xkcd

by **l33t_sas** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:50 am UTC

How many Melbourne people are there here? Anybody interested in some sort of meet some time soon? I've got a bunch of friends who are xkcd fans but aren't on the forums that I can bring along. I'm too young to afford a meet in Sydney any time soon too and I'm sure there must be others that feel the same.

I figure we meet in a park somewhere. Maybe Flagstaff gardens? Any other thoughts or ideas?

EDIT: DETAILS ARE IN:

Tomorrow (April 5th) at 1pm at Flagstaff Gardens near the train station exit. (Keep in mind that Flagstaff Station doesn't work on weekends so you need another way to get there). Chocolate to follow.

Coming:
gnat wearing pretty average clothes
Zerosum wearing green fancy clothes. Leaving at 4ish
Bruce wearing a hat
theduffman and a friend
joff
tommyb
Me and two friends

Not coming:
JayDee in Sydney

Unclear/undecided:
Benny the bear
Hawknc
Toeofdoom
polly~(lol)
akashra
amarantha
Ruins
allabouttrust
hit3k
masher
Melchiresa
littlemouseme
luthen

by **Hawknc** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:08 am UTC

There is a possibility that I would attend such an event. I know there's at least two or three other established forum-goers on yonder fora that reside here, so it depends on how many of us actually want to meet in meatspace.

by **ZeroSum** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:52 am UTC

I'm taking a trip to Melbourne in April. I'll be at a wedding on April 5th and I'll be in Australia the weeks before and after.

by **JayDee** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:15 am UTC

It's almost 12 months since I last went down to Melbourne, so I'm well overdue. Time/money/other-gods willing I'd participate.

by **Toeofdoom** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:58 am UTC

I'd go. I'd probably prefer a weekend over a weekday.

by **l33t_sas** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:00 am UTC

Well yes. You big people need to work, don't you?

by **Hawknc** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:14 pm UTC

Yeah, anything that I could attend would have to be a weekend, since I start the big bad world of full-time work this month. (Of course, this brings with the slightly less big bad world of a full-time pay, which lets me buy shiny things.)

by **Toeofdoom** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:10 pm UTC

I would buy shiny things, but apparently shiny is out of fashion in computer hardware. I'm planning on getting a katana sometime though, but that may end up not happening.

Also, I wont be in Melbourne from the 14th to 28th of January.

So, currently this thread has... 3 people already in Melbourne, one maybe making a trip for it, and one around in April. Also, I was on IRC earlier and quite a few people were discussing a Melbourne meetup seperately. I wonder how many people we'd be able to gather.

As for where, I don't have any better suggestions as of yet...

... or actually a kinda fun thing to do would be to go to a laser wars place, even book the place out for a midnight to dawn thing, but it's also only very loosely related to xkcd. But laserwars is always good, right...? Training to fight back against raptors...? Although that costs money too, and a target for that kind of thing is at least 30 people I think.

by **polly~(lol)** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:30 am UTC

id sure as pie go to a meet up in Melbourne , anything to meet interesting people . im fine with anytime , i got other mates who would be more than willing to go to a meet up with people from this web sight.

by **akashra** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:06 am UTC

I'm in Melbourne, but I'm not the type to do random web meets. Convince me.

by **Amarantha** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:41 am UTC

*confesses*
I'm in Melbourne. I'm also naturally un-social, especially with strangers. So ya, I could possibly be talked into it, but I dunno how likely. Nothing personal; I'm sure you're all lovely people

*escapes*

by **polly~(lol)** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 6:29 am UTC

im shy , incredibly , shy , and awkward an goofy , and weird , in a quirky way . , and if theres anybody sociopathically dangerous , im well equiped with imaginary ninja skills. common it would be fun to get some maccas with people yourve never met before , then go to places urve been before with people yourve just met, plus i selfishly need an excuse to go to max brenners for some chocolate indulgance.

by **l33t_sas** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:58 pm UTC

To all the people posting about being shy and being unwilling to do web meet-ups. I can sympathise as I am not great with people myself. That is why I'd bring a friend, it's always good to have back-up conversation when meeting new people in case of falling into awkward shyness. I have never done an online meet-up before either but all you guys seem awesome so now I'm curious.

