So I just got back from my second (my first being the Neighbourhood one) meetup in Cape Town ever. I think I’m starting to get used to this - though it did take nearly a year of living here to finally settle in enough :)
Tonight it all happened in a nicely hidden (read, second-story, hard to find) lounge called “Alba”, which I must say, is a really cool venue. The whole thing was put together by Sue (from The Forge), and kudos to her for pulling it off so nicely :)
When I got there, Walter Pike was already waiting, and slowly but surely, the rest of the crowd trickled in. I’m probably going to miss someone (a lot of someones), but Andre was there, phr0ggi, Catherine Luckhoff (who stopped in for a drink before heading out again - something about slipping away from a birthday? lol), Chris M, Saul Kropman, Pam Sykes, Bev Merriman (who we all know as FeistyFemale ;), the awesomeness of Eric (albeit briefly), and even Bergen Larsen stopped by eventually.
Pam and I ended up chatting about how cool the Internet really is, her new Macbook, IRC chatrooms, Web 2.0 startups, and Chrome’s V8 Javascript engine (not necessarily in that order). Pam, the link I owed you is “Go2Web20.net” (something about “early adopter” comes to mind there…).
It was also great to finally meet Andre (the guy with the photo album book), and to help demystify the disintermediation discombobulation that is Google SA’s certification programme. He also pointed out 280slides (I think), and I was telling him about a.viary.com.
Then there was the food, which, although excellent, I ended up having too much of :(. I have that nasty feeling that I’m going to wake up with a faint cramp and a whole lot of bloat…
I ended up taking a taxi home tonight, which (shock and horror), cost over R500 for a one-way trip from Capetown to Somerset West. I thought there was a law against things like that? Man…
Drastic fares and alcohol aside (yes, cluckhoff, I had some more to drink after you left ;), something that really struck me tonight is what an odd group we were. Not “odd” in a bad way, but through the Internet and social media, I’ve met people that I never (not in a million years) would have met otherwise, and I’m thankful for it.
Right, then, off to bed, in the vain hopes of recovering some energy for the week ahead…
It was a great event and I look forward to another one :)
Sounds cool, too bad there are not enough people people in Plett to do something similar. I can not believe you paid that driver R500. He ripped you so hard.
See! This is why I always look for ways to get out with people.
@Dawid Get enough other people to start blogs, and I’m sure you can work something out ;)
Yes, that taxi fare might seem like a ripoff, and it probably is, but that taxi driver has to make a living from what he does - unlike minibus taxis, he doesn’t have volume, not a consistent client base. Either way, The Forge was sponsoring the ride ;)
@Jared Apparently it’s quite agreeable, yes … lol
Dude. So sorry we didn’t get to chat. That said, it was cool to place a face to the nic. And well met, nonetheless. See you at the next one?
Another one? I barely survived this one as it is ;)
Sure, definitely. When and wherever we meet again, let’s make a point of actually saying more than “hi” :)
Hey Wogan - great finally meeting you!!! Looking forward to more geeky gatherings :-)
@FeistyFemale Right back at you! Yes, may there be many more instances of lounging around, drinking cocktails, discussing marketing … lol
Sorry, bit late to the comment line. I’m glad to hear you had something to drink though. If I was staying longer I would have fed you shots at the bar. But that was then…I’m now on a no drinking phase. *Sigh* See you again soon!
Hahaha! Yep, it would have gotten interesting if you had stayed :)
I’m looking forward to saying more than “hikthxbi” next time round. See you soon!
Wow! R500? Man! I wish you’d said something.
I would have taken you home and gone night shooting in Gordons Bay, and then slept on the beach and shot sunrise….
BTW, I paid R400 for a ride from Simon’s Town to the airport when I flew back, so…:))