Wikipedia:Meetup/Newcastle/Newcastle 1

Well, we had an interesting time. On a wet Hamilton night Colin MacLaurin and Neil Cameron (One Salient Oversight) kicked off the inaugural Newcastle meetup. Despite being the smallest meetup in Wikipedia history, we both had a great time discussing Wikipedia and our interest in it.

We met at Anatolia's Turkish Restaurant on Beaumont Street, Hamilton. The food was good quality although there was a slight mixup with the pricing. We were entertained for about 20 minutes by the store's resident belly dancer (pictured) who unsuccessfully attempted to get either of us up to dance with her.

Our discussion ranged from theology to modern politics and Islam. During that time, another patron in the restaurant, a woman named Ashé, came up to talk to us about religion, which was interesting. She spent the rest of the night talking with us about all sorts of things and we spoke to her about our work on Wikipedia. She also took the photo of the two of us (pictured). One of the waitresses had heard a lot about Wikipedia and was interested in our meeting and promised to look us up here (hello there if you are reading this!)

Meetups are a good time to talk about Wikipedia. As editors we get precious little time to speak to others about what we do. No one understands. No one wants to understand. But when Wikipedians get together we can talk about all the big things and little things that make up our lives on Wikipedia. It is an encouragement to keep being involved.

For those who were not able to make it you missed out on a good time, but we know that the weather was bad, it was winter and people often cannot contact when things come up. People also forget, but that's okay too! We hope you will be able to make it next time.

At this stage I (One Salient Oversight) am hoping for around four meetings per year, which means that the next one will probably be held in three months - September. Colin will be overseas at that time but I'm hoping that other Novocastrian Wikipedians will come along.

By the way - meetups often start small. Adelaide started with four people a few years ago and has gone up to 20+ these days. Having only two people for a meetup may seem disappointing... but it wasn't really. We know that more will come. If we hold them, Wikipedians will come.

One Salient Oversight 13:24, 16 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Neil! I had a great time as well. As it was my first meetup I didn't know what to expect, but I felt comfortable from the start and highly recommend it to others. I found our organiser Neil chatty, a good listener, open minded, and well informed. Others should come along!

I will be travelling in Europe from July until October 3, when I return to Australia. I will likely leave Newcastle after that, but will come along to another meetup if I can.

Colin MacLaurin 00:43, 17 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Archived Meeting Details

Okay, I've made an Executive Decision

NEWC MEET ONE

Date: 16 June 2007 | Time: 7.30pm | Place: Anatolia Turkish on Beaumont St, Hamilton | Please RSVP | So far: 4 ^†

I'll make the arrangements. --One Salient Oversight 05:29, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

RSVP here

One Salient Oversight 00:18, 11 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'll be there. Thanks for all your hard work OSO. Colin MacLaurin 17:07, 9 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Grr. I'm still not certain whether we'll make it. The best I can suggest is to ask them "if Athol Mullen makes a booking, can you put us at the the table next to him." I'd do the same but I don't know what name your booking is in. I don't expect to know if we'll be there until possibly as late as 6:30 Saturday. :-( If we are there, there will be 3 of us. :-) --Athol Mullen 12:13, 15 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I thought I could make it, but I'm double-booked... can't make, I'm terrifically sorry folks! Next time? - Ta bu shi da yu 04:33, 16 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

First Newcastle Meetup

Please leave any comments here. --One Salient Oversight 07:46, 1 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hi One Salient Oversight; sure, I'd like to meet up. Advance notice would help, as I actually live in the Lake Macquarie region most of the time. This will be my first Wiki meetup. Colin MacLaurin 07:48, 1 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Any thoughts of when? A saturday morning/arvo/evening wold be best. --One Salient Oversight 08:03, 1 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Saturday mornings are not good for me personally. However many avo/evenings would be fine. Colin MacLaurin 08:11, 1 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've found a whole bunch of users from Newcastle and just placed messages in their discussion pages. --One Salient Oversight

Mmmm ... including some who are not even in Newcastle! You were close -- I am at UoN, Ourimbah. No time for a meeting, but thanks anyway. Andrew Kepert 09:26, 2 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Umm. I've no real idea what a meetup is supposed to achieve but I'm vaguely interested. :-) --Athol Mullen 12:08, 2 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the invitation! Actually, I've been a fan of your work, One Salient Oversight. I'd be pleased to catch up. Most afternoons/evenings should be fine. Davidmwilliams 20:40, 5 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the invitation. May or may not come, depending on what happens that day, planned or not etc. Let me know when+where and I might show up. -Snorre/Antwelm 15:27, 7 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Just to throw a possible spanner in the works, it appears that the Anatolia has had a price rise as of this weekend, with all main meals going up be about $2. I don't know whether people will want to rethink the venue or go with it with the knowledge that the price is now higher. --Athol Mullen 04:34, 12 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm okay with that. One Salient Oversight 07:52, 12 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Meetup details

If you want to know what has gone on in other meetups, check the Sydney meetup page.

Please indicate preferences when/where:

One Salient Oversight - Preferably Saturdays, AM/PM. We could book a table at a coffee shop in Beaumont street?
Colin MacLaurin - Sat avo/evenings (but not mornings) would be fine, or Sundays.
Athol Mullen - Friday or Sat evenings. Possibly dinner.

Recommendations for location

One Salient Oversight recommends:

Raj's Corner (Indian food) on Beaumont Street, Hamilton. Main meals $8-12
BWP Pizza on the foreshore. Main meals $15-20
NOT McDonald's at King Street (even though this is the cultural centre of Newcastle)

Athol Mullen suggests:

Anatolia Turkish on Beaumont St, Hamilton. Main meals $12 - $18. Has belly dancer Friday and Saturday 8:30-9pm for something different. :-)

As long as the dancer is not you! :P (See his userpage) -Colin

Euro Bar and Grill on Beaumont St, Hamilton. Main meals $15 - $25
Absolutely not KFC or McDonalds. I don't eat that stuff ever.

Colin MacLaurin comments: Whatever. I'm on a student budget but can afford to eat out now and then. I'd be up for the Turkish restaurant + belly dancing, which sounds like something different. Any cafes on Darby St. are also a good option. Sat night preferable to Fri.

Date

It's good that there's at least three of us although I think at least 5 would be preferable. Now it's time to start thinking of dates. I'm going to assume Friday/Saturday night here and I think we should wait until June just to allow more time for others to join. I may even invite a Sydney person up. What do you think of the following dates?

1/2 June

Yes for One Salient Oversight

8/9 June

Probably NOT wise since it is the long weekend

15/16 June

Yes for One Salient Oversight

22/23 June

Yes for One Salient Oversight

29/30 June

Yes for One Salient Oversight

Discussion

I'm not coming, but can I suggest you include in your discussion something that I have been meaning to get fixed for a while: At the moment we have a WikiProject Lake Macquarie which is essentially a dormant Wikiproject. I tried to have it deleted before but that wasn't accepted. What I am suggesting that you might like to discuss is whether you convert it to "WikiProject Newcastle" or something like that, and run a Wikiproject based around Newcastle and its adjoining cities of LM, Maitland, Cessnock, etc. I would be happy to join up to the project and maybe help out a little with articles from that area; I've already started articles on the railway stations from the area. It's a suggestion, but it's a better use of the dormant Wikiproject than what it is doing at the moment. JRG 01:21, 1 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm still not certain whether I'll make it along or not, either. Rather than rename to Wikiproject Newcastle, I'd suggest Wikiproject Hunter Region. --Athol Mullen 05:31, 1 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]