FIBS London gathering for August

[alef]

FIBS London gathering webpage

Saturday August 28th there will be a gathering of FIBS players in London. Tournaments with prizes and a specially made trophy will be organized, additionally there will be people informally getting together on Friday and Sunday.

All FIBS players are invited! The event is being organized by diane, gogogiz and myself, please let one of us know if you're interested in coming as that helps us get a good idea of numbers, the more the merrier!

The main venue will be Spice Island in Rotherithe, southeast London. This large pub has both a garden if the weather's good and plenty of room for playing inside. There's also a youth hostel nearby for those needing a reasonably priced play to stay.

I'm editing this fist post so that people have the key info without reading through the full thread... [12 July]




-------------------------
[Written 9 May:]

Kari will be coming over to London in August and this is an excellent excuse to have a live London tournament/get together!  :beer:

Who?
Everyone is invited! So who's interested?

When?
There seems to be a preference for either a Friday or Saturday, we could even be ambitious and plan events for both. We're plenty early now, but will need to pick a specific date...

Where?
I have a natural bias towards meeting at the Fox Reformed. Advantages: it's a great bg club/wine bar/restaurant already, some of the regulars there also play on FIBS. Disadvantages: it's a bit tricky to get to by public transport, it's also rather small and fills up. They have a small patio in back which is great to use when the weathers good in summer. There's also Ryan's bar across the street which has a much bigger beer garden and large downstairs.

[diane]

Substitute 'a pain in the ass' for 'tricky' to get to !!

Anyway - i will be there - by some means - i do like the fox - but it is small - as you say - and very expensive!!

The pub Mike held the november tourney in was much bigger, and easy i think for most to get to.  We could reserve an area upstairs - which has nice tables suited to playing on - would need to get an idea of numbers i guess first.

It is Spice Island in Rotherithe.  Just a suggestion though - i expect there will be others

You can get a look at it here

http://www.backpacker-backgammon.com/LiL03/venue_pub.html

And some travel info - and peoples comments here

http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/show.shtml/1985

[gogogiz]

 hello everyone

i think a tourney is brilliant and i would also like to see it happpen at the
Spice Island in Rotherithe.

so count me in..  

[burper]

Hey, if marvin ever makes it to one of these fibs parties, ask him this for me: "Is the FIBS system being left to anyone in your will?"

[alef]

Hey, if marvin ever makes it to one of these fibs parties, ask him this for me: "Is the FIBS system being left to anyone in your will?"

Hasn't it essentially already been left to Patti? Unfortunately I'd be surprised to see him again, he was rather shy and left early last time. I've always regretted not having asked him more questions about the future plans for FIBS. The only topic I pushed him on was the lack of password retrieval and he responded with pride that the current system is foolproof to others stealing nicks and saves him and Patti from having to deal with people losing passwords.

[alef]

diane and I are planning the central event for August 28th, with plans for people who are interested to also meet up on the 27th and 29th. Our likely venue is in Rotherhithe (southeast London) which has both a large pub with a nice garden and a nearby hostel for those visiting town.

We hope to organize various tournaments....  

[webrunner]

Post it in the event calendar please!

[mrbond]

MrBond....

Good on you alef for taking the responsibility of organising a fibs-members live bg event in UK!

And thank you diane for venue suggestion, which sounds very promising. It is a good choice of location, with transport accessibility and the option of a nearby husstle.

I just wanted to remind you alef, that it is the August Bank-holiday weekend, and as such, many venues do get booked for events..... so DO BOOK EARLY!!!!

With that in mind, fibsters from other parts of the world, who shall be flocking to this gathering, should be made aware too, thus booking their relevant arrangements in good time!!

I have been telling most players I play with about this event, so am taking care of the marketing aspect, but if I can be of any further assistance, do let me know.

[EddieVedd]

Green with envy and wishing i could just duck over to GB for the do

If there's any way you can set up a webcam prior to the event i would be keen to have a long distance beer with you all and could feed back images from my place also !

I understand this may be difficult , i guess it depends on how accomodating the publican is  <_<    

Anyway, enjoy  :guitar:  

[diane]

Not to mention who would actually stand in front of that camera  Count me out on that one!!

[burper]

You have to at least stick a fingernail into one of the pics diane.
I'm putting my foot down right now. If you don't, I swear...

