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Post by Amee on Oct 26, 2019 8:00:14 GMT -5
So.... I'm all giddy and excited to be starting this thread The idea at this point is to brainstorm a little, see how many devs are interested in a meet-up, what time and place would work best for most people and also, if we would prefer it to be Devs-only or mixed. Once it moves on to organizing the specifics, I would take it to a more private channel. I decided against making a poll for now, because full-length posts will be necessary anyway to answer in detail, especially as things are all very vague at this point. I'm also assuming that there won't be all that many people interested that a poll would be necessary to keep an overview. So, fellow devs, if you are interested in taking part in a dev meet-up in 2020, please let me know: 1. What times would most likely be possible for you - time of the year, as well as times of the week (assuming weekends will work best for everyone, but who knows). 2. What area would be best for you, but also what areas you could travel to, if necessary. 3. If you need some kind of event at the time to use as an excuse or not - and also any ideas/suggestions of events you can think of to use for this purpose (as well as events that would be interesting to actually visit, if anyone would be up for that) 4. If you would prefer it to be Devs-Only or open to PWDs as well - or any variation on that, like Devs-Only time and mixed time. 5. Anything else you can think of that could be relevant Since we haven't decided on whether to do this devs-only or not, I would kindly ask the PWDs to refrain from posting at this point Any devs, who are interested, but would prefer not to answer on the public board are welcome to send me a PM! Edit: Thanks erikajulia for pointing out that "guys" and "girls" isn't the right distinction here - I changed it and of course, gay devs are welcome!
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Post by Amee on Oct 26, 2019 8:02:03 GMT -5
And I'll start with my own contribution 1. Ideal for me would probably be June or late August, although depending on the specific dates, I could possibly do any time except March, April and early May. Weekends are good, but I can generally also do week-days. 2. I'm relatively flexible on location. Easiest for me would be Southern Germany, but I could probably reach any place in Germany. 3. I don't need an event. 4. I'm slightly in favor of doing it Devs-Only, or at least having some devs-only time. It's not because it wouldn't be awesome to meet some of the PWD guys as well, but since I've never met a fellow dev in real life, it would be wonderful to focus on that for at least a little while But I'm also open to inviting the PWD guys, if the other devs prefer that!
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erikajulia
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Post by erikajulia on Oct 26, 2019 8:24:06 GMT -5
Thank you for opening the thread and organizing us! 1. What times would most likely be possible for you - time of the year, as well as times of the week (assuming weekends will work best for everyone, but who knows). 2. What area would be best for you, but also what areas you could travel to, if necessary. 3. If you need some kind of event at the time to use as an excuse or not - and also any ideas/suggestions of events you can think of to use for this purpose as well as events that would be interesting to actually visit 4. If you would prefer it to be Devs-Only or open to the guys as well - or any variation on that, like Devs-Only time and mixed time. 5. Anything else you can think of that could be relevant
1. Time: I'd prefer a cooler time of the year, but will try to come at any time. Weekends (Saturdays) would be paramount. 2. Area: Berlin, Hannover, Leipzig sound great, but then again I would try to make everything possible. 3. Event/Disguise: I don't care if we use an event as disguise or not. If we find a place that suits us all, we will certainly find something that is going on there at that time and can be used. Still... Düsseldorf rehacare would be fun. ;-) 4. I'd like it to be mixed: a dev-only-time (as there are gay devs here, too, I try to drop the "girls" and "boys") and a time mixed - that is, if there are actually pwd interested.
5. I think you covered the important parts. Thank you so much!
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Post by strawberrybubblegum on Oct 26, 2019 8:39:03 GMT -5
Oh wow, this is awesome! 1. Apart from late August, I’m very flexible regarding the time at this point. Weekends work best for me. 2. For me all of Northern Germany works best. Like Hamburg, Hannover or Bremen. But I would also travel. Maybe a city in middle Germany would be best? Like Cologne, which is great, anyway! Berlin would be great as well, as I’m assuming I’m going to have to travel, anyway. 3. I don’t need an excuse. 4. I would also love to have at least a devs only time. 5. Can’t think of anything. Great idea!
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Post by LaMara on Oct 26, 2019 9:02:44 GMT -5
This is an exciting idea! I’m pretty flexible all year round, so with some early warning I can organise a free long weekend any time in the year. I might be away a couple weeks in the summer (likely late July/early August) but every other time is doable. Any place near an airport will do! The only place in Germany I visited was Munich so I’m more than happy to fly anywhere else. Ideally, a devs only event would be preferred but having even just different times for devs only and mixed is cool too. And I’m sure I can come up with my own excuse!
