As much as we like to pretend, the Internet is not infallible; e-mails get lost, settings get changed, and for some reason or another, every year people slip through the cracks of the ML mailing list.
This post will serve as an archive for each official ML e-mail sent to the London region. Check back if you haven't heard from us in a while to make sure you haven't missed anything, or just if you want a refresher of the topics we've been covering, without having to search through your e-mail. This is also a good place to let us know if you're not on our list, or if we're not getting your e-mails.
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Lora, Municipal Liaison for London Ontario
26,221 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2007 - 04 27
Greetings, London NaNo-ers!
This is Carrie, your soon-to-be (*fingers crossed*) co-ML for the Forest City. As you may have heard, as I did just now, the main NaNoWriMo site is going to be out of commission for the next week so Lora and I thought we'd get out a quick email before that happens, just to let you know what's up and coming for the month of October as we all ready ourselves for the challenge to come. If you were with us last year, you know that scheduling meet-ups often fell until the last minute and it was a bit of a mess to check everyone's availabilities to try to work around conflicts. This year, we're going to keep it clean and organized by giving a very early heads-up to all our local participants and I'll turn it over to Lora to tell you about our meeting times.
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Those of you who've been hanging around the forums this past month or so have probably seen me canvassing for days/times that work for the most amount of people. The general consensus is that Thursday evenings work best (we decided on 6pm), and so that's what we're going to go with.
Location-wise, the central library on Dundas is easily accessible, free, and even has coffee inside! It's close to several bus routes (1, 2, 6), and for those who drive, if you park in the Galleria lot and bring your ticket upstairs, they'll validate you for two hours' free parking!
If you did NaNo last year but never made it to the meetings, consider that those who did come regularly had a great time -- but more importantly, the meetings delivered! Of those who attended meetings regularly, all but 1 made the 50,000! The number of winners among those who were regulars on the forums but didn't come to meetings was less but still significant; those who participated in neither had less of a success rate. I think this is pretty telling; support is important, especially when undergoing something as insane as NaNoWriMo.
We'll be figuring out what kind of meetings to hold in November -- social gatherings, plotting sessions, write-ins, etc. -- and planning the Kick-off Party slated for the beginning of November, during these October pre-meetings. It's a chance for everyone to get to know one another and be comfortable with the group dynamic while we're all excited and ready, so that by the time NaNo rolls around and half of us want to kill the other half for being ahead of us, we're already friends and can offer encouragement and solicit help rather than commit murder. Or, y'know, it'll just make it more fun; one of the other.
And now, to talk about promotions, here's Carrie again!
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Right. So we'll be coming up with some posters in the next few days to advertise around the city for new NaNo-ers (October is recruitment month, yay), so if you also know of a good place to post some where they would be allowed, Lora and I can bring some to the first pre-November meeting to distribute. So, for example, if you're in Strathroy or St. Thomas, which are places we can't get to, you could spread the word there. On our list of places to hit with requests for poster space are the city library branches, places on campus at Western and/or Fanshawe, coffee shops, bookstores ... and if you frequent any of those, you can certainly get involved and help out the cause by tacking up a poster. But first we'll have to get them made up, so we'll keep you posted (pun intended).
So, to recap:
Location: Central Library, 2nd floor, tables
Date: Thursdays in October (first meeting: Oct 4)
Time: 6pm - whenever
No need to bring anything -- just ideas for the kinds of meetings you'd like, the kind of activities you'd enjoy participating in, etc.
Starting October 1st, sign-ins and the forums will be back online, so make sure you check in! And bring any curious (or protesting, if need be) friends with you, because we want to share the insanity.
If you don't know what you want to write this year, don't worry! Neither do your MLs; come on over and we'll brainstorm together. If you do, then hey, you've got one over on us already, so why not come and gloat/share your superiority?
Hope to see you there,
- Lora and Carrie
***EDIT***
Lora again!
On a suggestion from one of our members who (sadly) isn't going to make the first meeting, I realized that we forgot to tell you how to look for us!
Carrie and I will be at the tables on the second floor of the Central Library, like we said, but we'll have signs on the table and will be on the lookout for anyone clutching their belongings nervously and looking lost. (Seriously, it worked last year.) I will most likely be wearing my oversized, pale blue, ugly-as-all-heck, 2006 NaNoWriMo Official Shirt, not because it's pretty (it's not) but because there's no way anyone else would be willingly wearing that thing in public. ;)
Now JUST in case someone else has an aneurysm and wears the same shirt, some base physical description of me -- I'm early 20s, medium height, and have short, curly brown hair that apparently looks like spiral pasta (acc. to Carrie). I also flail and use dramatic hand gestures when I talk. Carrie is taller than I am and blonde, and does not flail.
Further bulletins as events warrant!
26,221 / 50,000
Oct 8, 2007 - 04 28
I know, I know, the forums are eye-bleedingly slow, and as of right now, everything but the Regional Lounges are shut down, even. I'm assuming that's why the usually healthy forum activity we have by this time of year has crawled to a stop, and Carrie and I are sitting on our hands and humming to ourselves. (Thank you to those who have managed to stick it out, by the way: we appreciate it!)
This is just an e-mail asking you to bear with us, and the site, until functionality returns and we can all go back to the lovely noise of the forums humming with challenges, dares, sympathy, cries of distress, and shouts of triumph. Or, you know, at least NOT the sounds of servers creaking and groaning and little web packets crying out in terror, and being suddenly silenced. (<-- Dork)
Also, in lieu of the forums being available in any ready manner, I'm reminding everyone that our pre-NaNo meetings are Thursdays in October, at 6pm, in the Central Library. Here's a rehash of the info available in the 'upcoming events' forum, were it not so crippled:
DATE: Thursday, October 11
TIME: 6pm
LOCATION: 251 Dundas: Central Library, Downtown; 2nd floor, tables near the escalator. Look for the giant pencil!
DETAILS: An informal get-together so your MLs can start to get to know the new members, and so returning members can reunite! Low-key, low-pressure, but (hopefully) high in social connectivity. Your MLs will be on hand to answer any questions and assuage any doubts you might have regarding NaNoWriMo, and to take suggestions on what kinds of events everyone would like to see during November. If you can't make it, don't worry -- we'll be holding events at the same time and place every Thursday throughout October.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: For those who take the bus, the Central Library is located within two blocks of Dundas and Richmond, and within one block of Dundas and Wellington, making it within two blocks of every bus that hits downtown. Those who drive, parking is available through the Clarence, Wellington, King, or York street entrances of the Galleria Mall. Bring your ticket to the 2nd floor circulation desk and have it validated for two hours' free parking!
I hope people can make it again this week, because while Carrie and I enjoy each other's company, we're going to look rather sad, sitting alone at a table for two hours, surrounded by NaNo paraphernalia. And if we don't hear from you at these meetings or on the boards, we won't know what you as a group want from your NaNo experience this November, and that would just be a shame. So come on by the meetings, let the forum window load while you go eat lunch, or drop us an e-mail at london_on@nanowrimo.org. Either way, we'd love to hear from you!
~Lora