[diane]

You will have to come along and make me then    

[alef]

I've made a little logo for the event and put together a webpage:
www.alef.co.uk/fibs

The most useful thing to know now is a general idea of who's going to be there as there's definitely a momentum factor: the more who may come, the more others feel inclined to join. If I've forgotten you off the list please let me know!

Now that we have a basic page I'll publicize the event on rec.games.backgammon and a few other places to grab the attention of some lesser active FIBS players. Also want to add more to the page about the specific tournaments and links for the nearby hostel...

[toks]

Great idea,

i'm in

toks  

[adrian]

where am I then???  

[alef]

Excellent! We're looking like we'll have a really good turnout. Page updated...    

[jag]

Silly question, I know, but what sort of times will things be getting underway on the various days?

[diane]

This is still to be finalised - I am hoping to use information supplied by those who are coming along to help pick the best times for all.  Where people are coming from, and what time they can make it by - that sort of thing.  Friday is likely to be an early evening affair - perhaps 6 or 7 ish until closing.  Saturday I would like to get underway by midday if possible, since the tournament i propose to run will need around 8-9 hours to complete (on a good day   ) and then we can wind down and have fun games for the rest of the evening.  Sunday I am still a little unsure about - since the visitors who have told me of their plans seem to be off midafternoon, and as i am doing an airport run on sunday around 3 ish, so it will be up to alef and gogo to hold the fort.

We are still planning the details - as i say -and it is helpful if people can give us as much information as possible. We will be posting as much as we can on the webpage - so keep your eyes on that!    

[Hardy_whv]

Hi everyone,


I am happy to say: I WILL JOIN THE PARTY!  I intend to bring myself, a backgammon board and good weather with me.  

And  - sorry diane - ...  I am planning to take my camera with me. But as you know, only your fingernails make it into my photos. I promise I will stick to that policy in London! :agree:

According the time schedule, I think, having an informal warm-up come-together on friday evenening and an more official [yet no tie required] part, including the tourney, on saturday is a good plan  

As I leave early sunday, I wont take part in any activities that day.

I am still looking for a nice hotel, not too far from the venue with good public transport connections to the city center, not too expensive, but at the same time with appropriate comfort for a man of my age   Any recommendations anyone?

Looking forward!


Hardy  

 

[lewscannon]

I am still looking for a nice hotel, not too far from the venue with good public transport connections to the city center, not too expensive, but at the same time with appropriate comfort for a man of my age   Any recommendations anyone?

I believe that shuggie's sister has a boarding house that you might like. They have daily, as well as hourly rates.

[jag]

You might want to try the Holiday Inn Express at Limehouse.

I've just noticed that there is also the Holiday Inn Docklands, which is just around the corner and on the same side of the river.

[diane]

They do sound good suggestions - saved me some hunting today - thx  

Although the second link took me to the Hilton - which seemed a bit more expensive than the holiday inn - I searched and found this address..Holiday Inn Docklands

Hope these suggestions help folks.

[spielberg]

Any non english / Londoners might be interested to now that this is the weekend of the Notting Hill carnival (largest carnival in Europe) - and thus have another incentive to come to London.

I plan to attend and will have a digicam with me - diane better wear nail varnish

[diane]

Nice, but quite seriously, if you intend that digicam to go home with you in the same number of pieces it arrived, please keep it well away from me - and i mean away - not just when i happen to be looking!    

[MikeMadMonk]

I am still looking for a nice hotel, not too far from the venue with good public transport connections to the city center, not too expensive, but at the same time with appropriate comfort for a man of my age    Any recommendations anyone?

Looking forward!


Hardy   

Dear Hardy,

The closest good hotel is the Hilton London Docklands Riverside Hotel.

It is down the road (approx. 0.5 kilometre) along Rotherhithe Street.

http://www.hilton.co.uk/property/1101_Prep...sp?hid=11000760

Prices start from Ã,£69 per night

Currency Converter: http://www.xe.com/ucc/

There is a bus every 15 minutes to the Spice Island Pub / Restaurant.

There is another bus from the YHA (across the road from the Spice Island) to London Bridge every 15 minutes - from there you can easily get the the centre of London.

Hope this helps.


Your roll of the dice !

MikeMadMonk

P.S. Good website you got there - very good collection of backgammon books listed.

