Recently, there appears to be emanating a growing interest in munches and play-themed gatherings throughout the state of California... ok, I know Arizona and Nevada too, but I'm keeping this post interstate! At least for now! ;-) That being said, we are all unfortunate victims to the reality of geography and circumstance. None here can decrease distance and some, due to circumstance, are unable or unwilling to travel said distance.
I bring this up because most of the recent, regular activity within the state has been located in the Sacramento area. This is due primarily to the fact there is a core of active folks who've been getting together socially for months. Now with the talk and planning of a full-fledged gathering, there have been inquiries about hosting gatherings in different areas because of certain parties' geographical constraints which would prevent them from attending. Unfortunately, those same constraints would apply to some of the core members in the Sacramento area, should a different location be used.
If you're in or near a metropolitan area in California and you're unable or unwilling to travel the distance to the Capitol area, my suggestion is to build a core group of people in your area and once there's enough interest, I, (and I think I could convince one or two others to come), would be more than willing to come host or assist you plan and host a gathering. Not that I'm the Bob Barker of tickle parties! Quite the contrary - I'm not a host, but I play one at gatherings! lol What I'm saying though, is if you've never hosted before, or feel uncomfortable being the point person, etc it's not much of a problem to plan an event for a different location and go there to host or assist hosting. It's been done many times before and quite honestly, will be again. You're basically just talking about a road trip with the extra of a tickle party thrown in! Who's balking at that? lol
Here's what's needed:
First, a core group of people - Now if you're talking about a play-themed party, you'd probably want it coed. Technically, you don't NEED a core group, as long as you have enough people who'll show, but if none of you have ever met before, the likelihood of everyone feeling comfortable enough to volunteer to play is very low. On the flipside, if you've all gotten to know each other and have a comfort zone, the likelihood is much greater.
This is why munches are so great. You get a chance to meet with people in a relaxed social environment, get to know them, let them get to know you and when an event occurs down the road, you're not playing with strangers - though God Bless those bravehearts among us!
Another benefit of having a core is the travel factor. Maybe you can't drive 2 hours to where there's a gathering, but perhaps a buddy across town can. Maybe you can carpool and then if you end up needing or wanting to stay the night, you're not rooming with someone you just met. Again...bless the bravehearts!
Now if you wanna know how easy it is to have a munch, assuming you don't want to post it yourself here, all's ya have to do is e-mail [email protected] and tell him what area you're in and that you want to announce plans for a munch. Give him a list of whom to send the when and where and all you have to do is show up.
Basically it's a win win situation getting to know the likeminded locals. But it DOES take time mind you. Sometimes the same 2 or 3... or one person is trying for MONTHS, but the one thing that is for sure, there are more than enough interested locals in the major CA areas!
Second, interest/lead time - You have to guage the interest people have in attending and give enough time for any arrangements that need to be made. Again, how hard is it? E-mail the same guy and let him know you're thinking of having an event on a certain date. You get enough responses, we plan; you don't, have another munch instead until there is enough interest. Of course, you'd be surprised how far people are willing to travel for a gathering. When they were based in San Jose, we regularly had people driving from Sacramento (2hrs), Redding (4.5 hours one way), Los Angeles (6.5 hours) and Las Vegas (15 hours)... not to mention folks flying in from U.K., East Coast, Midwest, Hong Kong, etc.
Now with gatherings, there will almost ALWAYS be a percentage of no shows, but if you've got your core group, you're guaranteed a fun time anyway!
Third, a location - If someone has a home or space to offer up that's great, but if not, and you're willing to arrange accomodations at a hotel, this is something that has worked well in the past. Many of us are familiar with locations all over the state, but it's usually better to have a local scout out locations and make the arrangements.
There are many more logistical things that go into hosting an actual event, but this is a high level overview of how gatherings typically come about. Virtually all events began with 1 or 2 people building a core, which eventually grew into something larger.
If you're unsure or have questions or want to discuss more, feel free e-mail me or Dave or Danimal or if you're down south, give a hollar to Boomtown!
I bring this up because most of the recent, regular activity within the state has been located in the Sacramento area. This is due primarily to the fact there is a core of active folks who've been getting together socially for months. Now with the talk and planning of a full-fledged gathering, there have been inquiries about hosting gatherings in different areas because of certain parties' geographical constraints which would prevent them from attending. Unfortunately, those same constraints would apply to some of the core members in the Sacramento area, should a different location be used.
If you're in or near a metropolitan area in California and you're unable or unwilling to travel the distance to the Capitol area, my suggestion is to build a core group of people in your area and once there's enough interest, I, (and I think I could convince one or two others to come), would be more than willing to come host or assist you plan and host a gathering. Not that I'm the Bob Barker of tickle parties! Quite the contrary - I'm not a host, but I play one at gatherings! lol What I'm saying though, is if you've never hosted before, or feel uncomfortable being the point person, etc it's not much of a problem to plan an event for a different location and go there to host or assist hosting. It's been done many times before and quite honestly, will be again. You're basically just talking about a road trip with the extra of a tickle party thrown in! Who's balking at that? lol
Here's what's needed:
First, a core group of people - Now if you're talking about a play-themed party, you'd probably want it coed. Technically, you don't NEED a core group, as long as you have enough people who'll show, but if none of you have ever met before, the likelihood of everyone feeling comfortable enough to volunteer to play is very low. On the flipside, if you've all gotten to know each other and have a comfort zone, the likelihood is much greater.
This is why munches are so great. You get a chance to meet with people in a relaxed social environment, get to know them, let them get to know you and when an event occurs down the road, you're not playing with strangers - though God Bless those bravehearts among us!
Another benefit of having a core is the travel factor. Maybe you can't drive 2 hours to where there's a gathering, but perhaps a buddy across town can. Maybe you can carpool and then if you end up needing or wanting to stay the night, you're not rooming with someone you just met. Again...bless the bravehearts!
Now if you wanna know how easy it is to have a munch, assuming you don't want to post it yourself here, all's ya have to do is e-mail [email protected] and tell him what area you're in and that you want to announce plans for a munch. Give him a list of whom to send the when and where and all you have to do is show up.
Basically it's a win win situation getting to know the likeminded locals. But it DOES take time mind you. Sometimes the same 2 or 3... or one person is trying for MONTHS, but the one thing that is for sure, there are more than enough interested locals in the major CA areas!
Second, interest/lead time - You have to guage the interest people have in attending and give enough time for any arrangements that need to be made. Again, how hard is it? E-mail the same guy and let him know you're thinking of having an event on a certain date. You get enough responses, we plan; you don't, have another munch instead until there is enough interest. Of course, you'd be surprised how far people are willing to travel for a gathering. When they were based in San Jose, we regularly had people driving from Sacramento (2hrs), Redding (4.5 hours one way), Los Angeles (6.5 hours) and Las Vegas (15 hours)... not to mention folks flying in from U.K., East Coast, Midwest, Hong Kong, etc.
Now with gatherings, there will almost ALWAYS be a percentage of no shows, but if you've got your core group, you're guaranteed a fun time anyway!
Third, a location - If someone has a home or space to offer up that's great, but if not, and you're willing to arrange accomodations at a hotel, this is something that has worked well in the past. Many of us are familiar with locations all over the state, but it's usually better to have a local scout out locations and make the arrangements.
There are many more logistical things that go into hosting an actual event, but this is a high level overview of how gatherings typically come about. Virtually all events began with 1 or 2 people building a core, which eventually grew into something larger.
If you're unsure or have questions or want to discuss more, feel free e-mail me or Dave or Danimal or if you're down south, give a hollar to Boomtown!
