I think it's a great idea. It's like an expanded version of the smallpress meetup idea. A mini-con of sorts.

What time of year are you thinking? Chalet places are obviously cheaper off-season.

My girlfriend has a Landmark Trust catalogue (nice historic buildings you can rent out) which might be an option too.

-Matt

Realms Publishing

I'd like to come, but it'll depend heavily on how much it costs.

Graham

Time of year will be whenever people are free and ideally when it's cheap.

Hmm, if I wanted off-season, sometime in Feb or March would have been ideal, but it's a bit late for that. Otherwise it's October or later really. But having said that, I understand it's not so horribly expensive to rent a holiday place as long as it's not during the school holidays.

Also I think we need to pick a time when it's not too close to other cons that CE people are attending. So, not too near GenCon or Dragonmeet.

What's the "official" CE calendar looking like for later this year? Realistically, I think we're looking at mid May possibly, if that's not too close to the Birmingham Games Expo.

One other thing: Ideally before ConSequences. I'm willing to represent a lot of other people's games there and I'd feel a lot better about it if I've played them with the creators (or someone close to the creators) first.

We haven't planned much beyond UK Games Expo (since that's the point we set for deciding how we evolve).

I know folks are talking about GenCon, UK GenCon, Furnace, Spiel Essen and of course Dragonmeet.

May might be good, as long as you don't pick a Bankholiday weekend...

-Matt

Realms Publishing

I'm definitely up for this. I don't think you'd need to hire more than a few chalets or caravans or lodges - just enough to comfortably house everyone I guess. I'll have a look for places too!

I may not have any games of my own I'm ready to playtest, but I'd love to join in.

I'm not sure of anywhere in the MK/Northampton area that would have holiday chalets or the like. We're not exactly a top tourist destination. I'll look around, though.

Just some quick figures:

Island Meadow is a caravan park outside Startford Upon Avon. Not the ideal position, but pretty central anyway.

Their caravans are like this:

http://www.islandmeadowcaravanpark.co.uk/caravans.htm

They describe it as 6 berths. That's one double bedroom, one twin bedroom and two beds available in the main room (converted fold down seats I assume)

It's £60/day in mid May. Assuming we're going for Thurs 17th - Sun 20th, so that's 4 days at £240

So if there are 6 people (a couple plus four others) that's £40 per person, plus travel. Might be an idea to have fewer people per caravan so that snoring and such is less of a problem, but you get an idea of the rough costs.

Also worth pointing out that this is just the first place I've looked for a rough idea of the prices, so there are probably better deals and better locations etc.

As for agenda and mission statement, it'll be something like this:

Everyone is welcome.
We will play lots of games.
There will be a rough schedule for games.
Some (or many) of the games will be playtests, so if you have a game you want to playtest, bring it along and if you don't have a game to playtest be prepared to end up playtesting some unfinished stuff.
There will probably be beer involved.
At least one group outing to an Indian restaurant is mandatory*

* not actually mandatory.

How does that sound?

Another option is renting a cottage.

Here is an example that I think would work pretty well, depending on numbers:

http://www.uk-holiday-cottages.co.uk/meadowview/

It's a converted thingie in Northampton. It's basically two cottages joined together. Each has a Double bedroom and another room with 3 single beds. They also have lounges, quite well equipped kitchens and dining areas.

In May, it's £300 per cottage per week, so renting both for an entire week is £600. Shorter breaks might be available, but I'd have to contact the owners about that.

Assuming we have 8 (could sleep 10 as long as there's 2 couples) people along, that's £75 each for a week.

Again, this is just a random one I selected from Teh Inarweb.

I'd sooner a cottage than a caravan (ooh how terribly english - cottagecon! nerdly cottage?) but I don't think I could do any longer than a long weekend. £60-70 sounds perfectly reasonably to me, price wise.

Yeah, but I think the holiday industry seems to be geared towards week long breaks. I will contact a couple of places and see if they will allow a Thurs-Sun booking.

And there's no way I'm calling it Cottaging Con.

I am quite amused by somewhere between Milton Keynes and Northampton being referred to as 'fairly central'. Kind of like when people refer to Manchester as 'in the North'.

