Hey'ya,
We just love that mountain, don't we?
I am Pen (aka Yvette) and I am your ML again this year. I am currently plotting and planning events (well ahead of time) so this is the spot to watch for details, have your say and otherwise get in touch with your local Wrimos.
Events (loaded to GoogleCalendar for easy finding and set up on Facebook for easy RSVPing)
All events are being held at Mugg&Bean, VnA Waterfront from 12h30 to 15h30 on the following 6 Sundays:
1 November - Kick Off Party! Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156624950372
8 November - Weekly Write-In Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=172986297602
15 November - Half-way Party! Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=146760954610
21 November - Weekly Write-In Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=157628631370
29 November - Weekly Write-In Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153637084009
TGIO Party! Discussion: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/node/3453353
Supporters/Spouses/Sprogs etc. are welcome to the parties (Kick-off, Half-way and TGIO) but we do aim to actually get some writing done at the Write-In's where it is better to not bring them with.
Cheers,
----------
Yvette (2009 ML - CPT Region)
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55,524 / 50,000
Oct 6, 2009 - 14 06
Hey Pen,
Good to see you doing the ML thing again. Thank you.
Look forward to getting together ... soon.
KS
36,485 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 01 04
I suppose it is a good thing I like the M&B at the VnA Waterfront because it looks like I am going to be sitting there on my own *pout*
Wrimo's, if the times don't work for you PLEASE make suggestions! I chose the location and times based on last year's attendance and feedback (which was minimal at best!)
----------Yvette (2009 ML - CPT Region)
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59,333 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 01 15
In reply to Magependragon -"I suppose it is a good thing I like the M&B at the VnA Waterfront because it looks like I am going to be sitting there on my own *pout*"
I'm too scared to respond, since I felt a real p**ph*l being the only attendee at a Write-in last year - this after people had confirmed that they would be there, then didn't pitch and didn't phone to excuse themselves.
Being a newby, that was just all too much for me!
Like I said, I'm heading off to the Eastern Cape this year. At least those fellows know how to get it together!
----------Deirdre
36,485 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 01 22
I am sorry that you had such a terrible experience last year.
That was the only write-in that I didn't organise as I was in PE for a [unexpected] funeral that weekend and left it to my co-ML (who has been kicked to the curb this year.) That one was simply not advertised, nor in a public venue and so people didn't know about it and also would not attend. (Do we generally meet strangers in a private home for the first time?)
All the other write-ins, which were organised by me and that I attended, had at least 4-5 people there, often as many as 10, and were heaps of fun. The photos are up on Facebook and most of them are back this year for another go too.
Have fun in the Eastern cape though!
----------Yvette (2009 ML - CPT Region)
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59,333 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 10 42
Hee - I'm not reeeaaally going to the Eastern Cape - it's a bit far from Three Anchor Bay for a quick visit to the Mugg & Bean!
Sorry - I thought you were the person I had met last year (not fabulous with names), and whose house I barrelled into, brandishing pecan pie and laptop. She (name?) had mentioned that her co-ML had been called away unexpectedly.
I'm assuming the correct answer to "(Do we generally meet strangers in a private home for the first time?)" is meant to be "No". However ... : )
Although I suppose we weren't all meant to be strangers at that point.
Anyway, I'll take a look at the Facebook page and see what the friendly Cape Town Nano-ers look like.
----------Deirdre
39,208 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 12 21
Sorry to hear that. Could we tempt you with some brownies? :-)
----------"The Magnificent Seven"
(click on the banner to visit my blog)
59,333 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 22 05
D7 - The possibility of a meander through Grahamstown towards a brownie at the coast is not entirely out of the question. Actually, if we had a better postal system, you could leave letters for me at various destinations, telling me where my next stop should be, as in Jodi Piccoult's 'Song of the humpback whale'.
----------Deirdre
38,591 / 50,000
Oct 19, 2009 - 23 02
Ooooh we almost got her! Now how else to tempt her, hmmmmm.....
----------If you want your life to have impact, focus it.
<'}}}><
0 / 50,000
Oct 20, 2009 - 03 29
Should be attending all but one or two, all things being as they should...
Missing the halfway party and/or the write in after.
Probably drag the boys along too.
----------31,164 / 50,000
Oct 20, 2009 - 04 58
I may well be interested in meeting up with Capetonians... chaos willing.
