AvatarMeet 2013: Location and Date Proposal Poll
 

AvatarMeet 2013:

Your AvatarMeet team have been taking a long hard look at where and when to hold the next meet up. From the survey that was conducted post AvatarMeet 2012, there was an even split between east and west coasts of the US as a location. We have considered following the Avatar Exhibition, which will be in Indianapolis next summer a well as places that provide links to the themes in Avatar and people's suggestions. Another important factor is being close to a large population of Avatar fans and having good transport connectivity. So taking into account feedback from both the survey and clan members, the proposal for 2013 is:

Proposed Location: Washington DC

Proposed Date: 25th - 28th July 2013



What's with the thinking?:

• Takes AvatarMeet to the east coast of the US to allow fans from that side the country the opportunity to meet.
• It is more accessable for people from across the Atlantic to join in the gathering.
• Excellent transport links by rail, road and air both nationally and internationally.
• All visitor attractions are in the same locality.
• Theme link to Avatar 1: Space and Flight Museum.
• Theme link to Avatar 2: National Museum of the American Indian.
• Theme link to Avatar 3: Botanical Garden.
• Theme link to Avatar 4: Washington Zoo.
• The first three are all located next to each other, with Washington Zoo a short metro ride away.
• The date avoids events like Comic-Con.
• All the museums are free to visit.
• All the places of interest are in the same locality.

AvatarMeet 2013 Tag Line:
AvatarMeet 2012 have the tag line "Uniting the Clans". This was suggested by Zephania from Learn Na'vi and seemed very apt. However, we would very much like to have a new tag line for the 2013 meet up. Your planning team have tried hard...very hard...to come up with some ideas - 72 in total...some of which were maybe not quite Avatar related or repeatable! ;) So having exhaused ourselves, we though why not go to the people who are our inspiration? You! So here is the challenge:

Come up with a tag line and post it below. Ideally no more than three words, but this is not a strict rule. Na'vi is acceptable, providing a translation is also provided.

So go at it.
Closing date is 31st December, after which the planning team will pick the five best and post them for a voting poll shortly after.

http://www.avatarmeet.com/media/AM20...ingTagline.jpg

We look forward to your input.

Your AvatarMeet Planning Team

I can do the time and location, but don't want to say yes - I'm coming from the UK, so it is hugely expensive to get to anywhere in the US, which might mean I couldn't get to a meetup in 2014. The difference between either side of the US is also insignificant compared to the cost of getting there at all.

I would prefer a location somewhere in Europe, which would be much cheaper to get to.

This does sound fun. And I will be 21

Technically I would choose the third option, but that's just because I'll be completely out of money by that time. If I somehow run into some, I'll go, but as of now, not going.

You guys don't have to worry about running into ATEYO or I while there, the date conflicts with the World's. Largest Airshow at Oshkosh, and we will be flying up in one or both of our aircraft to spend a solid week to ten days with pilots of other experimental aircraft. NIRI TE. (AKA Barnstormer Brie)

Irayo for your responses everyone. Keep 'em coming. :hi:

Sorry that some of you may not be able to make it :( But there is still time yet :)

Any suggestions for the meet up tag line?

Alan

It's good for me; means I can go to DEFCON as well :D

Cool :) Any ideas for an AvatarMeet 2013 tag line, anyone?

Alan

I would love to but being 18 idk how realistic driving 9 hours up to DC (with my parents letting me) will be... I will try but a lot of cards have to fall in the right order...but I hope I can come :)

I'll go if HnM promises to buy me one pint.

Maybe since this is supposed to be second consecutive meetup of people from multiple forums (if I got that right) maybe something along the lines of "Continuing the Journey" or "Continuing Together" or...something? I dunno, sorry, can't think of any better ones.

No idea if I'll be going to this one, but Washington sounds like an excellent place to meet up in. Don't forget to visit the Natural History Museum along with the others listed!

Who says you have to drive? You could always take the bus or the train. Might save to a bit of stress, gas and parking charges. It's greener too. What we did last time was work out general transport cost for folks. Once it is decided we'll start pulling together this sort of info. Hope you can make it. :)

@ Empty Glass - Irayo for your suggestion. We'll add it to the list. Hope you can make it. It'd be great to meet up again. Yeah, thanks for the link to the Natural History Museum. That is a good place to visit...although nothing came to life! Hehehe :xD:

Alan

A few places around there I've wanted to visit for a very long time - we really must see the Space Shuttle, then it will be 3/5 on favourite air/spacecraft than I've seen AFK :D

How about Journey to the Eastern Sea or the Clans of the Eastern Sea or something like that? It's mentioned when Jake goes out to gather the clans, Horse Clan of the Plain, Ikran Clans of the Eastern Sea.

