A victim of its own success?

21 Dec 2006

I typed this out earlier having been stewing on it for a while, but it got a little deep when really all I want to do is pose a question & perhaps open a discussion.....
so, I've edited and you can have the short version lol

Thinking back over the months, and many of you over the years, about the 'specialness' of getting together with others & the time gap between social gatherings ....the 'making a weekend of it' and Munch fever on a several week build-up ... to looking over in LMU right now and the ability to attend somethingalmost every weekend let alone Munches on a monthly if not fortnightly basis (and more if you use more than this site) and taking into consideration both the time & financial costs (travel, hotel, spends, meal if it involves one, outfits, babysitters etc)... is it getting a bit much? dunno

Anyone can organise one, there's been a rule modification, we have inter-site socials and chatroom-only socials on top of Munches, Socials and Parties. There's alot of Xmas/ New Year get-togethers too right now. .......what I wanted to ask is your oppinions on whether the ploriforation of advertised 'doos' (bearing in mind there are also those organised behind the scenes and not advertised - as happened recently) is a good thing (taking into account the sheer number of people who potentially may want to get involved in the social side of all this)? or, are Munches and Socials are becoming a victim of their own success ?
dunno

21 Dec 2006

I think with the member numbers as high as they are now it is only a factor of demand out stripping supply that there are so many functions advertised...
I do miss the old days when numbers were smaller and functions were fewer as to me it made attending one even more special(to me anyway)...
But its a sign of the times and some may call it progress so I suppose its something we're stuck with..

21 Dec 2006

Quote by Mallock2006
I think with the member numbers as high as they are now it is only a factor of demand out stripping supply that there are so many functions advertised...
I do miss the old days when numbers were smaller and functions were fewer as to me it made attending one even more special(to me anyway)...
But its a sign of the times and some may call it progress so I suppose its something we're stuck with..

I agree, especially with the sentiment over the specialness - but I guess folk (myself included) could bring that back simply by limiting the number of these things we attend and having a certain 'pickiness' over which one's we go to dunno

would guestlists still be full? probably ...... but aquired venues also seem to be getting bigger! 250 people, 300 people, entire fields lol

..... so does that balance out, or are we simply filling places for the sake of it?

21 Dec 2006

Shireen and I do limit which ones we attend due to the money factor and also availability of baby sitters...
I dont think even if we could we would attend a munch a month as then it would make a munch pretty much a routine affair and to my mind that detracts from the specialness of them.

21 Dec 2006

For us (saying us, I book everything, Ian just goes where I tell him), yes, I do think it is getting a bit much confused

I pick the ones we go to by date, whatever we have on in that month and who else is on the guest list, be it people we have not met, or friends we want to see again.
Our biggest problems stem from the cost and the kids. Going away for a Saturday night munch takes up the whole weekend when we have to also pack for the kids to go to my parents. So we could neither afford the time more than every couple of months or get child sitters. Then there is the cost, with 3 kids and me a student it really does stretch our finances some months.
Apart from that, I don't want to go to a munch more than every couple of months, it might ruin the excitement and build up of going. I love the pre-munch excitement, post munch forum postings. If they just rolled from one to the other, I might not have those feelings any more. I think that is what is most important to me personally

21 Dec 2006

While every one who joins the forums is exhorted to 'get yourself known and go to a munch' it would require very large venues to accomodate all who wanted to go if the number of munches and socials was restricted. The answer seems simple ... only go to one or two a year if, for example, three would be too many.

21 Dec 2006

i have found myself all over the country most weekends this year and will certainly be getting more picky about the ones i attend next year more for financial reasons that anything else.
are there too many? i dunno cos i love seeing all my friends and like seeing them often, as there are lots of people on the sites that are friends now, i dont have much of a social life outside of the sites now which is fine for me tbh, i dont really need one.
i guess i started the social/munch thingy when it was already large and regular so never had the 'specialness' you are talking about, and not really sure i'd want it, it sounds a bit selective to me. i dont play with anyone i havent met at a social/munch so for me the more there are the more opportunity i have of meeting people i am compatible with.
just my own opinion
Earthy xx