For those writing F/SF/H there's a writers' group here in CT meeting once a month in the CBD.
----------0 / 50,000
Oct 21, 2009 - 11 00
Hiya ^_^
Oo- this sounds interesting. It's my first time here so this is totally overwelming, lol. Heh- though I dont think i'll be going due to me being pretty young, though I might be able to convince a few friends to come (and join) of corse, lol.
- Sim
42,279 / 50,000
Oct 22, 2009 - 03 53
Hi everyone.
Glad to see there's life out there!
I'll be checking out the facebook events as soon as I sneak onto the internet later today - for some strange reason work frowns on workers fb'ing, and have kindly blocked the link ;-D
blugekko
36,485 / 50,000
Oct 22, 2009 - 23 31
The event details are also on Google Calendar for those who can't get to Facebook.
----------Yvette (2009 ML - CPT Region)
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Oct 23, 2009 - 22 14
Oh my word, I would completely be there if I didn't live an hour out of Cape Town and if I had my license...oh, the joys of being a teen in a small town. I'm a newbie this year and it would have helped. But I'll be writing here at home in solidarity!! :)
----------My blog: http://nanowrimoandme.wordpress.com
Good luck, everyone - ah, sweet November:)
30,707 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 00 18
My parents are incredible, because they're taking me to CT for the kick-off. See all *four* of you there haha...now if you'll excuse me, I have oh so very much work to do before Sunday :)
----------My blog: http://nanowrimoandme.wordpress.com
Good luck, everyone - ah, sweet November:)
50,998 / 50,000
Oct 27, 2009 - 07 31
Thanks for chosing day-time rendevouz - night driving does not suit my eyes!
Hope to see you Sunday 1 Nov -
VII Cholo
0 / 50,000
Oct 28, 2009 - 03 48
ok! I am attempting this again this year and hopefully Ill actually get some writing done... With my as of yet non existing plot :P But nnngrrhh sundays... Theyre really awkward for me, I dont know if I can make the write-ins, which is really bleak. Maybe I can make one or two though...
Week days would rock my socks off but I guess weekends are easier.
See you guys on the forums though!
----------Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll buy a funny hat. Talk to a hungry man about fish, and you're a consultant.
- Scott Adams
(I dont remember ever reading that. Wow.)
40,480 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 05 21
I would love to come to these- and drag my other 2 friends who are also doing Nano to come! But... I don't know. Same as with africanstardust, I am a teen without a license =( And live a fair amount of time away from the Waterfront. Like... Longbeach away. DEEP South =P
But maybe if I can do some convincing I'll be there for some!
55,524 / 50,000
Oct 29, 2009 - 10 22
Hi Pen,
Sorry, but I'm not going to be able to join you on Sunday. Was hoping to do a little juggling with a long-standing arrangement but it will probably be the outbreak of WW3 if I do!
I'll certainly be there for at least one of the other Sundays.
Enjoy ... and good luck :)
KS
30,707 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2009 - 13 31
Thirty minutes to go until midnight...*squeals excitedly, but not really because parents are asleep, as is cat*
I'm looking forward to meeting you all tomorrow :) happy writing!
----------My blog: http://nanowrimoandme.wordpress.com
Good luck, everyone - ah, sweet November:)
33,754 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 01 18
Was great meeting y'all yesterday!! And hope everyone has started writing! I havent :*S lol went out to a friend's place with EvilBelgian and ended up getting home rather late and going straight to bed (though Evil was more disciplined...I believe he managed to put finger-to-keyboard before going to bed haha).
Pen, sorry you had a hangover :( It would have been awesome to have you stick around longer to give us some more rah-rah and advice, as well as organise the next venue (M&B will end up being too pricey for once a week....plus a little too distracting for a write-in imho). You also could have met the others who arrived after your departure.
Anyway, look forward to the write in next weekend! W00t!
----------Tails' Blography
36,485 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 01 39
Hi All,
Firstly, I apologise for the state I was in on Sunday. I had not intended to get quite that drunk but the release that came with it certainly helped in several aspects, the main one being returning my muse to me with a pair of interlinked time-lines as a story.
Secondly, it has been raised to me that the venue is unsuitable due to 1) costs and 2) location. I chose the venue based on last year where Wrimo's were refusing point blank to even consider driving out to Paddocks, a concern for safe parking and a want of a public venue. Also M&B has bottomless coffee and lemonade for just R12.90 so the drinks are definitely affordable.
