When you announce your meet - too early?

[Rothman]

and curse NY Civil Service for their lousy scheduling of promotion exams that prevent attendance at one of them thus far...

Honestly, it always makes me nervous when promotional exams come up for exactly that reason.  I was waiting with baited breath the last time they did the STA/ACPA exams before they were announced (at the time, I didn't know about the preliminary schedule link).

You guys have to take tests for promotions? Kentucky has done away with entrance exams for initial hires. It's all done by resume and experience now.

That was a weird way of saying "nepotism."

Resume and experience is how we get jobs in the private sector.

Dear heavens, nepotism is even more rampant in the private sector!

(Have you heard of Sanford and Son or any other company that ends with "and Sons"? )

Shoot, I knew a father that ran a healthy business representing people so they could obtain Social Security Disabilty and Social Security Supplementary Security Income.  He was particularly proud of when he successfully argued that a stripper was due benefits since she was only able to perform that one particular job.

Anyway, he felt compelled to bring his two drug-addicted sons into the business.  One surprisingly took to it okay, but his vices caught up to him.

The father passed away, one son disappeared into poverty and crime.  The son that held onto the business eventually just stopped showing up and the employees bolted.  Come to think of it, I'm not sure how the office property was handled after all of that.

I mean, even well-intentioned nepotism is still nepotism.

At a law firm I worked at, a senior partner insisted that his son work there as well as a junior partner.  Junior had been financed by his father to travel the world and whatnot prior.  Was a little funny when a bigger-than-expected trial popped up and Junior actually had to work for once.  Truth be told, he was a fun guy to be around.

And, heck, the first job I had was at a video store owned by a father and semi-managed by his son...in that case it was a good thing since the son was a better manager than their actual manager for a while...

In any matter, the idea that the private sector is some sort of bastion of meritocracy is patently unfounded.

[vdeane]

He was particularly proud of when he successfully argued that a stripper was due benefits since she was only able to perform that one particular job.

That must have been an interesting argument.

[Scott5114]

Regarding meet hosts being unable to hold the meet for whatever reason... I feel like most of us are pretty sympathetic to that, since life is unpredictable (so long as it's not just someone flaking for no good reason). Still, I think a good insurance policy just about any meet host could use is to communicate the plans with the other attendees local to the area, so that if the primary host needs to bail out for whatever reason, they can pass the reins off to someone else. This is a lot easier now that a written itinerary has become standard issue for a roadmeet.

This was basically what ended up happening with the 2022 Oklahoma City meet; the initial planning was handled by @JMoses24 who was in contact with me during most of the process. He ended up having to drop out of hosting due to health issues (though he did make a brief appearance at one of the stops), but since I knew the area and his plans, the meet went on just fine.

I have to confess that, while I didn't watch the video that touched this off, I have a hard time understanding why there would be an issue with doing an exploratory inquiry before committing to a meet (as was alluded to upthread). I know there's been at least one instance of throwing a meet idea out there but didn't get any confirmed interest for the city and/or dates proposed. Better to know if that's what's going to happen ahead of time, rather than putting in the work to plan an itinerary and then getting no interest.

Surprise attendees...so long as it's not an issue where there's a cramped table or limited parking or  whatever I don't see why that would be an issue. If there is such a situation, the host should say so.

[Rothman]

I have to confess that, while I didn't watch the video that touched this off,

Just watching the couple of minutes vdeane referred to would help.  This wasn't about an "exploratory inquiry" like what happened with that one particular recent instance where the meet went poof due to lack of interest or not finding a good date for it.

[vdeane]

The quintessential example of the "cancelled meet" that caused issues is this one.  Although most I have known that have gotten so far but had the host drop out were for legitimate reasons, Jacksonville certainly lives on in infamy.

[hbelkins]

The quintessential example of the "cancelled meet" that caused issues is this one.  Although most I have known that have gotten so far but had the host drop out were for legitimate reasons, Jacksonville certainly lives on in infamy.

Didn't Gene VanDusseldorp drive all the way from Kansas City for that one?

[Max Rockatansky]

The quintessential example of the "cancelled meet" that caused issues is this one.  Although most I have known that have gotten so far but had the host drop out were for legitimate reasons, Jacksonville certainly lives on in infamy.

Dude tried for years to get back into the good graces of everyone here but couldn't.  A grown adult using parental figures as an excuse for a last second cancellation was incredibly lame.

[Brandon]

The quintessential example of the "cancelled meet" that caused issues is this one.  Although most I have known that have gotten so far but had the host drop out were for legitimate reasons, Jacksonville certainly lives on in infamy.

