Our 2008 Gathering will be in Columbus, Ohio the weekend of May 23-26 (and the following week if people would like to hang around). This is Memorial Day Weekend for those of us in the States, which may give some folks a better chance of being able to travel to Ohio.

I will be the in-town hostess! There are lots of great, fun things to do in the area; small museums, beautiful nature walks, world-class zoo, great shopping, scintillating company. We had a great time in the Chicago area last year!

I would love to meet all of you, and I sincerely hope you'll be able to come!

Please PM or email me if you're at all interested in joining us! Let me know if you'll want a hotel room, too, and if you're bringing a guest or several.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Caterwauller,

I have already responded; Margaret and I will be there.

It might be an idea to start a list of expected attendees so that we all know who we are likely to be meeting.

I thought it might help entice folks if I posted a list of some of the possible things we could do while you're here! Most are inexpensive or free, which is an added bonus!

We have a lovely little topiary garden which should be very nice that time of year. It happens to be right behind The Main Library, which of course you'll want to see. Since it's Spring, we could also attend a Columbus Clippers ballgame. Sometimes the small-league games are really a lot of fun! Ohio has some amazing physical features, as well, and a short trip will take us to cool vistas and fascinating history. There's also some great shopping (and lovely yarn and books), and a world-class zoo!

That's just the highlights, but suffice to say that we'll be able to keep plenty busy while you're visiting the fair city of Columbus, Ohio!

(Yes, RE, we'll get some great beer, too.)

Barleys don't actually mention the beer, do they - except in very general terms. I'm sure it's fine but a little less time on their (far too long) mission statement and more on their brands would make their site much better.

I will write mission statements for organisations. A mission statement of 100 words costs £20. The price goes up by £10 for every word FEWER than 99.

Any mission statement that all employees can't remember and quote instantly isn't any good.

"Our aim is to make the best car in the World" Claude Johnson of Rolls-Royce

What a mission statement!

Barley's makes their own beer. Yes, it is cask-conditioned, as far as I know, but I'm sure you'll be able to fill me in if it isn't! Every Friday they open a new firkin and serve their excellent special brew out of that, but they also always have an IPA and a few other choices on tap. Ken and Nancy have been there and they agreed - excellent beer. Trust me!

WC Gathering Columbus Mission Statement: Meet one another and have fun, dammit!

"Our aim is to make the best car in the World"

And, it would've cost him 890 quid if he hired Richard the Laconic to devise it.

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And, it would've cost him 890 quid if he hired Richard the Laconic to devise it.

And worth every penny! That mission statement is one of the most widely known and believed in the world. After over a century, most people believe that the Rolls-Royce is "the best car in the world" - even those who have never ridden in one, let alone owned one.

"the best car in the world"

La! The best car in the world is the one that get me to work in the morning, and doesn't cost a king's ransom to own, run, and maintain.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

Yes, I suspect people have different ideas about the "best car in the world." While lots of people spend over $50,000 on vehicles (the Chicago Bear's player recently totalled a Lamborghini he had rented, which cost $350,000!), that's just not the way Shu and I want to spend our money; therefore, it's not the "best car in the world" for us. We would factor in cost with the "best," and our preference would be a Honda or Toyota or the like. With such a diverse population, it's hard to be the "best in the world."

But...this thread is about the Wordcraft Gathering. You can count on Shu and me, CW! And I agree that the beer at Barley's was world-class. Speaking of beer (I was trying to find a place for this link, and this is perfect!), this article on 10 things you didn't know about beer was funny. You might have to register to the Chicago Tribune because I couldn't find it in Google, but registration is free. My favorite was that as president, James Madison proposed creation of a national brewery and appointment of a "secretary of beer." Had that occurred, I suspect this would be a very different country!

Who else is coming next May?

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it's hard to be the "best in the world.

The "best in the world" is not necessarily the most suitable or appropriate to any particular person. Very few people buy the world's best since, as you suggest, there are factors other than absolute quality to consider.

Most people would agree that the Taj Mahal is one of the world's finest buildings - but it would be quite unsuitable for most people's needs.

Claude Johnson's description was probably not accurate even in 1907 - but as a mission statement and subsequently sales slogan, it was easily remembered by all and believed by most. If asked to name the best car in the world (not necessarily the car that they would most like to have) I suspect that far more people would name Rolls-Royce than would name Honda, Toyota or even Lamborghini.

