it's in San Fran or up in San Rafael. I'm pretty goofy, but it would be good for me to be social.

[Virtual_Aardvark]

So on Saturday the 17th you can find me and e_s here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/mavelous-san-francisco#query:Cafe at 1:00. Come all who are in the area and like coffee!

I will be wearing a panda hat for identification purposes.

[existential_squirrrel]

I will be wearing... a blue 1/4 zip jacket, brown rimmed glasses, a brace on my left wrist, and may have a plush monkey with me who looks like the monkey in this pic. That's my face in the pic

me, my brace (not cool), and my plush monkey named Simon

[Virtual_Aardvark]

This may be a long shot, but here goes:

My roommate's kicking me out of my apartment (long story) and I need a place to live in the east bay very soon. So if you or anyone you know needs a roomie or is vacating a decent place to live I'd appreciate the tip. I'm queer and poly so it's hard sometimes to find people who are okay with that.

...help?

[existential_squirrrel]

I want to meet more XKCD folks. anyone interested in a meet up in October/early November?

Somewhere in SF would be nice, or even other parts of the East/North Bay