Not a bad idea ma tsmuke. I get your thinking. Keep 'em coming :hi:

Alan

Hey, I really like that Eastern Sea idea. Also, it's looking more like I'm going after all, so I voted.

In all the maps I have, the Atlantic is the western sea. ;)

NOOOO fooling Clarke. I think that he means that a "Clan trip " to the Atlantic ocean would be nice. The problem IS, that Washington D.C. is a long way from the shoreline. And would take time and money to get to.

Well, it's eastern in US terms :P

In relation to the last meetup locations, it would be the Eastern Sea; although to our Euro clan mates it would be western.

Or you could just turn your map upside down. ;)

Looks really bad for me to go this year...sad to say.

I know what she meant. I was just pointing out that some of us do live outside the US, so writing the advertising/slogans on the basis that everyone is in the US (and so "eastern sea" makes sense) is a tad unfair. And also somewhat inaccurate.

the dates work for me but the location doesnt :(

I don't mind going somewhere else besides my own coast, but it seems that certain things have not been considered.

1) Why did we do a meetup last year? Because we wanted LN and ToS to intermingle some more, and because the museum was still up and many had not gotten a chance to see it yet. We have neither a central location nor a central event or theme to have an Avatar meetup around. We could still do a meetup, but why make it about Avatar? How could we possibly make that work, when all we have in our little "universe" so far is one movie? Let's face it; we don't have a good reason to have a great big meetup again next year, and Washington DC has just as much to do with Avatar as any other city in the US right now.

2) A large proportion of people who would be attending this are students, or young people without a strong financial foundation yet. Traveling anywhere is much more of a burden, because it's tough for us to scrape the funds together for it, never mind things like food and a hotel. I'm a student right now, full time, and it's hard to even get a job because of that. Nobody wants to hire someone who constantly needs time off for exams, papers, projects, etc. etc. Washington DC is also a very popular travel destination (probably more so than Seattle), which means that things will likely be more expensive.

3) Washington DC has some nice places to go sightseeing and that's about it. A lot of the city consists of poor areas rife with crime. Also, it's a big east-coast city, which means that there probably isn't much in the way of natural spaces left around it. That, I believe, was one of the draws of Seattle; it's not far away from more open places. I can think of only one place in DC that really draws my interest, and that's the museum of natural history. If we did a week-long meetup in DC, I might as well just ask them if I could sleep there for the week. :P (more of a personal note, perhaps, but whatever)

To sum it up, I don't think we need a meetup, the location isn't a great choice, and it would be very expensive (in relative terms) for some of us to come. We don't need a meetup every year, and unless a really good location is picked, I don't see a reason to have one.

You guys are pretty okay, but I just don't see a good reason to do a giant get-together. If some people want to do an east-coast mini-meetup, cool, go for it, but there's really nothing on the east coast that has much of anything to do with Avatar.

Actually, Tammy said on Avatar Nation that she would probably be able to get her dad to pull some strings at a native american reservation that he was involved with so that we could come and learn about their culture. It's in the middle of the beautiful North American SW desert region, where quite a few indigenous cultures sprang up. There are also lots of legends and stories from their folklore that originated in that general area.

I know it's on the western half of the US again, but it is a little further east, and there's really not much to do on the east coast, aside from getting lost in nasty old cities.

finally, an east coast meetup.
i cant guarantee my schedule so far out, but ill plan to make it if at all possible.

Kaltxi ma Raiden :hi:

Irayo for your comments. I'll have a go at trying to explain what's with the thinking to answer each of the points you raise:

1) You're right the reason for the meet up this year was to pull the clans together and the exhibition at the museum did provide a focal point for that, but it was not just for LN and ToS. It was for all fans from any forum or not. Posts about the event were put on as many forums as we could get them.

Yes, there is just one movie at the moment, but I think for many people it has become more than just about a movie - it's about the community that has developed as a result. For many, that is as good a reason as any to meet up together as well as share our interest in Avatar and what it means to us.

As for Washington, well, as a city, perhaps it doesn't have much to do with Avatar unless you try to ponder links. However, it does have a number of museums that certainly do link with Avatar themes: Museum on the Native American (the Na'vi), Space and Flight Museum (travelling to Pandora and Jake's flying fulfilment), Washington Zoo and Botanical Garden (Pandoran flora and forna), and like you mention, the Natural History Museum (try to find the unobtainium!).

