Charlotte NC "city meet" - April 20, 2024

[oscar]

I've signed up for the Bakersfield meet the preceding weekend. Can't do both that and Charlotte.

That's an unusual conflict for a Virginia resident. But then I grew up in California.

There are enough roadgeeks who travel long distance to meets that I'm not sure that's as unusual as people keep claiming.

Depends on what one considers 'Long Distance.'

More to the point, it's whether the meets are far enough apart that meet planners shouldn't worry about the schedule conflict. A three-time zone distance usually means not a lot of overlap for potential attendees, except "national" meets which have a wider draw.

[Rothman]

I've been wondering about the designation of a "national meet."  What meet doesn't have a potentially national draw?

[A.J. Bertin]

I've been wondering about the designation of a "national meet."  What meet doesn't have a potentially national draw?

That's a question I've asked before too.  Any road meet could potentially attract anyone from any part of the country.

[oscar]

I've been wondering about the designation of a "national meet."  What meet doesn't have a potentially national draw?

It's up to the meet organizer whether to call it "national". But if the organizer doesn't have the experience to make a large meet run smoothly, expect the organizer to draw ridicule, or at least fewer RSVPs than expected. Same if the proposed "national meet" is at an inconvenient location, or a bad time (including the December holidays, and the June wedding season), or the same year as an already-scheduled "national meet".

I don't recall this ever being a problem. Some meets didn't work well, but those IIRC weren't billed as "national".

[Rothman]

My parents were married in June, but I don't know if I've ever been to a June wedding.

[roadwaywiz95]

The term "National Meet" dates back to the mid-2000s when road meets were still in their relative infancy. The term was invented in order to describe large-scale events in large markets that were intended to have broader appeal among the road enthusiast populace. These meets were also more rare overall, happening every other year or so in the olde days.

Over the years, meets have become more popular in general, however it remains true that there is a spectrum when it comes to location, size, and intent with these things. (And let's face it: not all meets are hosted by folks capable of pulling off these kinds of large-scale events.) I still think it's important for there to be something that comes along every so often that appeals to the broader community and highlights the community as whole. Your typical road meet in location 'X' is more local/regional in nature in terms of who attends and typically does not accomplish the goal of nation-wise appeal. (Not that there's anything wrong with that - that's just the way it is.)

I was very happy to bring back this format to the community in 2022 and 2024. Your experience may vary, but I like to think that they were both pretty darn good. I look forward to seeing another one of these appear on the calendar some day in the future.

[Rothman]

Eh, may there be more national meets, then.

[hbelkins]

I always equated "national" with "multi-day."

[Laura]

I always equated "national" with "multi-day."

Yeah, that's definitely the case with the 3 I've attended - NYC in 2014, Philly in 2022, New Orleans in 2024.

[oscar]

I always equated "national" with "multi-day."

Yeah, that's definitely the case with the 3 I've attended - NYC in 2014, Philly in 2022, New Orleans in 2024.

I went to the 2008 Chicago meet, which extended into NW Indiana and SE Wisconsin. That was at least two days. But I don't remember if that was billed as "national", and it predates AARoads so I can't look it up on this forum.

[vdeane]

I want to say that all National meets have been multi-day (though I'm not sure on Pittsburgh) but that the reverse isn't true.

[paulthemapguy]

If a meet took place on this day, pi day, maybe it could be called an "Irrational Meet"! 

[vdeane]

If a meet took place on this day, pi day, maybe it could be called an "Irrational Meet"! 

Saturday March 14, 2026?

[Takumi]

Ooh, damn. If this was happening on that date a year ago it would have been a definite yes. Unfortunately I've since moved about an hour and a half away (used to live in Kannapolis, now living in the Hickory-Lenoir area) due to IRL circumstances and my attendance is doubtful at best due to that. Best wishes to the attendees (and the non-attendees, in Takumi's case! Congrats!).

_{Edit: Lenoir, not Durham. Silly me.}

Thanks. We ended up eloping this past week for reasons I won't get into here, but I'm still out for this because there's a South African food festival locally the same day.

[CanesFan27]

Hi - I will not be attending the lunch due to having two soccer games to coach that afternoon - 1:30 and 2:45.  If all goes well, I may be able to join for dinner.

[A.J. Bertin]

Hi - I will not be attending the lunch due to having two soccer games to coach that afternoon - 1:30 and 2:45.  If all goes well, I may be able to join for dinner.

It would be great if you are able to join us for dinner!

[jpi]

Looks like this will be my 3rd road meet of the year and Steph's first road meet of the year  Yes we are both going to attend, Just booked our lodging in Hickory, NC for that weekend, looking forward to it!

[A.J. Bertin]

We're down to only a little over two weeks until the big day!  At this point, I'm expecting a fairly large group for lunch and dinner.  If you're still considering attending but haven't decided yet, I am aiming to have an accurate headcount (or as close to an accurate of a headcount as possible) no later than Wednesday, April 17.  Please let me know here or respond in the Facebook event if you received an invitation there.

Thanks!  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in Charlotte in a couple weeks.   

[A.J. Bertin]

The big day is only a week away!  At this point I am expecting 20 attendees, including myself... so a decent crowd.  An early look at Charlotte's weather forecast for next Saturday suggests that it will be quite a pleasant day.

If you are planning to attend but haven't notified me yet here or via the Facebook event, please let me know as soon as possible so I can include you in the headcount for lunch and/or dinner.  I look forward to seeing everyone next Saturday!

[A.J. Bertin]

Thanks so much to everyone who joined us in Charlotte yesterday!  It was so great to see all of you.  I hope you all had as much fun as I did.    I will say that I'm very much looking forward to doing this again next year in a different city!

Safe travels on your journeys home!!

[wriddle082]

I'm glad everybody had fun!  I definitely would have liked to see everyone, but on Friday I had just finally gotten home from a work assignment in St. Louis that went two weeks longer than originally planned.  Been trying to play catch-up on the honey-do list ever since.  For that matter, I'm trying to catch up on it every weekend while I'm at home.  It's just so hard for me to be able to make it to road meets anymore, especially when your family seemingly has little to no interest, or has other more expensive interests that take precedence.

Anyway, hoping other meets take place in this part of the country in the future.  Hopefully I'll actually be able to attend one soon!

[ccurley100]

Thanks for putting it together AJ. I honestly had a good time and it was nice to see everyone. I'm glad everyone had a good time even with the weather and an unexpected last minute visitor in town tying up traffic. That's not something you can plan for.

[jpi]

Steph and I made it back fine to our house yesterday evening. Thanks A.J. for a fun and first for Stepph and I city meet, we got to explore some of the by-ways of nearby SC and even had a little bit of storm chasing thrown in for us too 

[SSOWorld]

Thanks so much to everyone who joined us in Charlotte yesterday!  It was so great to see all of you.  I hope you all had as much fun as I did.    I will say that I'm very much looking forward to doing this again next year in a different city!

Safe travels on your journeys home!!

pics, or it didn't happen

[A.J. Bertin]

Thanks so much to everyone who joined us in Charlotte yesterday!  It was so great to see all of you.  I hope you all had as much fun as I did.    I will say that I'm very much looking forward to doing this again next year in a different city!

Safe travels on your journeys home!!

pics, or it didn't happen

Pics are coming!  I generally don't share photos here but will share them on my Facebook page soon.