Wikipedia talk:Meetup/DC 12

Discussion

Moved here from Wikipedia:Meetup/DC 12

• Let's start planning the next meetup. Suggestions?--User:Cyde
  

• I suggest that we collect money via credit card or paypal at the time reservations are made. I can set this up using a Visa card affilate. See this example. I also suggest that we invite a "guest speaker" to give the event a focus or draw. Racepacket (talk) 04:50, 9 September 2010 (UTC)
  

• I notice on the example you point us to, they add a surcharge. How much does that add? -- BRG (talk) 23:09, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

• The credit card company charges about 4% plus 50 cents. So If the amount per person is $20, we could surcharge $1.30. (Most merchants absorb the credit card fee by raising the price for everyone.) Racepacket (talk) 03:08, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

• Oh man, $20+? I'd really like to have the option of a cheaper entry price, being a student 'n all. Is that possible? --Qwerty0 (talk) 01:05, 18 September 2010 (UTC)

Discussion 2

Please be advised that my information is that a tentative date has been set for Saturday, October 9^th.<br. />—NBahn (talk) 03:20, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

• Hmm, a little sooner than usual, no? Does this have to do with all the interesting happenings recently?

P.S. Where's the off-wiki discussion going on? Mailing list?

--Qwerty0 (talk) 04:49, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

• Discussion (what there is of it, anyway) is occurring on the DC Wikimedia Listserve. I missed the one in August, so I'm very much out of the loop.<br. />—NBahn (talk) 05:33, 9 September 2010 (UTC)
  • Listserv is at https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-dc -- John Broughton (♫♫) 00:51, 10 September 2010 (UTC)
    • For those who don't feel like joining more listserves, how about some updates. One comment. Not Union Station again. Too noisy and food wasn't that good. CarolMooreDC (talk) 04:01, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

• Indeed, I'd rather see the discussion happen on-wiki rather than off. I check Wikipedia far more than I check my Email. Additionally, Carol's comment kind of underlines why catered isn't quite as good as just ordering off the menu, wherever we go. Uno's food off the menu was better than their catered stuff. SchuminWeb (Talk) 04:26, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

• Currently, discussion is about exactly where in central D.C. the Meetup should take place.<br. />—NBahn (talk) 06:29, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

• PA Ave or Conn Ave?? http://www.bertuccis.com/ CarolMooreDC (talk) 23:32, 15 September 2010 (UTC)

• Pennsylvania Avenue. SchuminWeb (Talk) 02:50, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

Postpone?

Seeing as it's now a week away, it seems like it might be a good idea to postpone this meeting until we get more than 4 definitely's? Or is there something I'm not seeing here? --Qwerty0 (talk) 20:53, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Might be a good idea to postpone (November?). I know that there are World Bank demonstrations for the same weekend, and my attendance would definitely depend on getting out of there in time to make it. SchuminWeb (Talk) 22:36, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

I agree postpone is best. We simply don't have any of the organization together as of now, November. Sadads (talk) 01:25, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

In this economic climate, having to promise to pay $20 bucks for an event you may not be able to attend at last minute is a big dissuader. CarolMooreDC (talk) 02:09, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

I'm also not particularly in favor of getting a catered meal vs. picking off the menu, because it allows me more control over my own expenditures. SchuminWeb (Talk) 06:18, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

If it isn't happening this weekend (10/09), then November will probably be better for me, too (but I've only sporadically attended these, so don't give my opinion a whole lot of weight). It wasn't clear to me that the $20 flat payment was still on the table; I thought someone had only suggested it early in the planning stage. But a hefty pre-payment, or fixed price for that matter, would definitely be a factor in whether I decide to attend. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 16:03, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Agree to postpone. Also, apparently Farragut West and McPherson Square metro stations are closed this weekend [1], so the orange line from VA will stop at Foggy Bottom, and from the east, it will stop at Metro Center. Not too convenient for people to get to Foggy Bottom :(

I am willing to organize something for the weekend of October 25th, coinciding with mw:Hack-A-Ton DC and a chance to meet developers & staff :) I will just announce a specific date/time & place in the next few days, once I chat with Danese. --Aude (talk) 21:19, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

PS: For meetups, I find discussion doesn't work. Best if someone just is bold, announces, whoever can come, awesome, whoever can't, there's always next time. --Aude (talk) 21:19, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

I like the idea of the 25th. It gives us a good chance to interact with the people doing the hak-a-ton. I might even bring some of the new JMU Wikipedians up for that! Sadads (talk) 23:45, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

25th would work for me. (Actually that Saturday's the 23rd.) --Qwerty0 (talk) 10:52, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Ah, yes... the 23rd :) Let's plan on that. If it works for Danese and the developers, we can still do Bertucci's. Last time we didn't have to prepay or anything, were very accommodating, etc. Give me a day or two to sort this out and finalize. --Aude (talk) 17:43, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Informal meetups

Though, I say we not do a formal meetup on Saturday, I'm always up for informal hanging out, eating, drinking beer or coffee. (if anyone wants to on Saturday or anytime) I understand that the Boston meetup group meets monthly on Monday evenings [2], Portland does WikiWednesdays [3]. Would anyone at all be interested in informally meeting some place monthly or every other month (during the week? on a Monday? 6:30pm or 7pm?) if I just announced a time/place? Weekdays would be easier to get a place to meet, such as at Teaism. --Aude (talk) 21:28, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Reset

Sincere apologies for everyone who signed up for the Oct 9th meetup... the date is just not going to work, since we are not organized enough and for various other reasons.

