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Hi All

I'm trying to determine if there's any interest in a Sydney, Australia meet up around the time of the EMC/ECC in May.

Is anyone interested and do you have a location preference?

Mark

mattpalmer's picture

CBD would be best, I think -- anywhere else and it's a hassle for too many people to get to.  Plenty of places to choose from, too.  Personally, I *love* the King Street Brewhouse for meetups -- they've got a great space down the back that's out of the way (and, if I remember correctly, doesn't cost anything to book), and it has half-decent food and a wide variety of beverages.

duplicate_account_MarkAus's picture

Just you and I so far Matt, but I'm sure others will speak up closer to the time!

I'll check this post again in April and see if we've had any more response.

jameswldalton's picture
Training Badge

Hi Mark,

I would also be interested in joining you. 

James

duplicate_account_MarkAus's picture

A small but sincere trio so far, but I guess it is time to make a mark in the sand and see if we can convince others to join us.

Timing is tricky - the conference is Monday/Tuesday and it is Mother's Day weekend prior to that.  Given that Friday night after work seems to be a traditional meet up time, I propose:

Friday May 10 - 6:00pm (ish)

King Street Brewhouse

22 The Promenade, King Street Wharf (Darling Harbour)

http://www.kingstbrewhouse.com.au/index.php/getting-here

I won't book anything at this stage unless we get an indication of bigger numbers.

Any objections?  Otherwise, let's plan on that.

mattpalmer's picture

A few thoughts on why it might be better to make it monday or tuesday night rather than friday night:

  • It'd be great if we could get Mark/Dani/whoever from MT is going to be presenting at the conference to come along to the meetup, and they probably won't be in town that early (although if they are, that'd make this objection moot -- and I'm sure a quick e-mail to MT would answer the question one way or the other).
  • Since we will all no doubt follow the MT guidance to moderate our alcohol intake, I'm sure we won't need a weekend to recover (which is the traditional reason why everyone goes out on Friday night).
  • Friday night is likely to be pretty busy down at the ol' brewhouse, and since we're all there to talk and politely socialise rather than drink and shout at each other, a quieter night might be better.

The time of day and location work fine for me, though.

duplicate_account_MarkAus's picture

Ok let's change it.  I made a bad assumption and assumed the conference was at an airport Hotel like last time but I've just now checked and I see they're at the Intercontinental in the CBD.   So that changes my long rationale for choosing Friday (which I won't bother going through).

Knowing that Monday EMC runs very late with the open forum questions, how about Tuesday night 14th?

I also think we should may be look at something closer to Circular Quay - which would make it easier for conference attendees to join us after.  Darling Harbour's not far, but it is a bit of a hike by foot.

Any suggestions?  I like the Lord Nelson for a small group.  It is a bit hard to plan with ambiguous numbers.

 

mattpalmer's picture

The Orient hotel is a fair bit closer to the Intercontinental (and Circular Quay) than Lord Nelson, and a lot of the meetups I go to use it as a nice space.  The top floor has a bunch of couches and is a nice place to sit and talk, and if the weather's nice (ha!), the beer garden out the back isn't the dodgiest I've seen.  There's no shortage of other pubs around that part of the world, though, and I'm sure I can get a few volunteers to, uh, survey them with me.  (grin)

Mark's picture
Admin Role Badge

 Folks-

We'd like to help. We are arranging to have a meetup in coordination with the Open Q&A that happens after the first day of our training - the EMC.

We thought it would be cool to invite everyone in at 530 - we will have snacks and sodas, and the Intercontinental should take good care of us.

I will take any and all questions until they kick us out, and we will have plenty of room. 

Would love to say hello to all of you - and it will just be me coming over this trip.

Thoughts?

Mark

mattpalmer's picture

Mark, that sounds fantastic.  I'd love to be able to come and observe another open Q&A, and it'll be a great place to mingle and meet more great people.

duplicate_account_MarkAus's picture

Sounds great Mark, thanks for the offer!   Very generous of you to let us sit in on the Q&A as well.

Dani - sorry we scared you off last time :)

Let me know if I can be of any assistance organising this.

 

 

 

 

cynaus's picture
Training Badge

Oh wow, another cool incentive to get my butt over there..... 

Booking a chat with my boss for tomorrow ;)

MarkMT - *if* I am given the ok to head to Sydney, the boss has said the Interconti is out for accommodation. Can you recommend anything closer that's cheaper? I don't want to be walking back to a hotel in the dark on my own either. 