BUT I am willing to work with these concerns ... so the next Write-In will be held at M&B Paddocks on Sunday 8th November from 13h30-15h30 (1hr later and less to cater for people to have lunch at home if they want) and we'll see how it goes from there. Please note this is a Write-In so bring your writing stuff with you for some word challenges/races and such like.
Unfortunately, I am not willing to consider someone's private residence as we are all essentially strangers meeting for the first time and that just red-flags on my internet safety checklist.
Please if you have any other venue suggestions, concerns or compliments note them here on the forum so we can all discuss them. Private email or NaNoMail excludes people and is not the avenue to take here as the decisions made affect all of us.
Also will those who did arrive on Sunday but did not get a goodie bag please let me know so I can make up some more - I was not expecting such a high turnout (forum thread was empty, FB event had 4 people on it etc.)
Speedy Fingers!
----------Yvette (2009 ML - CPT Region)
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33,754 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 02 48
Libraries are also an option as a public venue free from distractions :) I dont know about the other libraries, but the Pinelands one is uber quiet with nice desks and is well lit.
But yay will see y'all at Mugg at the Paddocks! :)
----------Tails' Blography
59,333 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 03 24
Hi there - Good to see you have recovered, and sorry to have missed you. I wandered in quite late. I didn't rsvp as I had a shoot booked for Sunday, and wasn't sure what time it would end, so wasn't expecting a goodie of any sort, let alone a bag full of them.
Very impressed that you staggered out to meet everyone, given the sorry state you (apparently) were in. Lesser (older!) beings would have stayed under the duvet, clutching the Neurofen.
I won't be at the next write-in, as I'm doing something even crazier than Nano, and which is likely to leave me wordless for a day or two.
However, I don't mind where I drive to. It's only once a week, so if it's a bit out of the way then it's really not an issue. I suggest varying the venues, though. Paddocks next week, somewhere in the Southern Suburbs the week after, and elsewhere where there are Wrimos the week after. The only concern is driving to the ends of the earth to find that people haven't pitched. So, if people say that they'll be there, then they should really try to be there, or excuse themselves beforehand.
D.
----------Deirdre
36,485 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 03 46
They also tend to like you book in advance if you would a separate room to meet in and then you have to juggle with their other commitments.
I investigated this option last year and also again this year with very little luck ... maybe my purple hair has me looking too much like a student to be taken seriously?
----------Yvette (2009 ML - CPT Region)
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36,485 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 03 49
That is what I tried last year - it got a bit too chaotic and you also hit the nail on the head with The only concern is driving to the ends of the earth to find that people haven't pitched. which happens way more often than people are aware of.
My only concern right now is that Paddocks management weren't incredibly friendly last year and may be just as unhelpful or understanding this year too but we'll see.
----------Yvette (2009 ML - CPT Region)
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0 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 05 52
This weeks meet time may leave us not attending... might be able to pop over & say hi before ducking back to game though.
----------36,485 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 04 02
This weeks meet time may leave us not attending... might be able to pop over & say hi before ducking back to game though.
So what times could you make?
If I change the times, will the people who want them changed make more of an effort to be there?
----------Yvette (2009 ML - CPT Region)
Sponsor Me!
36,485 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 03 23
Ladies and Gents,
I am well aware that the Kick-Off did not go as uber as the other regions. I have already apologised for my sorry state that led it to not even go as I wanted it to. What more am I expected to do? I still have all the rest of the goodies for the rest of the meets, including a way to slam your inner editor back out of your life when he tries to muscle back in in a few weeks time.
Perhaps some background to me would help ... I am a 5th year ML (ie this is the 5th time I am an ML) and the only ML here who has done this more than once in a row.
I wrote my first NaNoNovel in 2003 and won with only the support of my parents and a few online friends - there was no such thing as a ML in South Africa at that stage. I wrote 15K in the last 3 days to finish and it was very lonely having no one to talk to about what I was doing.
In 2005 I signed up again and an online friend convinced me to ML as well. I was in JHB and although I tried to organise stuff ONLY the TGIO really happened with a grand number of 4 of us there.