2) Yes a fair proportion of the attendess are young people/students, which is why there were not many people from the East Coast. Why can't it be their turn to meet up? Of course not everyone who attended was a student or young person. I think we did very well covering a wide age range from young to senior and everyone inbetween - all mixing and getting on very well together, which I think was great!

With regard to expense, if it was London where we were doing this I would totally agree, but in our research, we have found a hotel that has actually quoted a cheaper bedroom rate than the one we stayed at in Seattle! It is also only a few blocks away from The Mall. The food side of things maybe a little more expensive. However, this should be easily offset by the fact that all the museums mentioned above are FREE!! YAY! This is unlike in Seattle where everyone had to pay to visit the EMP Museum and places like the Live Bug Zoo.

3) You mention that the city has poor areas rife with crime...I would say that is true of a lot of cities! However the Meet Up would be located next to The Mall. Everything is all in one place and easy walking didtance for a large group of people. When I was there just before the meet up I felt perfectly safe, even walking out at night.

You think Washington doesn't have much in the way of natural spaces around it. I must admit I thought the same, but I've had a look and you'd be surprised! There are the Shenandoah and Sky Meadows Park which are within an hours reach of Washington. Even the Zoo is only a 15 minute metro ride away. Compared to Seattle these are on the doorstep as we had to travel for some 3 hours and a ferry ride to get to the Sol Duc Falls campsite.

So, ok, you may not think we need a meet up, but that is from the persepctive of those of us who have been able to meet up twice already, in the same place.

For those who have not been able to have the opportunity to meet up yet, their perspective will be very different. And this is the reason why, having looked at all the places we have, the planning team have proposed the east coast of the US and Washington as the location; to give Avatar Fans from that side of the country their opportunity to meet up. It also makes it easier for European fans to come across the pond and meet up too.

From my own perspective, I just want to meet up with my friends again as I miss not being around you all. I miss seeing you wading through the water and sharing your enthusiasm for the nature about us. I miss trying to learn Na'vi with everyone. I miss seeing the 'blue people' and how they were able to share their 'fandom' with the local population who wanted their photos taken with them. I miss seeing everyone enjoying their time together sharing that common bond that brought us together.

It's a long way for me to come, but I'll do it, even if it ends up being a mini-meet! I really hope we can make this happen and you can make it too, ma Raiden.:hi:

Alan

I was about to suggest Journey to the Eastern Sea, but Fiyerwall beat me to the punch!
ta ATEYO

Alright, now that I've had more time to think about this, here is what I have to say, revised from what I said before.

1) Washington DC has very little to do with Avatar, and it would be tougher for west coast people to attend. Also, I personally have very little interest in spending a whole week in DC, mainly because I dislike very large cities, and because sightseeing does not interest me much. I've been to a few national monuments and things, and they were always kind of a letdown. The space needle was all restrictive and fancy, the Statue of Liberty was expensive, kind of dirty, and not that special. Perhaps I am alone there, and the rest of you like sightseeing, but I'd rather do something more exciting or different with you guys.

2) In Seattle, you really don't need to go that far to get to natural areas (Sol Duc was just where we chose to camp; there is a wide expanse of open, natural spaces once you get out of the urban/suburban areas around Seattle, which doesn't take long). DC is, obviously, a much older city, and as such, there isn't much to do within the city aside from museums and sightseeing. Shenandoah is actually extremely attractive to me as a place to hike, because of the reptile and amphibian diversity there, but it's sort of far from DC; approximately 3.5 hours, according to google maps.

3) There are other places in the US that have more to do with Avatar, and are close to both cities and more expansive natural spaces. I'm mainly referring again to what misstammie mentioned about her father's connections with native american tribes, and her suggestions about being able to get us set up there for a while. We could, say, spend time there and then go to Las Vegas or another city for the main meetup, like last time. That way people who might like to go check out a more secluded natural area and the people who are more "city folk" can both get what they want.

So, those three points in mind, I think it would make more sense to do a DC minimeet for east coast folks (Icu and Leonopteryx, amongst others, come to mind as people who would be able to make it to those) and anyone else who wanted to come. I'd be interested, provided Shenandoah was involved somehow, but the airfare price makes it much harder to attend. Unless I somehow landed a decent job before then (which is not impossible), I think the chances of my attendance are unlikely.

