*What Kind of Venue for WP London-Meet this Summer?*

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Hello

The poll about a London meet, at: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt91124.html ,
indicates a preference for August or September so we are looking for a venue for that period.

What we need to know before choosing anywhere is what kind of place people want to meet at.
Urban/city or rural/coastal. Lots of city sights and sounds or peaceful and beautiful countryside?

Somewhere with meeting room, catering, and a block-booking in advance or more casual, individual bookings, and no catering or communal area, etc.

Please vote in the poll.

It is nearly March; there will be fewer and fewer places available either for group
or separate bookings so it is important to settle on something soon.

If you would like a London Meet-up we need your feedback. Thanks.

NB. We are concentrating on the South East of England because it is the easiest for most people to get to.
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Three examples of what the London Meet-Up might look like:

Inner/Outer London:

We stay in a B&B/Hotel in London, and sit over coffees in Covent Garden, wander around the alternative shops in Neals Yard, and along Charing Cross Road looking in the bookshops; visit the National Portrait Gallery, picnic in a park, go to the Natural History Museum, walk along the Thames, eat in an Indian Restaurant, a salad and juice bar, or a veggie restaurant; take the tube to Hampstead Heath, and row boats on the lake in Regent's/Hyde Park.

A town in the South East:

We stay in a campsite close to a small town on the coast, which has standing caravans for hire, ( we'd have to share though ), and tent pitches, ( or sleep in a nearby B&B if prefer ), and we eat at the local pub, visit the local castle ruins/stately home, walk along the promenade, eat fish and chips, eat afternoon teas in a beachfront café, and paddle, or even swim if we dare to take our clothes off, and watch the sunset over the sea.

A Retreat Centre in the countryside near London:

We stay in a peaceful place and eat the meals cooked for us and walk in the beautiful grounds/surrounding countryside, hold workshops on diverse special interests, discussion groups on future AS projects, listen to some of us playing music maybe, play pen and paper party games, have a General Knowledge competition, ( a la University Challenge ), go on a bus journey to the nearest old village/town. Relax.

What kind of things would other people like to do at the WP meet?

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Countryside would be great, but I cant do the weekend of 23rd august so if its that weekend dismiss my input

I would be staying with a friend who lives in North London, haven't seen him in ages. but I'd hang out with you guys too, just not full-time

I could attend a meeting in London, but I am not sure quite what a meet up would be like. So I am not sure if I want to attend.

Also what would we do if we had a meet up ?

_________________
Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

Despite the drawbacks/noise of London I have friends /relatives I should catch up with there so I could have some "break away" time...I don't do too well with no diversions or escape routes, I end up feeling trapped

hi- sorry i have not been able to call any of the places i said i'd call. i'll do it on tuesday, if still nedded.
as to location etc- i really dont mind; prefer outskirts of town rather than urban location, but countryside retreatish thing sounds superb!

since - presumably- there will be other low-income people tihnking of attending, a camping option would be really helpful. i cant afford it otherwise, and imagine others would find that too.

im pretty easy, though, since i live in london, hvae tent= can travel.

I voted for countryside in S.E. any arrangement.
I'm fine with either a retreat centre, or a campsite.
I am indifferent between the activites you described in 'A town in the South East' and in 'A Retreat Centre in the countryside'.
(perhaps a slight preference for retreat centre activities, because they will allow us to discuss future aspie gatherings/projects).

i think it would handy to have somewhere with decent outside space, for a barbie or campfires in the evening. this would also be a more relaxed social way of meeting, rather than having lots of other people about at the same time- as in- eg a town. also, there is now an indoor smoking ban in the uk. and to be able to drink too, since people are generally more relaxed and open with beer/win/absinthe etc.

indoor space is handy too, as the last couple of summers have been very wet.

id not enjoy wandering about london with people- its full on enough with a groups of 6 friends- in larger groups, people split off, feel left out, get lost, etc. the option to socialise in the eve or day on site would be preferable, with the option to go off and do something in small groups or alone nearby. reasonable access to a town would be handy, so people dont feel couped up on site,a nd can buy things if they need to.

geographically- east anglia (counties east of london) is VERY flat, and so rather dull for walking about in. the rest, n, s and west, are greenish and hillyish to some extent.

the sea is 54 miles from london- brighton, which might be another option. it is a small city, aka london on sea, as it has a large student, weird, gay, cosmopolitan, fairly liberal populace, which would be good- (ie- if you're worried baout getting started at for 'behaving weirdly' there are plently of weird brighton residents, so youll just blend in.) there is a fast train link to brighton- about 45 mins, i think. the coach is a little longer. book trains in advance, though, as theya re hugely expensive to buy just before travel- so its not THAT flexible.

apart from that, the south coast might be a good bet, as its really easy to get to from london, and from gatwick, and there is both town, sea and city. there are other towns along the coast, though the train links are a little more complex- i think one has to change at brighton. the 'south downs'- largish, gently rolling hills area inland, is reasonably scenic- not stunning, but nice.
i am particularly enjoying the image hosting aspect of this.

south downs.


pictures of- brighton pavillion-


brightons' famous regency architecture looks like this- a bit nicer, in fact-


beach huts on the sea front-


the sea front at brighton- the wouth coast along here is generally pebbles.-

apologies for the giantic-ness of the pics!

I need to reply to the e-mail from The Friars, ( the price info about a block booking with full catering and a meeting room, etc ). So ...

I think that unless enough, ( 10 or more ), people immediately post to declare their interest it would be best to say that we would prefer a more flexible arrangment, ( people booking individually, only the B&B option at £24 each per night for single room etc, and without the meeting room ), and perhaps that would mean more choice about the date aswell, because it may be that they would have enough guest rooms free at another time for a smaller number without a meeting room?

Looking at their site, and other info about the area, it seems we wouldn't be too isolated, because it is only 2 miles from Maidstone, and there is a regular bus most days. Also the village itself, Aylesford, is very pretty and has a number of restaurants and shops.

But that would not be enough to satisfy people who want to have "real" London meet, so please keep voting in the poll so we can get a good idea of what you are interested in doing.

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I'm bumping this because I'm still interested in it happening....plus Brighton looks lovely in those pictures

The London Transport museum.

I just sent an e-mail to http://www.textbook-venues.co.uk/ asking if they maybe had something which would be suitable for us. I asked about self-catering aswell, and having the place to ourselves, which would most definitely not be the case at The Friars, or Braziers, nor of course at any campsite, unless so small it wouldn't have fixed accom, ( chalets/caravans ) to hire.

The YHAs, which we could easily have to ourselves, unfortunately involve way too much room-sharing, and/or are too small, and the Landmark Trust don't have anywhere in the UK which takes more than 22/26 people, ( and that's if the majority share double/twin/family-rooms ).

A small campus university still looks a good bet for plenty of single ensuite rooms, ( at reasonable rates ), and communal space, but not for having the place to ourselves.

Brighton and the South Coast look lovely but I don't know how many of the people who voted for a London meet will want to go there.

I wonder what ideas/suggestions Text-book Venues will have, if any. They pride themselves on finding a suitable place for almost all! ( they look at state-schools too, not just private ) So we will see!! !

Of course if only a dozen or so people want to meet-up then that would be possible in many diferent places, ( including a standard hotel/B&B/campsite ), and relatively easy to organise. But I got the impression on Greentea's thread that the number of interested could be in the 20-30 range, at least.

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