May I make the suggestion of the Lake District or something similar? Means that us folks from the Frozen North can drive down, rather than get planes/trains/etc.

Cheers
Malcolm

Contested Ground Studios

I would definetley be up for something of this nature. Sounds like a great plan. I will check with a couple of relatives about accomodation. I seem to remember one of them had access to a cheapy cottage somewhere.

Cheers
Iain

Lead Developer Mob Justice RPG

Check out my home brew games like 'Reel Adventures'

This does sound good, but it's starting to sound too expensive for me. 40 quid is doable, 70 is pushing it.

(That doesn't need to stop you doing it, of course. Go ahead, rent a castle.)

Malcolm, one problem with the Lake District is that it's astonishingly expensive, just because it's the Lake District. For somewhere up north, I'd suggest...well...Scarborough, actually. Lots of holiday cottages but cheaper. Here's a link.

Graham

>I am quite amused by somewhere between Milton >Keynes and Northampton being referred to as >'fairly central'. Kind of like when people refer >to Manchester as 'in the North'.

>May I make the suggestion of the Lake District or >something similar? Means that us folks from the >Frozen North can drive down, rather than get >planes/trains/etc.

Well 3 and a half hours south from Edinburgh and north from the south is ... Nottinghamshire and Retford! So somewhere in Sherwood Forest by me would be perfectly in the middle! Yay! :-D

Scarborough eh?

That's where I'm from, so it gets my vote!

It's about 5 hours drive from Glasgow, but a fair old trek from the South coast. Doesn't help that the 'boro is about an hour from the nearest motorway.

Andy, do any places near you spring to mind?

+++
JoE
+++

Prince of Darkness Games
Rock N' Role-Play....

There are quite a few campsites and places with cottages/lodges in Sherwood Forest and the like. Centerparcs has a big place here, so that might work.

EDIT: or somewhere like here. Bagsy running games in the castle!

Looking at the price lists, a "Forester 4" has 4 bedrooms, 2 double and 2 bunk beds. So that's 6 beds. Meaning that we'd be looking at splitting the cost for it 6 ways unless some brings their SO (and I probably will be) in which case we could sleep 7 or 8.

In mid May, it's about £275 for a "short break" or £500 for a full week. Assuming that people want less than the full week and a "Short Break" is enough to make the travel worth it, that's about £46 each if there's only 6 per lodge (just under £40 if there are 7 people).

The "Bowman" looks a bit more cramped, but has one double, one twin and one bunk room, meaning 5 beds for £220 = £45 if there are 5 people or £37 if there's a couple sharing the double bed. It appears that the Bowman lodges wouldn't have such nice play areas though, so I'd suggest a combination of the two types.

Based on this, we're looking at £40 per if there are 7 people and I'm the only couple, £46 if there are 6 people, £46 ish if there are 11 etc.

Andrew, I have no idea how realistic it is for you to get out to this place and check it out?

I'll need to call them to confirm all of this, so it's only ballpark figures. Does this location sound like the right sort of thing and who's interested?

I happened across it because it came top of the google "sherwood + holiday" search. It's actually very close - about 15 miles away, so I'll try and have a look see. But then, is this place (just off the a1 and m1) any more convenient for everybody than, say, Northampton, or wherever?

Further North = worse for me, better for Malcolm, Joe and Gregor.

Realistically, if I'm going to organise something I want it to be something I can sort out pretty easily and get to pretty easily. That site is about as far away as I can realistically drive. To be honest though, I'd normally say that 3 hours in one day is my limit. So I'd be happier if it was nearer Brum, Leicester, Northampton, but if it'll mean the difference between the Scots contingent making it or not making it, I can probably make it to Nottingham without making myself too ill.

For a longer break, I can travel further because I get more recovery time.

The other alternative, is that we have this thing somewhere I can fly to. I/we (as in myself and Claire) can get to most UK airports for £120 from Southampton Airport, which is really bloody close to my house. So if there's a cheap place to stay and someone to pick us up at the end of it I'm quite happy to fly most places. Except Doncaster, which apparently you can't fly to from here.

