CanJam '09

Its an International meeting, and hence I think its time for it to be held outside the US.
Three (3) US meetings in a row is enough...

Next year I hope for an International Head-Fi meeting somewhere in Europe.

Why not hold a poll with various cites/places (both US and non US)?

I nominate Chicago for one possible place

Bring it Down Under!

Is that fair?
Because you americans are in a clear lead when it comes to forum members, and hence would "win" any poll over us Europeans, Asians, ...

I nominate Amsterdam.

For a city outside the USA, I'd like to see a Canadian contingent step up, like Vancouver or Toronto, perhaps.

BUT.


I think the city in question, regardless of location needs to show they have the stuff to organize a large meet successfully first.

-Ed

With all due respect krmathis, before there can be a National/International meet I think the European community needs to show that they can hold a large regional meet (like the SoCal, Norcal, NYC meets). Requirement #1 for the (inter)National Meet is sufficient attendance. There are multiple locations in the US that can and have pulled off medium to large (50 to 75) member meets regularly, that's going to be hard to compete with as far as momentum goes. Requirement #2 is vendors. Large scale meets cost serious money to put on. I'm betting you'd be hard pressed to assemble the type of man'f support that we can in the US and again I think showing that the community in that area can do a large regional meet would be a good first step towards attracting vendors to an international meet. Is that unfair? I don't feel qualified to judge, but it's my 2¢.

Also, given the current economic climate I think that next year's meet more than ever may need to happen in a region that has a heavy local head-fi population and one that facilitates easy travel for both vendors and members. Even if that means a repeat or similar location.

Nate just said much of my 2¢, but I would add that the third requirement is enough dedicated core members that will commit to working their European butts off to make a meet come together. There is also the question of location even within the EU. The Spain, Netherlands, Italy and UK contingents get together occasionally but where would all of those people want to hold a meet? Would some people of each group be involved? How would they coordinate vendor/press/member participation? The cost of these meets is substantial and the vendors primarily foot the bill, but the fact is that vendors will not take a risk on a small turnout and it would be very difficult for US vendors to bring a real demo to the EU.

I'd LOVE for this to happen, and have dreams of attending meets in all three of the above locales some day, but much more groundwork would have to be laid before it could happen. As I said in another thread, more non-US folks need to make the trip to the [Inter]National meets to build momentum and support for having one outside the US -- even in Canada, although that would be the easiest "international" location of all.

The time differences make some of this difficult, but JP#s suggested that we just do a coordinated international meet weekend. The US, EU, Canadian, Asian, etc, meets could all take place over one weekend, but that would mean some people would have to choose which one to attend and some vendors might be caught up in that same choice.

For now, how about we just commit to get as many people as possible to commit to wherever the next International Head-Fi Meet is held? We can plan for non-US events together in person.

Chicago has something that's better in structure already, only difference is the fancy and impressive word "national" is not attached.
neither is the ******** that comes with the word. its also just in it's infant stages now but in the future (2009+ maybe?) it should be well known in the community and have a decent following from peeps outside of the area.

IMO (and only my opinion here) i say let other places take the impressive word in the title and just offer any and all help those people might need along the way.


speaking of which there is an interest check for a certain Nov 8th event already going in the meet lounge....


talk about a plug...

Billy, I love you man but why do you even want to make your meet a huge thing? Just hold local meets, make them great, and deal with the success when it comes. As of right now, the general participation of the Chicago crew itself is rather slow, which doesn't earn you a great reputation for a fun place to meet.

In Florida we've always been ready and willing for a meet, anytime and anywhere, and that's how we've gained all these honoraries from around the country and beyond. We learned how to throw a huge party through all the smaller ones before it. Again a National meet has a solid first requirement of a decent local crew.

Good point Billy, but I'm just excited because the biggest meet I have been to is the "mini"-meet last month.

I'm down with a Toronto international and I'd be more than happy to dedicate my time to making it happen. I think we showed our chops pretty darn well at last year's event.

But!

To be honest, I would presume we're a few years away from anything outside of the 'States. The vast majority of users are in the US, there's probably more US vendor support overall (US independents and European/Asian companies with N.A. distribution channels) and otherwise, the event is still effectively in its infancy. Even just north of the border, we're talking about some pretty serious logistical issues with regard to commercial entities shipping their gear up for the meet, let alone members sending their beloved rigs up where the scrutinous and not-always gentle hands of the friendly customs officers have free reign.

I personally see a much brighter future in the coordinated national meet idea. Working with our own countries' members and coordinated with global vendor support (loaners, reps heading out to the various locations, etc.), plus a kick ass member-based organizing committee (like we saw this year) heading each event, it could really be something else.

There's always the thought that someone might choose one party over the other, of course, but if it were truly a coordinated main event spread across satellite locations and executed with consistent care, we're starting to talk about something truly epic!

Gahd, my gears are turning now....................

HAHA looks like time for another chi meet, i will host we just need a place...
nice meeting you at the last one, Chicago has been good with meets lately seems like more and more of them coming more often these days...that's always a great thing.

if OR when i move above my bar i think a meet once a month is due, it would be like a required neighborhood caps meeting i go to only less old ladies and better cans..WAIT..

Its not that Chicago is slow but instead were just busy either starting families or working all the time. Florida has lots of older peeps that have already been down that road and Cali has lots of college age peeps that have not started the trip of life yet. more and more Chicago peeps are doing the meets these days so thats a great sign and with the ChiUniFi we all will get into a group team thing over time.

i agree with you about having smaller meets fully!


then again this is just my opinion and not like a speak for an Entire City of Pizza and hot dogs or anything...

anyway back to the topic