So the day came and I was in the wrong part of the country. It was an early start to get down to London in time for the 12pm time I'd set for meeting. After letting two packed trains pass through, I managed to get onto the delayed 10:06am and find a seat. Saturdays are murder when football's on.
Thankfully, @livinguktaiwan is less tardy than me and was at Penderel's Oak, the Wetherspoons pub I'd picked out as an easy landmark and meeting place, Hive tote bags scattered possessively over tables, marking out our territory! I was pleased to see her again, we last met up at @c0ff33a's place in Halifax, and delighted to meet @alonicus after several years conversing on Hive.
We were soon joined by @steevc who I've met lots of times, most recently in Bedford, and @adetorrent, who I hadn't seen since a wonderful meet up in Cambridge, pre-Covid, I think, organised by @molometer. And then came @davidthompson57, again a new face for me, and good to meet, especially as he brought Tunnock's tea cakes with him.
The benefit of meeting in Wetherspoon's is that everyone could order what they wanted to eat. Wetherspoon's tend to have a mixed reputation, and not everyone is a fan of their owner for various reasons, but I've found you can get a lot of calories for not much money, they do great Tequila shots and the toilets are usually acceptable.
After lunch, we made our way across High Holborn to the venue in Red Lion Street, just ten minutes walk from Holborn underground station. The space is huge with lots of seating areas, a large conference space that has held about 120 people and several small break out rooms. We were able to have it for a donation.
Hive's arrived! Photo courtesy of @livinguktaiwan - here's her write up
The Venue
This would be big enough for Hive Open Days - Saturdays would not be a problem and it would probably be possible to negotiate a Friday as well. In the heart of London, there's lots to see and do just around the block and a short walk away. It's a fascinating part of London.
Organising a bigger event would need a committee - not least to get everyone into the building which involved some interesting multiple opening and closing of lift doors until finally everything was synchronised and I waited until the first lift had departed before calling the second one!
Photo set up by @adetorrent with an anonymous helper. Read Ade's account here. From left: @adetorrent, @livinguktaiwan, @shanibeer, @steevc, @davidthompson57 and @alonicus.
The Donations
Thank you everyone for your donations: cash contributions were left on site on the day, and Hive and HBD contributions (yay!) were donated through the website today.
2027 Organising Group?
There may be an opportunity for another meetup in 2027, somewhere between March and May. If you're interested and would like to be part of an organising group, let me know. We won't be going later than May - the temperatures in Central London can be too demanding after that.
PS I've started adding PeakD as a 3% beneficiary - infinitely preferable to ads.