Cheers

Cyndy

duplicate_account_MarkAus's picture

Hi Cyndy

I don't pretend to be an expert on hotels, but there's plenty of choices in Circular Quay/CBD.  They'll cost you a bit of $$ due to location though - if your company is paying maybe that's not such an issue.

If you're not fussy (and paying yourself), I'd get on lastminute.com.au and get one of the secret hotel deals - I've used them in the past when I need to stay in the city and they're good value.

The last few times I used them I ended up with the Amora Jameson (near Wynyard station and a short walk to the Quay), the Swissotel (in the CBD), the Pullman Hyde Park (CBD) and the Raddison Blu (which would also be a short walk to the Quay).   I wouldn't have paid more than $200 a night for any of them and they were all clean and comfortable.

Maybe it is because I'm a bloke, but I find Circular Quay to be really safe.  It is well lit and there's tons of people around.   If your hotel was further away (and less expensive) you'd have no trouble getting a taxi from the Intercontinental.    Circular Quay rail station is right around the corner too.

Good luck

Mark

 

 

 

cynaus's picture
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That's great info, thanks again Mark ;)

Jackie1's picture
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 Hi folks 

 

Id love to be part of a Sydney meet up group. I attended the Q&A at the first Sydney conference although I couldn't come to the conference, and it was great (no surprises there). Thanks to the organising few, and Mark for stepping in to play host. Looking forward to meeting you then and sharing some stories,

 

Jackie 

donners77's picture

 Hi.

I'm planning to come along.

Just to clarify -  it's on Monday 13 May from 5.30pm till about what time?

Thanks

Craig.

mattpalmer's picture

Craig, it goes on until everyone's questions are answered, the hotel shoos everyone out of the room, or Mark drops from exhaustion (I'm fairly sure the latter has never happened).  You're welcome to come along for a while and then head out when you need to be somewhere else -- I did that last year, and I didn't get death stares from anyone the next day at the ECC.  (grin)

duplicate_account_MarkAus's picture

See, fellow attendees, I TOLD you Matt wouldn't notice!  (bigger grin)

 

jacksal's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

Hi All,

Been following MT (podcasts) for awhile now and did their first conference Nov 11 @ the Mercure Hotel Sydney Airport.

Managed to catch up with one other pre conference in Newtown.

Enjoy it is a great 2 days and Mark's after hours Q&A on day two is a long one, so be prepared.

Look forward to reading your feedback and networking with anyone interested.

Cheers Allan  3365 (DiSC)

waratah's picture
Training Badge

 I also attended the 2011 conference in Sydney and it was great. I have been really happy to see them return each year since. This year I'm sending my direct. Would love to be able to stop by the open Q&A, and I will try and arrange the time to make it down to Sydney on the 13 May.

Chris

 

TroxeloblL's picture

its nice i like that but i need some time top think on that , actually i am little busy so i will try .

Locksmith Tucson
Dani Martin's picture
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Hey guys -- I'd love to hear your feedback if you attended the reception on Monday night with Mark. It's something we're considering doing for those conferences Mark is at, the number of which is decreasing as I do more of them. ;-))

Thanks!
Dani

duplicate_account_MarkAus's picture

I thought it was very generous and a nice initiative.  So thank you.

I will say that there wasn't much "meeting up" going on, as the visitors sat at around the attendees and pretty much listened to the Q&A.  The endurance of the visitors failed to outlast the endurance of Mark's Q&A answering - so most people had left by the time the Q&A finished.  In other words, there wasn't a huge amount of "meeting up" going on.  (Having said that, I did swap business cards with a very nice person in the lobby prior to the Q&A so I guess that counts).

One positive for the attendees was that they got to hear questions from people who had put this stuff in to practice for a while, so the Q&A was a little richer because of it.  

From a visitor's standpoint, it was nice to see some friendly faces.  Also to recognise that the questions people have are universal, and hear some reinforcement of what we learned at earlier conferences.

If you do it again for the next Sydney conference, I will likely head down if for no other reason than to say hello.

 

 

 

Dani Martin's picture
Licensee Badge

Appreciate your comments and glad you could make it. I think it's likely we'll do it again during our October conference in Sydney.

Thanks,
Dani

mattpalmer's picture

It wasn't a "meet up" in the traditional sense, but I certainly enjoyed attending because I just love watching Mark "in action".  I find the Q&A valuable and useful, and certainly wouldn't want to interfere with that, but I think there's a place for a true social meet up in connection with, but not part of, the EMC/ECC, *regardless* of who's presenting -- I'd love to see you again too, Dani!  Broadening the network of MT managers in a geographic area can only be of benefit to everyone, and that's what I feel a true "meet up" event would have done that attending the Q&A didn't.