After or before (or alongside?) this meetup there could be a meetup in the Southwest US.

I guess another option would be to do a DC meetup this year and then a Southwest US meetup next year (2014), and then perhaps a meetup in London for Avatar II (HNM's idea).

WELL RAIDEN. You are in LUCK!!! You say you want something DIFFERENT? How about a plus and minus four "G" "RedBaron"aerobatics ride? ? There are also High Performance glider rides, a ride on a REAL. FLOWN IN COMBAT WW2 B -17. And if you REALLY want a thrill, don't worry, I'll go with you and I have over 300 jumps, we will strap a chute on your back, had have you jump out of a WW2 DC-3.
Just join Ateyo and I we are both pilots, at Oshkosh from July the 28th through August the 4th. You will never look at the sky the same way again.
Niri Te, AKA Barnstormer Brie

To put straight to the point, ESAT COAST TURN, I traveled down west 2 time, like to stay on east this year, It is just fair, thanks.

You know, actually, I think I've changed my mind.

Doing one on the east coast would be fair to the people who wouldn't be able to come as easily to the east coast ones.

DC has nothing to do with Avatar (and please, don't try to make it. It would sound so corny), but giving the east coast folks (and to an extent, the UK/Europe folks) a chance really does seem only fair, given that the first two were on the west coast. I've spoken to some of these people on IRC before, and they have expressed that they would have liked to have come to the previous meets, but could not.

I've also checked prospective airfare for the time period in which this would take place, and it is more affordable than I thought it would be. So, maybe I spoke too soon.

However, if we're really gonna do this, I want a camping trip to Shenandoah before/after the main meetup, like with Olympia. I tire of cities rather quickly, and I'd love a chance to get out and see some pristine east-coast forest.

Yeah, something along those lines. Of course that is assuming that Avatar II gets premiered in London... I wonder if it might be LA or New Zealand!!! Now that would be one TXANTSAN Meet Up!



Errrmmm.....nope. Afraid I can't think of anything corny. I tried - fail! :xD:


Sounds like you know what you are after. Any chance you could do a bit of reseach for us? Sort of places to camp, see if they have any lodges, transport, costs etc. That would be a great help. Irayo. :hi:

Alan

What?! Are you OK Alan?


Yeah, Camping was a successful part of 2012, and has been a consideration from the start for 2013. When looking for places, we quickly ruled out any areas that didn't have some outdoors camping within a couple of hours. I've been to Shenandoah, and it's a nice place. A totally different ecosystem to the wet west coast; but that should be fun.


And yeah, the long-term plan is to hit the west coast again in 2014, perhaps a little further south like California... After that who knows. There's the Disney World thing planning for Florida at some point; and then A2 and A3 will be in the picture and quite likely dictating the date and possibly the place of meetups around that time.

In that long term look, 2013 is a perfect year to get out "east" for the US folk; or "less west" for the rest of the world; to keep it all as inclusive as possible. Worth noting that most of the planning team lives on the west coast, and it will cost us substantially more to hit the east coast also.

- Mikko

AvatarMeet 2014 should be a "destination AvatarMeet." :) Maybe Easter Island, or perhaps we could all go to Palau and swim with the atokirina. :D

I'll be carefully watching my summer schedule as it unfolds in the coming months. I would love to make DC. Staging a Na'vi invasion in front of the White House would be amazing. :war: (Might have to add the bows and arrows in post, though!)

Yeah, looking at the polls; even if DC doesn't work out, the proposed date is looking pretty good for everyone isn't it?

That looks awesome.

I proposed Hawaii for 2013 because:






... But, alas. It was deemed too expensive to be inclusive.


- Mikko

No...:( I think I overdosed on chocolate. I now have a bump on mi head!
So I now have to get an underwater rig too! Hahaha:xD: Coool...

^There he is again, posting 'that' video - Hehehe. It looks soooo good though...:rolleyes:

Alan

GEE, I never thought that it would be so easy to get Raiden to go to D.C. as to offer him a taste of "My World". GRIN--WINK
P.S. Alan, you can thank me when he shows up in D.C..

I'd be fine with this before, but it can't be after for me as I was planning to maybe spend a day after the meetup there, then go to DEFCON.

I think before would be better anyway, because afterwards would be getting close to when some of the private universities in the US start school.

Yeah, I think camping before the main meetup worked well in 2012, as the group grew in size over time.

Before also works better for my schedule. :)

- Mikko