[Hardy_whv]

Hi everyone,

thanks for your hotel recommendations. I did not book yet, but I am quite confident now, I do not have to sleep under a bridge.  

P.S. Good website you got there - very good collection of backgammon books listed.

Thanks MMM     While the website is still very much under construction, the bibliography is already complete. I intend to offer an english version of the website as well, but this will take some more months. Everyone, who wants to get rid of some of his backgammon books which I am still searching for , please let me know.

16 days and counting ....   My dice are loaded already  


Hardy      

[jag]

Quick word of warning to those flying to London on BA that weekend, BA ground staff are threatening to strike

[diane]

Well these things often come to nothing - so lets cross everything - and - well it isnt so much of a swim if you drive to the French coast  

Maybe you had all best come early and miss the four specified dates.    

[grillbill]

Relegated to the wish list!    This is very upsetting. I am going to have to make some tough choices once I get back to the UK I see. Hmmm I am going to do everything I can to make it, trust me.    

[MikeMadMonk]

Quick word of warning to those flying to London on BA that weekend, BA ground staff are threatening to strike

In response to the threatened BA strike, Easyjet have sent out the following:  

British Airways has just announced that it has stopped taking bookings for all four days of the Bank Holiday weekend due to the probability of strike action at some of the UK's biggest airports.

easyJet expects to fly its aircraft about 85% full over the August Bank Holiday. This means that there are literally thousands of seats still available, including flights from London's Gatwick, Luton, and Stansted airports, for those passengers who are being inconvenienced by the action or have still yet to book their travel.

Time is precious. Fly from your local airport to the major airports of some of Europe's most attractive cities. Don't let others ruin your holiday weekend - fly easyJet instead!

http://www.easyjet.com/en/

[diane]

Without wishing to advertise - just to pass on a top tip - ryanair are doing exactly the same - only cheaper  

Any of these small airlines flying from lesser used airports are going to still be running - so look for flights to stanstead. Admitedly the travelling from stanstead to london is a bit tricky - but if anyone is landing around 10 30 on friday - i will be there to collect juggler - so let me know - and we can make a party of the journey  

See you all very soon!

[diane]

Ok folks - in keeping with true fibsgathering tradition, we have included, for your delight, a last minute change of venue  

The saturday event will take place in New Cross - at a club called Goldsmiths Tavern.  We get the whole restaurant to ourselves, an ideal space with tables, sofas - all day food and bar staff just for us  

I think this will work out nicely  - and after, they have djs downstairs - so we can go and act lively, to offset all the sitting about, eating and drinking we will have been doing  

It is very easy to get to from everywhere - two major train stations - New Cross and New Cross gate are either side of the venue - about 5 mins walk.  There are buses/nightbuses to and from everywhere (in London) - so those who wish to stay beyond train times - can still get home without breaking the bank. Also - being New Cross - the actual cost of the eating and drinking will be better - the food menu looked very good too.

If you come in on the New Cross line - come out of the station on to the main road and turn right - walk along for about 5 mins - and you will reach a huge black monstrosity of a building 'The Venue' (ahhhhhh I spent many a happy night there in my youth  , I am still on first name terms with most of the staff! )  Goldsmiths Tavern is directly across the road (the main road - do not confuse it with the New Cross Inn, on the other corner).  If you come in on New Cross Gate line - come onto main road and turn left  - walk 5 mins(maybe a little further) - and you will run into the same black unmissable building.

On entering the tavern - the restaurant is upstairs - just ask the bar staff - they will guide you.

Looking forwrd to seeing you all  

[Crispin Duke]

thanks for venus change confirm i will look forward to meet you lots on Saturday
it will be my 2nd tour as been mike TTT first time this month and won it  

see you it will be nice to meet other BG people

Crispy (UK_Backgammon or blue_duke)

[diane]

OK - there are now photos - and since I have scrutinised them - and they seem to be ok    - here is the link..

London Photos

[Hardy_whv]

Thanks again to the organizing committee! I really enjoyed the party!

I am missing a photo of dianes fingernails on alefs website. Everyone missing it as well can find it (and other pictures) here: www.hardyhuebener.de/photos.html

One small correction to the tournament results: zdoc won the consolation, I only won the last chance.

Hope we will meet again on the London FIBS gathering 2005  


Hardy