21 Dec 2006

Ya don't have to go to em all its as simple as that, yep they are advertised and there is a lot of them. However there is a lot of churchs in my home village but I don't feel the need to stick my head in them all come sunday morning.
We have been to a few of these website shin digs now and have recently relooked at which ones we attend and only do so if we feel we will enjoy our selvess. It's not based on cost but more so on fun factor. But one thing to add is as we both work weekends it does use up some of our holiday entitelment whenever we go to one smile

21 Dec 2006

I have been to two munches now and a social and in one month with a meet and two socials i covered 2000 miles (about half thet being for SH fuctions ect) include in that two hotel rooms which can range from £25 (on an 1/2 price offer), which was a good room but no brekie even at full price, to £65 for a well equiped room which i must say i do prefer.
After attending the first much which as it happens was yours Dark lol

i did put my name down more and as it turns out has come to one a month til Feb :shock: lol

After that i am going to try and limit to evry two months or so as my main cravat to doing more at this time is cost.
As a single i dont have other conciderations such as children to find sitters ect but thet would limit it more than it has.
The other issue is the lists for the events ie:- there are people i have met ad munches ect that i have got on ok with so would choose a much they are attending over another then someone else i would like to meet would be at the one i wasnt attending so would be tempted into that aswell lol

.
So for me the larger event will take priority over smaller ones thought thats not exclusive lol

The thing is this time of year is party season so there are bound to be more at this time of the year to choose from.
I think quantity isnt so much the issue but to me the ideal would be to have larger munches as regular fixed events in the SH calendar and make up some formal social event rules similar to munch rules for the smaller or local gatherings ect. This in a way links to Dambusters thread on the difference between socials and munches which at that time caused me som confusion.

21 Dec 2006

Not sure I can comment but I'll let you know after my first munch in Notts :shock: :scared:

21 Dec 2006

Quote by Sassy-Seren
Not sure I can comment but I'll let you know after my first munch in Notts :shock: :scared:

snap

21 Dec 2006

Quote by Dawnie
For us (saying us, I book everything, Ian just goes where I tell him), yes, I do think it is getting a bit much
I pick the ones we go to by date, whatever we have on in that month and who else is on the guest list, be it people we have not met, or friends we want to see again.
Our biggest problems stem from the cost and the kids. Going away for a Saturday night munch takes up the whole weekend when we have to also pack for the kids to go to my parents. So we could neither afford the time more than every couple of months or get child sitters. Then there is the cost, with 3 kids and me a student it really does stretch our finances some months.
Apart from that, I don't want to go to a munch more than every couple of months, it might ruin the excitement and build up of going. I love the pre-munch excitement, post munch forum postings. If they just rolled from one to the other, I might not have those feelings any more. I think that is what is most important to me personally

Then there's the whole hotel room thing. ;) lol

Quote by felixx1416
Not sure I can comment but I'll let you know after my first munch in Notts :shock: :scared:

snap
:twisted:

Quote by Sassy-Seren
Not sure I can comment but I'll let you know after my first munch in Notts :shock: :scared:

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Prepare for addiction you two (oh and I'll see you guys there. biggrin

)

21 Dec 2006

Quote by goose35
I have been to two munches now and a social and in one month with a meet and two socials i covered 2000 miles (about half thet being for SH fuctions ect) include in that two hotel rooms which can range from £25 (on an 1/2 price offer), which was a good room but no brekie even at full price, to £65 for a well equiped room which i must say i do prefer.

Top marks on the hotel reviews from goose, who is quite possibly one half of Mr & Mrs Smith lol

we dont normally care about such details on munch nights all we ask is if they have the following...................Room to get changed, a cockroach free shower, and a bed to shag in and then pass out in when drunk lol

21 Dec 2006

I didnt think I would ever attend any when I joined this site. As I m not in the scene a little part of me felt that I would be taking a space up for someone else who was.
Ive come to love the munches/socials, I have been made more than welcome and met some wonderful people. I do chose certain ones according to finances and whose going. No way would I be able to attend all of them.. and yes, it would take some of the excitement away from it for me as well.
Next year I shall be chosing which one's I go to a little more carefully and for some I wont be around. I for one would miss them if they didnt happen.
It would be great to see one huge valentines munch (or xmas) organised every year... instead of all the different ones (though I do understand why they happen).
xanaisx