Come, come, now everyone - back to the topic at hand (thanks, K, for trying to get this thread back on track).

Who else is thinking of joining us in Columbus in May of 2008?

Yes, come on folks! It would be nice if each gathering were to be larger than the one before - that's been the case so far.

Well, I broached the subject with the mister and he said we can go. Yippee!

Wonderful! So that's eight definites already.

That's great, TrossL. I've wanted to meet you for so long! Now maybe we can talk Bob into coming.

I am hoping that Wordmatic and Bethree will be able to come. How about you Westerners? Z? Asa? Neveu? Tinman?

(shouting from the FAR West) "ALOHA !! I'll be "there" whenever you decide that HAWAII is the proper and desireable place to meet."

Uncertain, but sounds like fun. Uncertain since May is an extremely busy month for me, even in the weeks after graduation, because of multiple deadlines on projects I must tend to. We do get the extra day off that Monday though. Since my vision is such that I will not be driving myself, I would have to either talk my husband into coming and driving, or rely on "sucky" public transport (well the train from Philly-to-Cincy part would be great, but then the bus to Columbus, a drive I used to make all the time, would not.)

So, yes I would love to come, but because the answer will depend on things I won't know until a couple of weeks before, please just put me in your hopeful maybe column and I'll try to make it. I'll also try to get George to come. i know he would enjoy this gang, this conglomeration, this aggregation of characters!

Wordmatic

Excellent! I am sure we could find some way of getting you from Cincinnati without your having to take the 'bus. Sadly I won't be bringing my car over or I'd offer...

By the way, who are the "8 definites?"

Wordmatic, I am going to come to Philadelphia and drive you to Ohio...work, or no work! There will be no excuses! You, too, Bethree! You guys are too close to stay away. Hab, we'd love to meet you as well. And Robert. Missann I believe said she couldn't attend. All you easterners and midwesterners and eastern southerners ought to be able to make it, right?

Now, what about some of you westerners? And the rest of the Brits? Or our Canadians? Let's get the troops out!

Jerry, I am sorry you can't join us, and we'd absolutely love to have a gathering in Hawaii. I think it a fabulous idea. We might want to wait awhile after Columbus before we plan the next one, though. It seems like we had no time to relax this time. Perhaps they should be every year and a half or two years. I really don't think it's a good idea to start talking about the next one as soon as one ends. I suspect Richard will disagree with that.

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I suspect Richard will disagree with that.

Indeed I do! Although we seem to be arranging this gathering quite soon after the last one, it's nearly nine months before we'll all be meeting.

I reckon a year's a good interval - and it's better if it's around the same time each year. That way people can make a forward commitment and plan around it. We are busy people and my diary already has bookings for 2008. It's much better to book a slot well in advance and then alter it if necessary, than it is to wait until it's too late to get a slot that suits everyone.

Well, the problem of course is that if one season isn't good for someone (such as the spring never being good for those in academia), that means that some people never will be able to attend. We already once changed it from the fall to the spring, and I think we should do that in the future. I'm wondering if we could construct a survey for all our members with multiple questions, such as those created by Survey Monkey software. Arnie, do you know if our polls can ask a number of questions? If not, perhaps I could construct a Survey Monkey questionnaire and post a link to it. I'd like to hear what others think. We could ask about venues, frequency, time of the year, etc. We could also ask why people don't attend (for those who don't) and get an idea as to who might be likely to attend in the future.

This all sounds so very earthly . . . .

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Arnie, do you know if our polls can ask a number of questions?

Yes. For an example see the earlier poll at http://wordcraft.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/281603894/m/6841076674. It only has two, but the principle's the same for more questions.

You will find that some dates suit some people and different dates suit others. Some locations suit some people and different locations suit others. Some people will be very flexible and go more or less anywhere at any time; some people will be very limited; most people will not go anywhere at any time.

Ask by all means but you will find, whatever you do, that you will not get a consensus or even a clear majority and you'll just have to make a decision. And whatever decision you make the majority will not attend.

I am not being cynical or pessimistic; my comments are based on many years of involvement with these kinds of things and they are simply a factual statement about conferences.