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Post by linda on Oct 26, 2019 9:32:15 GMT -5
What a wonderful idea, Amee, I’d love that! 1. I always have to see how I can arrange it and only uneven calendar weekends work for me. 2. Mid-West Germany would be most convenient (Ruhrgebiet), but I would also do my best to come to other places 3. No excuse needed. How thoughtful of you! 4. A good time for devs only would be nice Thanks!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2019 15:56:01 GMT -5
That sounds awesome, I would love to join if I am in Germany. I actually plan on being there in October next year because my mom is turning 80 then. I am in the middle, Wuerzburg to be exact. I don't mind "mixed" but with Devs Only time. Don't need a disguise event, it is just a bunch of people getting together. I would like to be kept in the planning loop if you are going forward with this. Thanks
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bluefox
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Post by bluefox on Oct 26, 2019 18:46:09 GMT -5
1. I can't promise anything for autumn - I'll likely be out of the country for a longer time. Because of school, I can only do weekends. 2. I can't do Cologne - I live near there, someone would 100% spot me. I also don't have the money for northern or southern Germany. Middle Germany works best for me by far. 3. I need an excuse since I don't live alone - I'm actually really in favor of the Leipzig book fair, we could recommend each other some devvy literature for sure, I am not sure if anything that isn't brand new can be found there though... but even if not, we'd probably find something for everyone if we keep each other's preferences in mind and look a bit. :^) 4. I'd say at least some devs only time - to be all honest I have no PWD experience (and am only minimally a dev of wheelers which I think all PWDs from Germany on here are) hence would probably get hysterical. It also makes the group a heap more noticable which scares me, but after all I happily the decision to the majority. :^)
Also glad I finally found where this topic moved xd
Edit: I don't mean hysterical as in being afraid of wheelers, I'd just be hella uncomfortable about probably staring weird or something like that. I don't want to make anyone feel out of place, that's why.
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Post by feelsunshine on Oct 27, 2019 3:37:51 GMT -5
I thought about this now since the topic was brought up by Amee. This is a wonderful idea and I hope you all will have a great time. I won’t be in, as I am not the chit-chat-in-a-big-group-kind-of-person and I neither see me walking with a bunch of other devs across a reha fair nor a book fair and I can only imagine how awkward I would feel if we start our discussions in a café and people would overhear our conversation.
Please don’t get me wrong, I hope you will have a great time and I party hate myself because of backing out but the more I think about it, it’s just not my thing.
This does however not exclude personal encounters whatsoever. I’m more comfortable if I’m in a group of two or three. I met people from PD before which have been great experiences.
2021 will be the next wheeler marathon in Heidelberg - if you guys wanna take this into consideration for your second meeting ;-)
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Post by strawberrybubblegum on Oct 27, 2019 4:29:54 GMT -5
Depending on how many we are, I don’t think rehacare or the book fair would be such a great idea. Rehacare is pretty much out of the question for me. As much as I’d be interested in the exposition and I imagine it’d be great for checking out wheelers, I would feel totally out of place with a group of AB women. I would feel like I‘d have DEV written all over my forehead. I was even hesitant to go with my wheeler ex even though with him I would have obviously had a reason to be there. The book fair I believe is also tricky to visit, if we’re a big group. Also, it’s probably not a great place to talk and I think that’s why most of us want to meet. Besides, I don’t know if there’d be a lot of devy books there. But I’ve never been and I don’t do dev fiction, so what do I know. I’d maybe be up for it if we also do something chill where we can talk beforehand or afterwards. feelsunshine too bad you don’t wanna join! But as you see, I understand where you’re coming from. Except for the part about talking to each other in a café and being worried that people will overhear. I remember being worried about this when I met the few people I’ve met from here or also back when being out in public with my wheeler ex. For me it was way worse in my imagination than in reality. It just felt so good finally meeting fellow devs and talking about this stuff that I either didn’t care or completely forgot pretty much right away. I’ve heard this from other devs, too. It’s just amazing when people just get it.
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erikajulia
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Post by erikajulia on Oct 27, 2019 4:55:35 GMT -5
Depending on how many we are, I don’t think rehacare or the book fair would be such a great idea. Rehacare is pretty much out of the question for me. As much as I’d be interested in the exposition and I imagine it’d be great for checking out wheelers, I would feel totally out of place with a group of AB women. I would feel like I‘d have DEV written all over my forehead. I was even hesitant to go with my wheeler ex even though with him I would have obviously had a reason to be there. The book fair I believe is also tricky to visit, if we’re a big group. Also, it’s probably not a great place to talk and I think that’s why most of us want to meet. Besides, I don’t know if there’d be a lot of devy books there. But I’ve never been and I don’t do dev fiction, so what do I know. I’d maybe be up for it if we also do something chill where we can talk beforehand or afterwards. feelsunshine too bad you don’t wanna join! But as you see, I understand where you’re coming from. Except for the part about talking to each other in a café and being worried that people will overhear. I remember being worried about this when I met the few people I’ve met from here or also back when being out in public with my wheeler ex. For me it was way worse in my imagination than in reality. It just felt so good finally meeting fellow devs and talking about this stuff that I either didn’t care or completely forgot pretty much right away. I’ve heard this from other devs, too. It’s just amazing when people just get it. I think the "We actually visit a fair"-thing is something optional for those who need/want a "disguise". I myself, just like you, would not want to meet at a fair, too much noise, too crowded, too expensive and to unlikely to sit somewhere to have a nice quiet talk, too much "divided attention" which I would like to focus on one thing. I imagine if we have someone here who needs "cover", we'll set day and city and disguise - and then meet outside of the fair (or whatever disguise we develop), in a Cafe or maybe at some point of attraction. Leipzig has some nice parks, if the weather allows, we could meet there and do a picnic sort of thing, and if it rains, we could meet at an exhibition, they often have Cafes attached. *just as examples*. Maybe let's do the fine tuning towards the end - let's first find a date and place and general agreement of what we want, then go from there.