Didn't Gene VanDusseldorp drive all the way from Kansas City for that one?

Yes, he did.  He had a hotel reservation set up too.

It was a CF that made the 2014 St Louis meet look well planned by comparison.

[bandit957]

It was a CF that made the 2014 St Louis meet look well planned by comparison.

St. Louis 2014 was one of the best meets.

[Brandon]

It was a CF that made the 2014 St Louis meet look well planned by comparison.

St. Louis 2014 was one of the best meets.

Never said it wasn't good.  It was a hell of a fun time, but just not planned very well.

[Rothman]

Fun > planned

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The quintessential example of the "cancelled meet" that caused issues is this one.  Although most I have known that have gotten so far but had the host drop out were for legitimate reasons, Jacksonville certainly lives on in infamy.

Dude tried for years to get back into the good graces of everyone here but couldn't.  A grown adult using parental figures as an excuse for a last second cancellation was incredibly lame.

After the fact someone did explain that the host was mentally unable to function without assistance, and theorized that the parents may not have known what was happening until the last minute and were unable or unwilling to help with hosting the meet when they found out about it. At the very least it probably led people to make sure they personally knew the host or knew people who did, before committing to a meet.

[Rothman]

The quintessential example of the "cancelled meet" that caused issues is this one.  Although most I have known that have gotten so far but had the host drop out were for legitimate reasons, Jacksonville certainly lives on in infamy.

Dude tried for years to get back into the good graces of everyone here but couldn't.  A grown adult using parental figures as an excuse for a last second cancellation was incredibly lame.

After the fact someone did explain that the host was mentally unable to function without assistance, and theorized that the parents may not have known what was happening until the last minute and were unable or unwilling to help with hosting the meet when they found out about it. At the very least it probably led people to make sure they personally knew the host or knew people who did, before committing to a meet.

Did he not show up to the Orlando meet last year, or am I thinking of someone else?  Good graces attained?

[74/171FAN]

The quintessential example of the "cancelled meet" that caused issues is this one.  Although most I have known that have gotten so far but had the host drop out were for legitimate reasons, Jacksonville certainly lives on in infamy.

Dude tried for years to get back into the good graces of everyone here but couldn't.  A grown adult using parental figures as an excuse for a last second cancellation was incredibly lame.

After the fact someone did explain that the host was mentally unable to function without assistance, and theorized that the parents may not have known what was happening until the last minute and were unable or unwilling to help with hosting the meet when they found out about it. At the very least it probably led people to make sure they personally knew the host or knew people who did, before committing to a meet.

Did he not show up to the Orlando meet last year, or am I thinking of someone else?  Good graces attained?

His dad brought him to my Raleigh/Durham Meet in 2022 and there were no issues.

[hbelkins]

At the very least it probably led people to make sure they personally knew the host or knew people who did, before committing to a meet.

Heck, there are people I personally know that I'd be hesitant about attending a meet they hosted due to poor planning issues in previous meets in the past.

[JMoses24]

Regarding meet hosts being unable to hold the meet for whatever reason... I feel like most of us are pretty sympathetic to that, since life is unpredictable (so long as it's not just someone flaking for no good reason). Still, I think a good insurance policy just about any meet host could use is to communicate the plans with the other attendees local to the area, so that if the primary host needs to bail out for whatever reason, they can pass the reins off to someone else. This is a lot easier now that a written itinerary has become standard issue for a roadmeet.

This was basically what ended up happening with the 2022 Oklahoma City meet; the initial planning was handled by @JMoses24 who was in contact with me during most of the process. He ended up having to drop out of hosting due to health issues (though he did make a brief appearance at one of the stops), but since I knew the area and his plans, the meet went on just fine.

I have to confess that, while I didn't watch the video that touched this off, I have a hard time understanding why there would be an issue with doing an exploratory inquiry before committing to a meet (as was alluded to upthread). I know there's been at least one instance of throwing a meet idea out there but didn't get any confirmed interest for the city and/or dates proposed. Better to know if that's what's going to happen ahead of time, rather than putting in the work to plan an itinerary and then getting no interest.

Surprise attendees...so long as it's not an issue where there's a cramped table or limited parking or  whatever I don't see why that would be an issue. If there is such a situation, the host should say so.

Just to back up what Scott said, I had had significant surgery a little over a week prior -- the four and a half hours I did that day was pushing it. 8 was just not going to happen without being heavily medicated for pain.

