"Meet" vs. "mini-meet"?

[hbelkins]

How, exactly, does one differentiate between a "meet" and a "mini-meet?" I know Steve's advertising Cape May as a mini-meet, and I've seen other events touted as mini-meets.

[vdeane]

The line definitely has blurred in recent years.  I think the difference is mainly in the amount of formality.

[jeffandnicole]

My take:

Mini-meets seem to be organized close to the date of the meeting, where the expected attendees are those that live within a few hours of the meet location.

Regular Meets tend to be scheduled much further out, to allow people that will need to make more substantial travel arrangements time to make those arrangements.

[Alps]

Mini-meets center around looking at one thing - I would look at the Detroit one as a mini-meet as well, by that account. I threw some other area things on to fill up an afternoon, but it's really all about that Parkway.

[bulldog1979]

My definition of a "mini-meet" has been one with a very limited number of participants. We did one in Grand Rapids on April 25, 2009, that had three of us in attendance. Another one in September 2010 in Marquette was four people. Neither was widely advertised, and probably really only announced to others after the fact.

[SSOWorld]

as noticed, the definition's vague.  It could be a 2-person "spur-of-the-moment" to a small short-notice focus on a topic involving a handful of people.  I'm not going to define such.  A meetup is a meetup is a meetup is a meetup is a meetup is a meetup is a meetup.

[hbelkins]

I think a mini-meet would be easier to pull off in places where there is a larger concentration of available attendees. Obviously, something along the I-95/NJTP corridor between DC and NYC could draw a decent crowd on short notice. Around here, it would be hard to draw a crowd for a mini-meet since the nearest potential attendees are about three hours away.

I'm thinking about doing something soon for the new portion of US 460 since it recently opened, but billing it as a mini-meet since we did a full-blown meet 14 months ago.

[A.J. Bertin]

I'm thinking about doing something soon for the new portion of US 460 since it recently opened, but billing it as a mini-meet since we did a full-blown meet 14 months ago.

Awesome, H.B.! If you host this, I hope I can make it. What exactly will be different about this meet from the Pikeville meet you had in 2013? Do you anticipate fewer people? shorter notice? a shorter tour? something else?

[hbelkins]

If I do this, it will be shorter notice and a shorter tour, and it will feature driving on the road itself since it's now finished. And definitely fewer people because of the shorter notice.

[PHLBOS]

Mini-meets center around looking at one thing - I would look at the Detroit one as a mini-meet as well, by that account. I threw some other area things on to fill up an afternoon, but it's really all about that Parkway.

By your above-definition; would the 2012 Doylestown Meet been considered a mini-meet?  While there were some non-US 202 Parkway items/visitations done; IIRC, the primary focus of that meet (my first) was the then-newly-opened Parkway.

[Alps]

Mini-meets center around looking at one thing - I would look at the Detroit one as a mini-meet as well, by that account. I threw some other area things on to fill up an afternoon, but it's really all about that Parkway.

By your above-definition; would the 2012 Doylestown Meet been considered a mini-meet?  While there were some non-US 202 Parkway items/visitations done; IIRC, the primary focus of that meet (my first) was the then-newly-opened Parkway.

Most definitely. I don't even have a meet page for it.

[Duke87]

By the same definition, then, my Merritt Parkway meet would be a mini-meet, and I don't feel like that is entirely an appropriate moniker for it.

I've always thought of "mini-meet" as being largely synonymous with "impromptu meet" - i.e., relatively little planning and announced on relatively short notice.

[Bitmapped]

If I do this, it will be shorter notice and a shorter tour, and it will feature driving on the road itself since it's now finished. And definitely fewer people because of the shorter notice.

FWIW, I'd be interested in heading back to see US 460 now that it's open.

[vdeane]

You can define mini meets the same way the Supreme Court defines obscene content - "I'll know it when I see it".

[SSOWorld]

Spontaneous combustion.  SBD.

[Laura]

By the same definition, then, my Merritt Parkway meet would be a mini-meet, and I don't feel like that is entirely an appropriate moniker for it.

I've always thought of "mini-meet" as being largely synonymous with "impromptu meet" - i.e., relatively little planning and announced on relatively short notice.

I second this. I think of a mini-meet as something planned impromptu and with a shorter tour.

[froggie]

I second this. I think of a mini-meet as something planned impromptu and with a shorter tour.

Concur, with emphasis on the impromptu.  An example being a mini-meet right after the 2nd ICC meet where 4 of us ambled in my car down to Barracks Row for dinner, and discovered in the process that DDOT was indeed going to sign I-695 along the 11th St Bridge.

[Alex]

Carter, Doug and Lou and I had a mini-meet in 2004.  We met in Newtown and rode around in Doug's CRV to three stops. We checked out Washington Crossing, the Doylestown bypass and the New Tyburn expressway. I don't think we did lunch or dinner.