If we meet in Düsseldorf at rehacare-times, I might try to kill two birds with one stone - go to rehacare one day, meet with you the other day. Same for Leipzig book fair. But that would not touch the dev-meeting in any way, only that maybe I would ask around if somebody would like to come along, for visiting a fair all alone is not as much fun as visiting with someone to share thoughts with. ;-)
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Post by lisa on Oct 27, 2019 5:15:35 GMT -5
Great idea! I'm totally in. (Just a little warning: A few years ago there was a Germany meet-up of PD members. I didn't participate, but I remember that a lot more people were interested than finally participated. So it probably wouldn't be a big group of people anyway.) I'm in Leipzig, but I think the book fair is really too crowded for it to be comfortable to talk, meet and so on. I'm happy to travel to any German city, but please don't choose some small town which isn't easily reachable by train or bus. If the date will be announced several months before, I'll probably be able to make every weekend except for two weekends in the middle of July, when I'll be in the Netherlands. I don't need a cover story, I'll come up with something myself for the people I can't tell the real reason. I would actually be for a mixed event, but I'm fine with it either way. Thanks for organizing this, Amee!
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loreley
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Post by loreley on Oct 27, 2019 5:32:43 GMT -5
What a wonderful idea! I'm in South West Germany, but happy to travel all over Germany. I would just suggest a larger city with good train connections.
I don't really need an event - I can always make up my own cover story if I have to. Plus, if there is an event in the city,hotels are often booked and lots more expensive.I would not like to walk around the Rehacare or any disability thing...
If it takes place in the summer,I would love to go to a park, if not, we can always book a separate room in a restaurant for more privacy.
Never having met a fellow dev, I would prefer some dev-only time,but I am happy if some pwds attend as well.
I also think that when it comes to the actual meeting, it will probably only be a handful of people anyway, with life getting in the way of plans...
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Post by Amee on Oct 27, 2019 6:23:43 GMT -5
Yes, the point of an event was just to be used as an excuse for those who need one. Whether or not anyone would actually go there, is a different question. And I agree with strawberrybubblegum that I would much prefer just time to chill and talk It also seems that so far only bluefox needs some event as an excuse. I'm going to make a (private) doodle poll a little later to decide on the exact date and since finding an event will be very limiting in terms of time and place for everyone else, I won't restrict it to dates with events. bluefox , feel free to send me any suggestions of events that would work as an excuse for you, so I can include them in the poll. But if it ends up not being at such a time, I'm sure we could help you brainstorm for an individual excuse feelsunshine , I understand you I'm not usually a big group person either, but in this case it would actually feel wonderful for me to have a few more people, because it would really work against that feeling of loneliness I/we often get as devs I just looove the idea of a huge dev party, haha - it would feel so liberating Although, my guess is that we'll end up being a small group anyway (which is also lovely), because finding a date&place that works for many people is veeery hard. If we do end up being just three or four people, I'd be happy to let you know, if you want. Regarding the fear of being overheard, I also completely get that! I would hope that it will be exactly as strawberrybubblegum said and we would forget about it quickly. But in order to make people (including myself ) feel as comfortable as possible, I was planning to brainstorm a few ideas together how we could have some privacy - a park would be a pretty good and simple idea for example and I'm sure we can think of other options too. But I agree with erikajulia that we can do this kind of fine tuning once we have a date and place So far, the Devs Only element seems to be what most of us find most valuable, so my idea would currently be something like: Saturday for devs only and those who are interested and have time could stay until Sunday, when we invite the PWDs as well. Trying to squeeze both into one day could become a bit stressful, I think. But feel free to disagree and discuss! linda just to make sure I got it right about the weekends: Uneven calendar weekends in 2020 would be 4.-5.1., 18.-19.1., 1.-2.2., 15.-16.2 etc.? My approach from here would be to send you all a doodle poll via PM in about two weeks with possible dates based on what you've all told me here or will still tell me. (I want to wait a bit so people who don't visit the board regularly have a chance to participate.) Once we've found a date, we would then decide on the location (at the moment it looks like somehwere in middle Germany will be easiest for everyone, but we'll see). When that is settled, I would post the approximate time in this thread to let the PWDs (and any devs late to the party ) know, then send those who are interested the exact time&place and then see from there, if a "mixed" time gathers enough interest from both sides After that, we could start with the fun part, plan what we're going to do and how everyone will be most comfortable Any and all suggestions, opinions and constructive critisicm welcome!
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erikajulia
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Post by erikajulia on Oct 27, 2019 6:28:33 GMT -5
Amee , you are great! Bravo! And again: Thank you!
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