I'd certainly be interested. It would, however, need to be between now and June, as I'm heading off around the world sometime in mid-June. The prices seem good and I'd be happy to stump up £50 for reasonable accomodation and game space. 3 - 4 hours driving isn't too much of an issue either.

Let's also think of a name for this endeavour! Camp Nerdly is all very well, but our friends across the Atlantic have dibs on that! Playtest Jamboree! (in the style of Boy Scouts from years gone by).

Cheers
Malc

Contested Ground Studios

The Game-A-Tron-Nano-Con is the best name I can think off off the top of my head, which is probably why I'm in IT and not Marketing.

Playtest Jamboree sounds OK to me, but it's not strictly playtesting. Hey, Nerdly UK would work, but then were not all that nerdy either.

Anyway:

Looking at the prices of staying places, it pretty much has to be mid-May. Any later than that and the prices go sky-high and availability is piss-poor. So 11th - 14th or 18th - 21st. Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. People travelling less distance can probably travel to the site Sat AM and leave Sun PM if they want I guess.

I really want this to be somewhere about 3-4 hours from me*. That means Birmingham/Leicester/Coventry type area. If we look at 3-4 hours from Edinburgh we're looking at 5-6 hours from me. If I'm organising this thing I want to be able to get there. It's very difficult to say that kind of thing online without sounding like a selfish arsehole, but I really mean that in a much more friendly tone than it probably sounds. If someone else wants to organise the next one (say in October/November), we can have it further north and it'll all be good. For now, I'm going to stop faffing around and start looking for suitable sites in that area. I'm sorry if that excludes anyone, I just have to get on and do this and then people can decide whether they're coming.

Pricewise, I'm going to aim for £50 per head. I'll probably end up charging people slightly more and then give them money back at the event. Also, I'll probably do something to massage the costs so people who share rooms pay less. Personally, while not exactly loaded, I'd rather pay a little more and have a room to myself, but that won't be possible for everyone and some people would rather rough it and save £10.

Do we open this up to the rest of the Story Games crowd? I'm inclined to say no, not because I want it to be uber exclusive or anything, but just because I don't know if it's going to work and more people = harder to organise and collect money. On the other hand, I feel a bit mean keeping quiet about it. If anyone has strong feelings one way or the other, please let me know.

* Actually I'd be very very happy if it was in say, Winchester. But that's just silly.

Midlands sounds good to me...

With Brum airport I can also ferry folks to it who come from further afield if necessary.

Since most of the UK storygames crowd have a presence here anyway, I don't see advertising it there as an issue, really.

-Matt

Realms Publishing

Likewise Doncaster/East Midlands airport - both are very close to me, for taxiing etc.

Why not compromise and point Storygames folks here - although, as Matt points out, most of the UK based ones hang out here anyway.

I've spent some time looking into this.

Basically, it looks like this:

Caravans, (big ones that don't move) can be had for about £40-45.

Lodges can be had for about £55 - £65

Cottages are generally around the £75+ mark.

Facilities and comfort get better the more you pay.

I've just got off the phone with the owner of Meadowview. That's the two cottages right next to each other.

Each has a double bed and 3 single beds, plus either a fold-up bed or sofabed or some type.

So they have 5 beds including a double.

They cost £250 each. So £50 per person with 5 people, slightly less if there are 6, slightly more with 4. From the pictures, this looks pretty nice. So personally, I think this is ideal if there are any number of us other than 7!

It's in Northamptonshire, about 30 miles southeast of Birmingham and 35 ish south of Nottingham. (Also 120 miles north of Southampton)

The owner thought the idea of game designers using her cottages for playtesting was pretty cool.

Other than that, I can't find anywhere that looks better than Sherwood Castle Park.

As far as I can tell, it's pretty much like Naish, (where Conception is) only in Nottinghamshire and much smaller. As in, fewer lodges, not smaller ones.

I've spoken to them on the phone to confirm prices and the 4 bedroom lodges are available for the weekend of 11th-14th May. These have 2 double rooms and 2 rooms with bunk beds. There appears to be a consensus that the bunk beds are somewhat small, but are suitable for adults. This needs to be confirmed before booking though.

