What Are Your Suggestions for Having a Safe, Secure CC Meetup? And Would You Be Interested In Attending?

Oui, je le comprend.

μαθαίνοντας αυτό!

It's all Greek to me, dude. I took French, not Cyrillic.

Oui, je le comprend.

Really it should be dual taught in those same countries like a second language (at minimum) and then start a discussion on phasing it out entirely.

Lose two people, gain space for 10 bags. You have never seen how people in my church pack a church bus for a youth retreat trip. Tetris ain't got nothing on us.

And naturally there would be no cooking of our own. We would not have a stove or oven in which to make cookies and pots of soup. That would hurt some of us..

Hey Everyone,

A long time ago, in a forum setting far, far away... (This thread is going to be long -- my apologies in advance.)

There was a time when this site had talked about having a site-wide CC meetup. There was a rough outline of hiring a worship band for a 3-day event (but if I'm remembering this wrong, I hope the old timers here will correct me.) Eventually the idea was scrapped, and now after attending a few small group meetups myself, I can certainly see why.

In my 15 years on CC, I've met about 20 people in person, but never more than 5 at one time. It was hard enough to coordinate work schedules and a location with just that number of people -- I can't imagine trying to do something across the entire site. The very first meetup I went to started out as the brainchild of about 20 people in Singles live chat room (back when it existed,) who also posted daily on the forums (so we knew each other well.) But in the end, as could be forseen, only 6 were able to go due to distance, time, and cost.

I've been meeting people through writing (paper letters, long before you could look up anything about them online) and sometimes in person since I was 15, so for me, it's just a normal social behavior. But it does take a very long time and tons of work to form such friendships and plans -- I've been friends with the people I meetup with now for 5-10+ years, which is only by the grace of God. I know this would not work for most people, especially across long distances.

I also haven't met anyone else in person from CC since the live chats ended, because I find it crucial to get to know how someone reacts in real time and around other people (if challenged, do they fly off the handle? Do they treat men and women differently? Are their statements consistent? Etc., etc.)

I travel about once a year and will get in touch with people from the area I know and trust, asking if they want to/are able to meetup. We have talked for YEARS about how to expand this to other CC members who might be interested -- but there are a slew of issues, such as:

1. Safety and privacy are always top priority.

I've known too many stories of people who have been stalked over the internet -- both male and female -- to the point where it was necessary to get lawyers, police, and a restraining order involved.

For example -- What if a meetup is announced, and Sam has a huge crush on Missy? Missy doesn't even realize how much. She attends the meetup, not to meet Sam, but other friends she's excited to see. Sam latches on to Missy -- and since the meetup is only 2 towns away, he now has a good idea of where she lives. With a little sweet talk, he's able to finagle her personal information from another unknowingy attendee -- and is refusing to take no for an answer.

2. How can people find trustworthy roommates to split expenses with?

Even the most devout Christian may have problems with theft, drinking, or substances they feel are fine (smoking certain plants,) but would not be acceptable to someone else.

3. How do we prevent anyone who organizes such an event from becoming a bagholder?

Our group has long decided that everyone is responsible for making their own arrangements. This way, no one gets stuck paying an entire deposit or hotel bill by themselves when someone else doesn't show or has an emergency.

I had a family member wind up in the emergency room and is still recovering, so I understand that emergencies happen and plans can change in a literaly heartbeat. But no one else should be obligated to for someone else because of it.

4. How could we find a place to hang out comfortably and still be fair to the places we wind up at?

The last time I met up with people, we thought of making an announcement on CC such as, "Some of us are going to be at Crazy Harry's Roadkill Cafe on August 3 at 1 PM -- y'all come join us if you can!"

But if 20 people show up and take over the restaurant, it's not fair to them because the conversations might go on for some time (which we want!) -- and the poor waitstaff would be dying for us to leave so they could bring in more paying customers.

5. How far in advance do people need to know?

I like to have at least a year to plan and save up. The last meetup I went to took 2 relentless years of constantly trying to coordinate schedules, travel plans, and finances -- and that was only with 6 people. So we are fairly familiar with how hard it is to make these kinds of plans.

6. What happens if people have to back out? Wil the entire thing have to be canceled?

If certain key people/organizers have to back out at the last minute, what will happen? If enough people have actually paid to rent a place but several have to cancel, what happens to the remainder of those who still want to go?


I have been thinking of what my travel plans might be next year... I would love to somehow plan and arrange for some kind of meetup that could extend to any interested members in the area(s) I might be in.