21 Dec 2006

I love munches. This year, by the end I will have been to about 17 events. A lot. However, due to monetary commitments I'm going to have to calm it down - a lot. It's gut wrenching as I love seeing people - new and old friends alike. It is supprising how large events get nowadays, although events were large when I started Munching at the beginning of the year.
Munches have become a huge part of my life, but for now its going to have to take a backseat :cry:
What's really annoying too is that I'm not going to be around on SH for a long time either........but I will be back again :twisted:

21 Dec 2006

Quote by earthchild
...
i guess i started the social/munch thingy when it was already large and regular so never had the 'specialness' you are talking about, and not really sure i'd want it, it sounds a bit selective to me. .....

and yet, like me and others in the thread so far, you now say you need to be picky over which ones to attend ......which takes us back to the 'selectiveness' thing dunno

(i have a thing for circles, bear with me lol

)
Dawnie wrote:

I pick the ones we go to by date, whatever we have on in that month and who else is on the guest list, be it people we have not met, or friends we want to see again.

I agree :thumbup: date & guestlist are the deciding factors for me, that, and who's organising it.
Northwest_cpl wrote:

While every one who joins the forums is exhorted to 'get yourself known and go to a munch' it would require very large venues to accomodate all who wanted to go if the number of munches and socials was restricted.

Maybe there's another question in that then? while 'we' encourage people to 'get themselves known'.....as a newbie, does it matter which 'doo' you get to, or not, as long as you get to one dunno

and Anais wrote:

I for one would miss them if they didnt happen.

OMG, yes, me too! :thumbup:

22 Dec 2006

Quote by DeviousLiasons
(saying us, I book everything, Ian just goes where I tell him)

Sorry Dawnie hon, but that just made me think......

Always wondered what you looked like :eeek:
innocent

22 Dec 2006

From 3 weeks after joining this site, all through 2005 and part way through 2006 I was out EVERY wekend except 3 and either munch / social or party.
I met some wonderful people and had some truely wonderful evenings.
I don't have children but the cost per weekend I reckon to have been in the region of 150 to 250.........................
Here is to 2007!!

22 Dec 2006

if you can afford it, and still have the munch bubble feeling, then good on ya Sarah!
biggrin

22 Dec 2006

Quote by Darkfire
...
i guess i started the social/munch thingy when it was already large and regular so never had the 'specialness' you are talking about, and not really sure i'd want it, it sounds a bit selective to me. .....

and yet, like me and others in the thread so far, you now say you need to be picky over which ones to attend ......which takes us back to the 'selectiveness' thing dunno

picky because of finances not selectiveness plus another reason i wont go into on the forums that can make it awkward for us

22 Dec 2006

i Suppose i am old enough on the site to remember the bygone days of when munches were 2 to 3 months apart.. yep and the build up to them was ask exciting as the nights themselves" (and then the feeling of the "munch blues" afterwards!! smile

but for me now it is as much about financial situation as much as the other stuff because of the amount of them.... with me living in the north east it does make sense for me to go to ones closer to me, can i get cheap accom or is someone putting me up, can i get cheap train tickets or can i share a car, ect.... the cheaper the overall cost, the more i can think of possibly attending... health permitting, and other stuff!
I would love to go to more, for example haven't been to a southern or midlands munch in ages but it is logistics and cost as much as everything else,
I remember when one of the common comments was that the northerns would all go down to the southern munches, but the southerners would hardly ever come north....
but with there being more local and regional munches and socials.... i don't think you will get the mix of people that you use to... it is sad but probably the truth....you still probably get a hardcore crowd who will try to get across the country as much as possible....but they become rarer and rarer.....
sean xxxxxxxx

22 Dec 2006

Quote by fabio grooverider
...but with there being more local and regional munches and socials.... i don't think you will get the mix of people that you use to... it is sad but probably the truth....you still probably get a hardcore crowd who will try to get across the country as much as possible....but they become rarer and rarer.....
sean xxxxxxxx

indeed - so, a good thing, or a bad thing? dunno

22 Dec 2006

That's one of the other reasons we just can't always do it.. financially for the next two years with my studying we are very much limited, which is why when we meet someone like this week, its special and will remain special for a long time :high-smile:

23 Dec 2006

Quote by Darkfire
is it getting a bit much?

Did you mean, "Is it getting a bit munch?"
OK, I'll get my coat