I have pushed the date back a couple weeks so that we have the meetup the weekend of October 23rd. The weekend is 100% definite, but the exact date and time is still tentative. Probably, it will be that Saturday. The weekend coincides with MediaWiki Hack-A-Ton DC, which is bringing in Wikimedia Foundation staff and developers. We hope to get developers and local Wikimedians together for the meetup.

I promise to set finalized date, time and place by no later than the end of the week. --Aude (talk) 19:02, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Okay, the date, time and place are all definite!!! --Aude (talk) 19:47, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for finalizing and updating!--128.164.241.225 (talk) 19:58, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Is it still $20 bucks up from promise? Finances need to be on main page, whatever they are. If so it needs to say that for those looking at page carefully for first time. (Or me who only has been paying 20% attention.) CarolMooreDC (talk) 13:32, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

I'm hoping not. We definitely should advise that people should bring cash, but again, if we can swing it where we can just order off the regular menu... SchuminWeb (Talk) 15:12, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

No, we are not collecting money or anything like that. I still need to talk to Bertucci's (stoping by later today) but last time we ordered off the menu, it worked just fine, they were happy to have us, etc. Maybe doing individual checks and dozens of credit cards is an issue... always prefer people bring cash and just pay your portion. --Aude (talk) 18:34, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

I am at Bertuccis. We are totally set and good for Oct 23, ordering from the menu like we usually do. If anyone wants to edit the main meetup page, feel free (it's a wiki :). (aude) 166.137.136.230 (talk) 01:07, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

We had set up a deal with a fixed price (like we had at Pizzaria Uno), but I guess we are abandoning that approach. I will check to see if I can make it on the new date. Please let me know if you need any help. Racepacket (talk) 18:02, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

Certainly hope you can make it! I missed the last Pizzeria Uno meetup, so not sure how well it worked or if people liked doing it that way :/ If at all possible, I sense that people prefer just ordering what they want from the menu. --Aude (talk) 18:09, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Invite notices

FYI: Invite notices are being sent now, thanks to User:Cbrown1023. I have updated the DC meetup invite list at Wikipedia:Meetup/DC/Invite/List. For this round of notices, people who already RSVPed are not getting them. --Aude (talk) 02:22, 18 October 2010 (UTC)

Evauation

It was a wonderful event, and it was interesting to meet the techincal programmers in town for the coding session. Next time, let's try to get a room with better acustics (or at least turn off the muzac). I hope we return to the round of introductions. Racepacket (talk) 00:51, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Indeed. Great event, great food, great service (Bertucci's did a FABULOUS job), and great company. If I recall correctly, we were about to do intros, but we ultimately didn't do them because it would take forever considering our larger size. I think the sound issue partly came because we were so large this time - about double our usual meetup size due to the Hack-a-ton going on. Next meetup at Bertucci's, if it's more of our normal size, sound and intros shouldn't be an issue, as we did Bertucci's once before with a smaller group (these folks), and we were in the same room and it worked out well. SchuminWeb (Talk) 03:24, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Thank you all for coming!!! I wanted to do introductions, but the group was too large and difficult to get everyone to introduce themselves. :( Bertucci's could work again in the future, but do brainstorm and let everyone know if you think of other good places. --Aude (talk) 15:25, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Next meetups

1. When do we want to have another meetup? I suggest we definitely do another one in December, maybe December 19th when people (e.g. Sadads) come back from being away at school.
2. I think we missed a bunch of people (e.g. campus ambassadors and students) at this meetup. Would people be open to doing more regular meetups? say monthly and rotating between doing our usual weekend meetups (December) and doing something during the week, in the evening (say a Monday night in November, say at Teaism, Busboys, maybe the Smithsonian or GWU would host us)? I think we might catch more people if we varied things.

--Aude (talk) 15:25, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Both ideas sound great! (Maybe the 18th though). More regular meetings, in particular, would be good for the ambassadors and students of the greater DC region, because it would give them the opportunity to come together and work with the community. The ambassador program is likely going to become regional, and DC already has a high concentration of universities participating. Between the students and ambassadors, a lot of new energy will be entering the Wikimedia DC pool of participants. Also, I am glad to hear that this meetup this weekend went well! Sadads (talk) 15:59, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

1. I suggest regular meetups, monthly. I think we have enough stuff going on the merit them. Plus, I have some stuff from the WMF side of the house to present that I should be able to do on a monthly basis. Sorry I missed the last one guys, had a killer migraine pop up.Drosenthal (talk) 22:49, 25 October 2010 (UTC)

November meetup

I propose we do a meetup this month, and try doing in on a weekday where it's easier to get meetup space for discussions and short presentations. (we can go to a pub or someplace after) We have plenty of things to discuss. For a date, I tentatively propose Wednesday, November 17th, 7-9pm. I am working on getting a meetup place, near the metro.

• Wikipedia:Meetup/DC 13

How about a report on last time? As a motivator and to see if need to learn any lessons on any specific issue. CarolMooreDC (talk) 22:43, 6 November 2010 (UTC)

See above Wikipedia_talk:Meetup/DC_12#Evauation. It was just a social meetup, so we don't have any notes or anything. But if anyone wants to add feedback and evaluation, please do! --Aude (talk) 22:46, 6 November 2010 (UTC)