Toeofdoom wrote:So, currently this thread has... 3 people already in Melbourne, one maybe making a trip for it, and one around in April. Also, I was on IRC earlier and quite a few people were discussing a Melbourne meetup seperately. I wonder how many people we'd be able to gather.

As for where, I don't have any better suggestions as of yet...

... or actually a kinda fun thing to do would be to go to a laser wars place, even book the place out for a midnight to dawn thing, but it's also only very loosely related to xkcd. But laserwars is always good, right...? Training to fight back against raptors...? Although that costs money too, and a target for that kind of thing is at least 30 people I think.

I'm fairly (okay, very) new on the forums and don't know many people. I'm just bringing it up as something to consider. If you or someone else with a wider social circle could orchestrate the meet-up, that would be great.

by **allabouttrust** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:44 am UTC

i'm half-organising a meet-up in the form of a bbq at my house in may with some #xkcd denizens. but i would also go to a meet-up beforehand, or i could be convinced to have a meet-up at my house for bbq fun times.

by **Ruins** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:28 am UTC

Just joined the forum (found out about it today lol...) and am studying at Monash (Clayton) atm, so I maybe interested in any get-together withing reasonable driving distance.

by **Hawknc** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:17 pm UTC

What are you studying there? I just graduated from there, it's a good campus. Don't eat anywhere except the Den, though, everywhere else is poor value in comparison.

by **Ruins** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:29 am UTC

Doing a PhD in Robotics and Computer Vision. I agree with the food, but I make do with the $5 rice + curry from the Westend (now called the meeting point or some random PR BS). Its a nice campus, just wish I lived a bit closer. Driving 35 minutes to get home after coding into the night is incredibly lame.

by **Hit3k** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:30 am UTC

I'd be interested in this.

by **masher** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:31 pm UTC

Ruins wrote:Just joined the forum (found out about it today lol...) and am studying at Monash (Clayton) atm, so I maybe interested in any get-together withing reasonable driving distance.

I'm across the road from you.

by **ZeroSum** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:47 am UTC

I has a plane ticket!

I arrive in Melbourne on March 31st, then I hang out in Melbourne until Saturday. Most of that week I plan on spending with family, though I could afford to sneak away to say hi to people.

I'm going to try to be in Sydney for the Flugtag and spend a day or two there, then back to Melbourne to finish off that week, where I'm definitely more free to hang out with random people, not just family. Then I leave Melbourne on April 12th.

Therefore, I woot.

by **theduffman** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:08 am UTC

mm, sounds interesting. I'm in Melbourne, I've just signed up, but I've read all the xkcd comics. I've met internet-strangers before to play smash bros melee. I'd consider coming. I might bring a friend or sibling. It'd be even more fun with videogames, food, or something to do.

by **Bruce** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:40 am UTC

I am a random person from the Internets who would be interested in such an activity. I also live in Melbourne.

by **Melchiresa** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:48 am UTC

I think I'll consider this one. I'm in Melbourne, and despite being terribly awkward, I need an excuse to get out more.

by **littlemouseme** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:09 pm UTC

I'm a bit of a newbie but I live in Melbourne and would possibly come. I've never met people from the internet before, it'd be a new experience

by **joff** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:11 am UTC

I'll throw my name in the hat.. I'm keen. Could probably bring a friend (fellow XKCDian) along too....

by **Hawknc** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:22 am UTC

Is...are those Jayne hats on the crew of the Enterprise? Because that's the kind of crossover I can get behind.

by **JayDee** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 1:24 am UTC

... Out of curiosity, has this thread progressed beyond the "Who in Melbourne would be interested" stage yet?

by **joff** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 7:48 am UTC

Hawknc wrote:Is...are those Jayne hats on the crew of the Enterprise? Because that's the kind of crossover I can get behind.

