AvatarMeet 2013: Location and Date Proposal Poll

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Alan

Kaltxi ma Raiden

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.

Alan

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).