[tckma]

So, I basically read the first few posts on this topic, skimmed the rest (especially when it went off-topic), and I haven't listened to the episode.

Here's my take.

Let people announce road meets as far in advance as they like.  Why is it a problem?  If they're not nearby, people need to plan travel, accommodations, and budget.  Let people announce road meets as close to the event as they like.  Why is it a problem?  They might not get nearly as many folks to show up, but so what?

My first ever road meet was Corridor H in 2016 -- I lived in Maryland at the time, sufficiently close to the meet, yet I still had to book and pay for a hotel, as it was a two-day meet... my wife had a death in her family and had to travel internationally on short notice, so I ended up having to change to a hotel that allowed dogs because suddenly she wasn't going to be able to stay home to take care of them -- and that meant I couldn't participate in the pre-meet meal.  I remember making and packing sandwiches and sitting in the parking lot of the restaurant and eating them... and leaving my car running and unlocked at Sheetz stops (so that the dogs could be in A/C and have access to water) because it was 9342893942834834 degrees out that weekend... something that made me super nervous to do even when I parked right next to a State Trooper.  It all seemed very last-minute to me, especially given the juggling I had to do because of the funeral... and yet I had a fantastic time.

I, for one, put the meets I'm interested in on my Google Calendar when I find out about them, then promptly forget about them because I'm not in the habit of checking the forum regularly -- then I get a calendar reminder and go "oh crud, there's a meet TOMORROW?" -- usually meaning I don't attend.  I have enough roadgeek friends on FB that I now get invites to some meets, which helps.  BUUUUT, I have factors in my life that prevent me attending many road meets, whether planned well in advance or by the seat of my pants.

I'd like to go to meets that are further away, but I really haven't been able to.  My finances have been really REALLY strapped since I got laid off in 2018 and was unemployed for 6 months -- though it's been over five years, I still haven't fully recovered.  The Philadelphia National Meet was really close by, and at the time I lived within 3 city blocks of one of the pre-meet locations. 

I'm trying to convince my wife to come with me to a meet -- I don't like leaving her behind, especially since I have another hobby due to which I'm basically never home between January and April each year.  I haven't been able to convince her, and I get the feeling she'd be bored, so I've only gone alone to road meets.

I'd also like to go to this weekend's Pittsburgh meet.  BUT we recently had to move (due to a complete ass of a landlord), and we're in a place where rent is higher and we're struggling.  My car is on the fritz and needs repairs I can't afford -- plus I'm upside-down on the loan and can't really sell it.  We bought another car, and while that's currently reliable... it's another car payment.  June rent is coming due... which means this meet is probably a no, especially considering it's 4 1/2 hours' drive and $42 in tolls each way (or 5 1/2 hours if I don't take the Turnpike), meaning it'd probably require a hotel... unless I leave my house at the ass-crack of dawn.  Meaning it's probably a no.

I've been to (hmm... counting...) four? five? road meets in close to ten years.  Yet I've made some great friends in the hobby -- people I now confide in, even though I've seen exactly two of these folks in person a grand total of once outside of road meets. 

As for hosting meets... given that a lot of people plan travel in advance and need to budget... not cool to cancel last-minute.  Sure, shit happens, but... given the linked post blamed parents I at first thought the would-be host might have been a minor.  I'd have been super pissed if I had booked a hotel and a flight and was on my way.

I have an idea for a road meet in my head, BUT... I don't feel like I could commit to hosting it.  My impostor syndrome tells me I wouldn't be very good at hosting, and, "most roadgeeks have probably seen this stuff anyway."  My logical brain tells me I probably don't have enough material for a full afternoon-long meet.  So you'll probably never see me host a meet.

[Rothman]

You're only with your wife eight months out of the year?

[tckma]

Ha, no.

I volunteer as a mentor with a FIRST robotics team -- high schoolers.  Build season is early January to early March; so I'm at work 40 hours a week, and with the kids for several hours after work once or twice a week, plus usually 9-5 Saturdays.  Then there's competition season, early March to mid-April... same meeting schedule plus competitions all day either Thursday-Friday-Saturday or Friday-Saturday-Sunday most weekends, all over southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, with District Championships up in Bethlehem.

When the team I'm with makes it to the world championships, that's travel to (in recent years) Houston or (in prior years) St. Louis, Atlanta, or Orlando, for an entire week in mid-April, usually by myself*.

So *basically* never at home.  She describes herself as a "robotics widow."

*One year, she came with me to worlds in St. Louis, but stayed with the dogs in the hotel instead of coming to the competitions, so that didn't really count.