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

Let's roll.

Well I DID provide a viable framework we could use to make it happen.

That's not the only way, just the easiest. There are lots of other ways we could do a safe meetup.

After the meetup was over, we would write a thread or two here on the forum about how it went -- and any participants with that kind of attitude would be announced as the official planners/organizers for the next meetup, because surely they would get everything perfect.


The "Guess Who" game could be pretty fun!!

It would be fascinating to see if people could be identified due to their real-life speak/mannerism matching up with their forum persona.

It really does make me wonder. People say I'm much more quiet and withdrawn in person -- if I had never posted a photo and never mentioned my ethnicity, I wonder if people would know who I was either.

But... sooner or later my sarcasm starts to spill out... and I'm pretty sure people would know.

If I say, "Let's Roll Out!"

Can we get a Transformer??!

No. They are all busy making the next really bad quality transformers movie.

Thank you for the encouragement. In imagining the possibilities, I only find myself reminded of realities. I'm a bully magnet. And realistically, although I'd love to attend, and for all the 'fear not, fear not' preaching, for me, it's more about enduring the den rather than about conquering anything at all. I sorely lack the wherewithal to take the step out.

I'd laugh if this wasn't so true.

This makes me incredibly sad to hear, as you've proven to be most intelligent, funny, and quite loveable here in the threads where I've gotten to know you.

If it's any consolation... at the last meetup, there were 6 of us -- and we all talked about the fact that each of us was the kid who got bullied throughout school, and even now as adults in many situations... Hearing how others dealt with being picked on actually really helped me in working through some of my own insecurities.

It was amazing to see God bringing together a whole group of fellow misfits and bully magnets -- who have now formed our own ragtag little family.

@Mem -- if you would ever feel comfortable in the future, please feel free to contact me. If you don't have PM's here, leave a message on my profile and I can contact you.

We would love to have you.

Lynx, I always marvel at your resourcefulness and I might be misunderstanding, but...

Why does this vehicle list room for "15 passengers," but only TWO bags???

TWO bags isn't even enough room to carry deodorant and basic toiletries for 15 people...

And ain't NOBODY wanna be traveling in a crowded van without any of that.

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.

Ok, except that this Ultra Tetris super power -- starts by kicking 2 kids off the bus?!

We are assuming there are only 13 kids.

If we have only 12 kids, that's 15 extra bags.

@seoulsearch Have you ever considered a Zoom meet? I envision us kinda loosening up and all talking at once. There we go in need of another set of guidelines, lol. Just a thought😊

There's also Skype. Some of us have been using it for years.

Actually we have been seeing signs that we might get an in-house chat client back. We might have that live chat sooner than you think.

Yep!

Now for the big question... What we gonna eat?
Cause you know that's gonna happen pretty quick!

Pro Tip: When food is served -- try to get your fill before Rodney steps into the line.

Or me.

Or Lynx.

Or... Food always becomes a very important issue at any meetup!

This is such an excellent idea, @TabinRivCA. Please forgive me in that I'm not a techie person, so I don't automatically think of things like this.

It seems like a great option with lots of built-in privacy and safety guard rails. People can still join in without revealing their face or voice if they opt not to (as long as just typing is allowed? I'm not sure with Zoom.) As Lynx mentioned, Skype is another option as well. I'm also on Discord but I don't know what the limitations are there?

Years ago when CC had a Singles chat room, we did host a meetup event then. I just remember it as a bit of a blur, as Lynx was manning (or perching on) the mic to greet people by voice, and I was busy watching for people coming in to type written greetings. I know a lot of people are online because of social anxiety, and for them especially, some form of acknowledgment is important.

CC also had the option back then to rent the chat rooms, and we were talking about how we could go about collectively funding regular meetup chats.

I've never tried Zoom and don't know how it works, but apparently you can host up to 100 people for free? (I'm sure we'd have to do some sort of limited RSVP to keep things manageable, especially for the first go.) But something like that could be held more frequently and more likely to hopefully cast a wider net of days and times (with no expense and little hassle.)

However, if CC gets chats up and running again, my first choice would be to try to do something here in order to support the site.

Much to ponder...

Thanks so much for this suggestion!

Not me. Not always.

I am only a factor at breakfast. Lunch is mild and supper is often a clean miss.

But at breakfast... Ah, breakfast. Never get between me and food in the morning.

Better than trying to get everyone into my Fiat.