I hadn't thought of that.. but now that you mention it, it's all kinds of awesome

by **theduffman** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:47 am UTC

hehe, people have /signed up/ for this thread.

for the love of xkcd, let's get this thing going!

Ruins wrote:Just joined the forum (found out about it today lol...) and am studying at Monash (Clayton) atm, so I maybe interested in any get-together withing reasonable driving distance.

I am studying Med there

by **gnat** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:46 pm UTC

I would love to go to a meetup in Melbourne. I actually met a fellow xkcd-reader in the city by pure chance once, at the kfc near flinders. Met a stranger, the conversation turned to playpen balls, and the rest is history. It was pretty great.

by **ZeroSum** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:10 pm UTC

Yeah, I, too, am interested in knowing if sometime during the next week people would like to meet a random xkcdian from the US.

by **Luthen** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:08 pm UTC

Sounds good, studying Physics at Melb Uni and the moment (I wonder if my prof. would let us play with his equipment in the basement (he has an accelerator of some sort, I think it was a positron acceleration).

What would we have to do to the coordinates from XKCD http://xkcd.com/240/ to get them within Melbourne?

by **Bruce** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:16 pm UTC

We are at -37.8575, 144.9316, which hardly holds much relation.

It would appear most people are keen and a time/place is required. I will give this some thought tomorrow and see what I can come up with. Feel free to beat me to it.

by **Hawknc** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:43 pm UTC

Argh! Cody, man, you gotta remind me of these things. What dates are you in Melbourne?

by **Bruce** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:48 pm UTC

OK so I got some motivation. The weekend of the 4th-6th seems best. Here are my suggestions:

- Public midnight to dawn darkzone in Boxhill Friday night. Disadvantages are that it will cost money and we will probably need to book, so people will need to know in advance. Also not for everyone being a lot of effort and being awake for the end of the working week. If enough people are interested I will be in.

- Kite flying/ball kicking/running around in Park, Flagstaff Gardens was mentioned so we can run with that. Could be followed by chocolate.

- I ran into the PAVE festival just now. Apparently last year they broke the world record for largest Wobble Board ensemble, which can only be a good thing. It is a fair way out east though, so perhaps not for everyone.

- Laughter Club at Fed Square on Sunday. Can also be followed by Cafe/Chocolate.

Thoughts?

by **gnat** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 7:10 am UTC

Both Flagstaff gardens and laughter club sound great to me. I think it would be better if the meetup were in or close to the city, just to make things more central for people coming from all over. Plus, hey, chocolate.

Darkzone wouldn't work for me being so late, and the Pave festival would be difficult for me to get to.

by **theduffman** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:54 pm UTC

Bruce said:
- Public midnight to dawn darkzone in Boxhill Friday night. Disadvantages are that it will cost money and we will probably need to book, so people will need to know in advance. Also not for everyone being a lot of effort and being awake for the end of the working week. If enough people are interested I will be in.

- Kite flying/ball kicking/running around in Park, Flagstaff Gardens was mentioned so we can run with that. Could be followed by chocolate.

- I ran into the PAVE festival just now. Apparently last year they broke the world record for largest Wobble Board ensemble, which can only be a good thing. It is a fair way out east though, so perhaps not for everyone.

- Laughter Club at Fed Square on Sunday. Can also be followed by Cafe/Chocolate.

I'm not sure about the PAVE festival - it's a long way out of the city! I approve of all the rest of the suggestions though, and more likely than not I'd come

by **ZeroSum** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:00 pm UTC

I will be in Melbourne April 1st through April 5th. I may be in Melbourne at some point after April 7th but will be leaving Australia on the 12th.

by **TommyB** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:32 am UTC

Long time reader, first time poster.

I'll be in for whatever is agreed upon. I'm sure I can find one or two others to drag along as well.

by **Bruce** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 6:25 am UTC

Looks like Flagstaff Gardens on Saturday is winning. Personally I will not be able to be there until around 1PM, so I suggest 1PM.

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