I've seen posts for gatherings in Northern Cali, and in Chicago and was wondering if anything like that ever happens on the east coast. I'd love the chance to meet with and pick some of the more experienced brains out there in person. :D

Dan, don't be fooled by important-sounding threads like Official Chicago Gathering Thread you may see on this site. "Gatherings" are completely casual and unofficial get-togethers that members simply decide to do.

There's no regimented protocol that the organizers need to adhere to, no permission slips from your mom required, and most of all, no set dates that are used on a regular basis...

When I started the Chicago Gathering some years back, at the time it was only because I wanted to get the heck out of Central Florida for a weekend, knew a couple of members up in that area, and thought it would be a cool city to visit for the first time.

To answer your question, yes, there have been some really nice East Coast Gatherings in recent years. Browse the Community Events Forum archives to get an idea of who met up where:

http://forums.photographyreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=40

Organizing your own Gathering is simple. Just start a thread floating the place and time of year you might want to meet, and see who else is interested. Then just massage things around until you have a working plan.

Half of this stuff we just make up on the fly anywhay... :cool:

Half of this stuff we just make up on the fly anywhay... :cool:
Half? That's optimistic! :D

Steve's right, the "official" Chicago wasn't meant to be formal; I just wanted to try to keep it all in one thread. Airfare in and out of Chicago is usually pretty inexpensive (although the hotels in the River North area aren't...). If you have any interest, we'd be glad to have you! Gatherings can be as thoroughly planned or not, as you want. Rebekah raised the stakes with San Francisco a while back, but Chicago has always been pretty laid back.

Steve, I didn't know you were the one who started the Chicago Gathering. I guess I always assumed it was Sebastian. See you in a few weeks!

Steve, I didn't know you were the one who started the Chicago Gathering. I guess I always assumed it was Sebastian. See you in a few weeks!

Sebastian?!? He's only the puppet. I pull the strings... ;)

Just kiddin' Seb... :D

Thanks for the replies.

I could tell they were informal and things like Official Chicago... were being done tongue-in-cheek. I was just wondering about something similar a little more local and trying to get a feel for how often this kinda thing happens.

An interest...definitely. Time, sadly no. :( The committee I work for in the Senate is investigating FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina. Gonna be busy for a while with that.

Thanks for the replies.

I could tell they were informal and things like Official Chicago... were being done tongue-in-cheek. I was just wondering about something similar a little more local and trying to get a feel for how often this kinda thing happens.

An interest...definitely. Time, sadly no. :( The committee I work for in the Senate is investigating FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina. Gonna be busy for a while with that.

Good luck in that investigation! I know some truckers who sat three days in southern Indiana just waiting to get loaded, all kinds of hassels. One got loaded, sent to three different areas and then sent home.... fully loaded! Then the "ice" fiasco, where a truck started in the midwest, got down south loaded with ice, and wound up in something like NE... brilliant move! Heck, I could have done better than the guy they had in charge. The best thing they could do is put the Navy in charge, they are used to moving huge amounts of stuff on a moments notice, and have the tactical ability to do it right and fast.

Check this link (http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/102005HrgExhibits.pdf) to the exhibits from our last hearing. The emails are from the one FEMA staffer that was on the ground in New Orleans and trying to relay info up the chain, but no one seemed to be listening.

Watch out for Phoenix Gathering in Fall '06 ;)

Rick