* Would anyone be interested in attending some kind of meetup event, and what are your ideas of how to do so safely?

uh huh. I cook. I have made baklava but only once, and I make awesome cbr pizza biscuits.

For the record, we don't absolutely have to hold a meet up in a tourist town where there are a lot of distractions.

We just had a micro-meetup in a town without a single theme park and we had a wonderful time doing nothing. Mostly sitting around talking.

We played cards, we went to a park and grilled burgers, we visited the family of one of the meetup members. That was the extent of our activities last week. But we had the best time. The constant in all our activities was, we sat around and talked a lot.

We could probably have a meet up at any old campground anywhere in the USA. Just make sure there is hot and cold running water and electricity please.

That does it. A hotel won't cut it. We are going to have to get cabins.

I must try both the pizza biscuits and the baklava.

the baklava was mostly an experiment, but the biscuits... were also an experiment... but they ceased to be after the 3rd iteration. how I did it, is I diced a bunch of bacon, chichen, and got about half a cup or so ranch, and put them in a drop buiscut recipie. of course, the amounts are up to preferences, so if mine turn out, it's just luck.

actually theres the floor, and laps for stuff. fit an extra... 10 kids and... 25 bags. hmm,

welll, not sure how that would work...
I can picture my self: ``hey mom, I want to meet some people I met on the online that I don't tecnically have access to.''

For me, having a place to chat in real time altogether makes a big difference. It can be surprising to see who loses their temper quickly or who berates others while thinking they're doing everyone a favor.

Where would you have a meetup?

I understand that this is how most people feel.

I have a friend here and it took years of convincing for her family approve of her meeting an internet stranger -- me -- in person (not that she needed their approval, as she could make her own decisions, but she wanted her family's blessing.) Eventually they agreed and...

When we saw her family during this last meetup, her mother greeted me with a big hug and announced, "This is my other daughter!" It was really sweet.

And I mentioned to her family how they had been (rightfully) afraid of their loved one meeting someone over the internet -- and now an entire group of internet people -- formerly strangers turned into friends -- was sitting in their living room!

Admittedly, our group has been rather unique and pretty small. We started out as a bigger bunch but life changes, disagreements, and various dynamics between human beings with different personalites whittled us down to only a handful. And I have to say up front that it takes a lot more time ane effort than most people have or would be able/willing to give -- not as a fault, but just to say that for most, it's probably not a feasible way to make true connections.

With CC chats out of commission, we went to other platforms to be able to chat in real time for several years, and that gradually shifted to meeting in person. By that time, some people had already met one or two people from the group in person so when we organized a meetup, everyone had met at least one other person and could vouch for them being whom they said they were and not being a serial killer.

For me, having a place to chat in real time altogether makes a big difference. It can be surprising to see who loses their temper quickly or who berates others while thinking they're doing everyone a favor.

If something on a larger scale ever materialized, I would definitely consider going, but only if others I've known for a long time were going so that I'd have backup if there was any trouble.

I understand that this is how most people feel.

I have a friend here and it took years of convincing for her family approve of her meeting an internet stranger -- me -- in person (not that she needed their approval, as she could make her own decisions, but she wanted her family's blessing.) Eventually they agreed and...

When we saw her family during this last meetup, her mother greeted me with a big hug and announced, "This is my other daughter!" It was really sweet.

And I mentioned to her family how they had been (rightfully) afraid of their loved one meeting someone over the internet -- and now an entire group of internet people -- formerly strangers turned into friends -- was sitting in their living room!

Admittedly, our group has been rather unique and pretty small. We started out as a bigger bunch but life changes, disagreements, and various dynamics between human beings with different personalites whittled us down to only a handful. And I have to say up front that it takes a lot more time ane effort than most people have or would be able/willing to give -- not as a fault, but just to say that for most, it's probably not a feasible way to make true connections.

With CC chats out of commission, we went to other platforms to be able to chat in real time for several years, and that gradually shifted to meeting in person. By that time, some people had already met one or two people from the group in person so when we organized a meetup, everyone had met at least one other person and could vouch for them being whom they said they were and not being a serial killer.

For me, having a place to chat in real time altogether makes a big difference. It can be surprising to see who loses their temper quickly or who berates others while thinking they're doing everyone a favor.

If something on a larger scale ever materialized, I would definitely consider going, but only if others I've known for a long time were going so that I'd have backup if there was any trouble.