Obviously Claire and I will take a double bed between us, but unless someone else brings their SO or feels really damn cosy, that means there's 4 bunks and a double bed available. Meaning we're splitting the cost between 7 people in total, which is just under £50 per person. If there are 8, then it's obviously slightly less.

If there are more than the 7/8 of us, an additional "Bowman" lodge can be had. That has a double, a twin and a pair of bunks, so 5 beds and works out about the same price per person (slightly more, but still around the £50 mark)

there are extra charges too: You have to pay for electricity and gas and any parking too. So expect another £5 - 10 on top of what the lodges cost.

It's worth pointing out that this is almost twice as far for me to travel though.

So we need to figure out how many people and who're couples (ie, sleeping together in a double bed). Based on that we can book Lodges and based on that and calculate the exact cost per head.

So, if I could please hear from people who are definates for either site in the next few days, I can start getting something booked. If you're only interested in one site or the other for geographical reasons, that's completely understandable. I appreciate that everyone's wanting to pay less, not more, but I think we have to expect to pay £60 and then we'll all be pleasantly surprised. As I said, I'll massage the exact costs so that people who sleep on sofabeds pay less and people who have a whole double bed to themselves pay more, but it won't be a massive difference.

Thanks for doing awesome legwork on this Rich!

Sadly, I'm a dufus who can't check his own calendar. I've got a trip booked that won't bring me back to the UK 'til 11th May, so ferryage from Brum is out for that particular slot. :(

-Matt

Realms Publishing

Let me check my calendar when I get home, but I think May is currently empty. When do you need to know definites for?

Right, here are the details:

I'm aiming for the Meadow View cottages.

They're £250 per cottage for 3 nights

The dates are: Friday 11th May, Sat 12th and Sun 13th, leave Mon 14th AM

Each cottage has 5 beds (3 single, one double plus a sofabed or collapsible folding bed)

Claire is coming, so that means there are 4 other beds in the cottage where we stay and 5 in the other one.

I can't afford to cover the cost of this myself right now (I'm buying a house right now), so I need people to pay up front.

I'm going to ask you all to post me a cheque for £60 per person staying. Once I get 4 cheques (including mine and Claire's, which obviously I already have), that's enough to book one cottage. When I get the 8th cheque (meaning 8 people have paid), I'll book the second one if it's still available. This means that if I get more than 6 people wanting to stay and the second cottage is not available at that time, I'll have to post cheques back to people. The quicker I get cheques, the more likely it is that we'll all be OK. I won't cash cheques for anyone until I book their spot.

Once everything is booked and paid for, I'll know the exact cost per person. It'll be about £60 each if there are 4 or 8 people, about £50 if there are 5 or 10 and about £42 if there 6 or 12. I will refund any difference between the £60 you pay and the actual cost in cash once we're all there.

I cannot really offer to refund people who pay and drop out unless their space gets filled later. In short, the money has to come from somewhere, and I can't afford to cover it right now. I hope everyone understands that.

Please send cheques payable to Richard Stokes to:

Richard Stokes,
6 Arundel House,
21 Lawn Road,
Southampton,
Hampshire,
SO17 2ER,

Also, if you are sending me a cheque, please email me:

rich at totl dot net

I'll keep everyone updated via email as to exactly where we're at.

If you have any questions, please post here or email me.

So there's a capacity of 9, plus you and Claire? Man, this is going to sell out quickly! Better get my cheque in the post to you!

As for names - how about the Game-boree :-D

So where is this thing? Do you have a link? I have an inkling that Northants isn't that far, but i really have no clue :-)

Finally - any of you scots need a lift from any local airports? I have 3 spare seats in my car at the mo, and can do pickups from East Midlands, Doncaster and probably places further south. Or I can fetch from stations too!

EDIT: oh, and i can fetch from Brum airport too, as it's probably on my way down.

Sounds good!

I'll have a word with Steph to make sure that those dates are okay for me (I don't see why they wouldn't be) and drop you an email if I can attend (and a cheque in the mail, obviously.)