In 2006 still in JHB I did it again and that is when I roped brabruski in to sit with me at M&B Fourways on the weekends so I would not be on my own. Still most write-ins it was just the two of us and when I organised in other places only one or two people would pitch and NEVER the ones who were begging me to haul arse all over Gauteng for them. The TGIO was epic though with nearly 30 people pitching (most had not RSVP'd though so the restaurant were not so happy with us.)
2007 I was in Durban and beyond the kick-off, I spent most of the month alone with only occassional company from my partner at the time. For the TGIO he took me out for dinner, it was just the two of us, because he was so proud of what I had actually accomplished despite the odds.
2008 I moved to Cape Town and apparently had the previous ML as a coML. Things appeared to go well at first but gripes about times and venues had me seriously juggling things to try and get people to attend. Then my great-aunt died suddenly and I ended up out of town for the last write-in which my coML seriously dropped the ball on with no advertising/organising or anything. The TGIO though was pleasant enough even if she lorded over it like she had run everything despite not actually having participated in more than 2 of the events. (She and I no longer speak but there were other issues there too.)
It is 2009 and I am working full time with little to no backup support. Most of you are newbies just starting this adventure and you are excited. I am a veteran who is going for her 5th win in a row and her 6th win ever. I spoke with those I knew were returning, my friends and we chose a time and a venue that suited us best and worked with our schedules. Honestly, I was not expecting so many people on Sunday - 8 max really - and I am a bit shell shocked as to how many of you actually want to meet.
I have activities and other ideas planned for the various meets and I do hope to make this month both fun and productive for you.
If you have suggestions - please share them.
If you have complaints, try to have solutions too.
If costs are an issue, be specific: is it the cost of parking? cost of drinks? cost of petrol because of the distance to travel?
If times are an issue, let us know when you are available.
I do not come with ESP but I do come with NaNo-XP. Those who know me look at me strangely every year when I say I am herding the writerly cats again because I am not normally the leader type, but I do my best and muddle onwards.
Some extra comments:
Thank you NaNoBot for stepping up to help me keep things running with such a large group. You know that the meets last year were smaller than this year's look to be.
Thank you Phaezen for being there and being the good friend who keeps reminding me that I do enjoy this despite just how much the negativity is killing my muse and I right now.
Thank you to those who are returning who know this is not a smooth ride but who are willing to offer help and positive encouragement.
I am thankful that there is more than just these sometimes-failing forums boards to keep my spirits up. 2003 was lonely and hard, I don't want 2009 to be like that for you.
Come and meet us - we don't bite!
----------Yvette (2009 ML - CPT Region)
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59,333 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 03 50
Oh gosh.
It would appear our ML is a tad more Dragon than Mage at this stage! : )
And as for that word count ... tsk, tsk.
Okay. Seriously. The kick off is done. And, really, it was fine. I was there for only a short while, but it seemed that everyone had got to know each other, swapped blog urls, shared some jokes and life stories. So the belly dancers and male strippers didn't arrive. So what?! And the ML had had a party the night before. We've all been there, done that. Throwing name, and suffering the consequences, is part of being human.
That there was a big turn-out at the kick-off really is no indication of the numbers that will appear at the write-ins - and I'm applying ESP, as well as being a Cape Town lifer to this hypothesis. If you look at some of the word counts at this stage, my guess is some of the guys haven't started, and won't be either.
As for trying to herd cats in Cape Town ... sadly, you've taken on a big job. Chances are pretty good that you're going to run yourself ragged trying to please everyone and then pleasing no one. I suspect you're trying too hard, and are taking some observations a bit personally, and feeling under appreciated at the moment.
I did Nano on my own last year. No kick off, no after party, a non-write in, no rah-rah from friends and family on the sidelines. I seconded D7, poor fellow, as my ally, and SaShirl was a huge inspiration. My point is, you can do it on your own if you want to. No amount of effort on the ML's side is going to carry the unwilling across the line. So maybe take a deep breath and start enjoying this year's Nano.
Mugg & Bean at the Paddocks on a Sunday at 13:30 it is. If no one comes ... well, then at least you won't have to make small talk with strangers and you can get your word count up. And if they all come, then, whoo-hoo, bonus.
I will probably see you only at the third write-in - this Sunday I'm doing the Big Walk and the following Sunday I am likely teaching a studio lighting workshop from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. (So I could probably do another late appearance, but I usually expend a lot of energy at these workshops and am quite glazed by the end of it.)
Now get to writing, Dragonlady!
----------Deirdre