c4countdown

Please read all of this post before voting!
Edit: If you can do both dates, but can't do may, please say so! (I meant to add this as an option, but for some reason decided not to, sorry.)

A rather alarming amount of progress has been made.

Thanks to a tip-off from Phil Collinge, I have visited a Mystery Pub in London (easily reachable from King's Cross station). They have a function room upstairs, which they seem happy for us to occupy for a Saturday. All that remains is for me to pick a date, which is where I thought I'd do some more market research.

As you can see, the options are 24 April, or 20 March. The series 62 finals are scheduled for 27/28 April - this is subject to change, but this is the main reason I've offered the earlier date as well. Of course, the problem with the March date is that it may be too short notice for people, and so there are some other, more vague options. (Obviously the options aren't meant to be exclusive, so feel free to comment with thoughts.)

Please only vote if you're fairly confident you'd want to come - I'm not asking for definite yes/no yet, but I can give the following details to help you decide if this one isn't for you:

- Due to the pub not opening until 12, we'll be aiming to kick off at 1pm, and finish by around 6pm. This might seem like a short period of time, but because we won't need a long lunch break, I'm pretty confident we can get a good amount of Countdowning done (cf. CoLin 2009 where the 'main' rounds started at 12.40 and finished at 5.10). I anticipate having some sort of exhibition or warm up games from 12.30 for the people who turn up early.
- The format will most likely be 'CoLin' style. 9 rounders with 3 to a table, 2 playing 1 hosting.
- I haven't decided precisely what the entry fee will be, but it will probably be about £5.
- Children: The pub said under-18s are fine as long as they are accompanied by a parent/guardian. If you've got any questions about this feel free to drop me a PM.
- Food: I would hope the timetabling makes this a non-issue. Starting at 1 means people can eat lunch before they arrive, and we'll be finished by dinnertime. There are also the usual pub snacks to tide you over. (The pub doesn't serve 'proper' meals on a Saturday, for some reason.).

Please try and give me your thoughts on this over the next couple of days, I'll need to call the pub to confirm the dates are still available.

I definitely can't do April 24, due to other commitments, but I would love to come down on March 20. Sounds like it could be absolutely good fun.
Although, I don't mind May either.

Speaking for both myself and Supee, we definitely cannot attend 20th March.

24th April is possible but potentially awkward due to work, but any Saturday after 1st May would not be a problem at all.

I have, therefore, voted option (d) in the poll.

I am definitely up for this but not on the 20th March. Any other day I'm in.

20th March doesn't work for me due to Scrabbly commitments but otherwise I'll be there.

I could do March 20th or May (depending on dates). Sounds promising, I'll watch developments with interest!

'sup dudes. I'm bumping this because I would like a bit more feedback if possible, before I finally commit to a date and start trying to make people give me money.

Would be very happy to attend - whatever date you decide on!

Jeff

I've put that I could attend on either date.
However, IMHO May would be better, to spread out these events, and mean that those attending Scrabbly things and the series finals would hopefully be able to attend.

I can make 20th Mar, but not 24th Apr. Any time from May onwards should also be fine.

Paul Howe wrote:I can make 20th Mar, but not 24th Apr. Any time from May onwards should also be fine.

24th April it is then, sorted.

Oh yeah, did I mention the venue has 2 dart boards?

Michael Wallace wrote:Oh yeah, did I mention the venue has 2 dart boards?

cimping...

I'd love to attend, whatever date you choose.

Ah, crap. I've just been reminded that I'm busy on April 24th. It's either March 20th or May for me. I need to get a diary.

Martin Bishop wrote:I'd love to attend, whatever date you choose.

IAWTP

If you opt for April 24th, the London marathon is on April 25th, so most of the hotels will have been booked up for the evening of 24th - (I'm running it and have tried to book a cheap hotel without success), should anyone be planning to stay over. I don't know if this would cause problems or not, but thought it was worth a mention.

Thanks for all the input guys, given that no-one has come along and said "oh I can't do May", and you've all come up with good reasons for the two proposed dates being bad, I'm going to pick a Saturday in May and hopefully go from there. Watch this space...

oh I can't do May

(srsly if it's the half-term week, I can't)

I can't do 1st May.

Kirk Bevins wrote:I can't do 1st May.

It wouldn't be the 1st, bank holiday weekends are a pretty big no-no.

Jimmy Gough wrote:oh I can't do May

(srsly if it's the half-term week, I can't)

When's that?

Michael Wallace wrote:

Jimmy Gough wrote:oh I can't do May

(srsly if it's the half-term week, I can't)

When's that?

Very end of the month, i.e. 29th May (and 5th June, but June isn't in May).

Hugh Binnie wrote:Very end of the month, i.e. 29th May (and 5th June, but June isn't in May).

Cheers (Jimmy told me on MSN anyway, but I still appreciate the fact someone took the time to reply).

CoLon should be the ultimate showdown: THEM v US. Come on, you know who you are. LET'S FUCKING HAVE IT.

Jon Corby wrote:CoLon should be the ultimate showdown: THEM v US. Come on, you know who you are. LET'S FUCKING HAVE IT.

Would that be north v south, men v women or media friendly v Countdown robots.

Marc Meakin wrote:media friendly v Countdown robots.

I really hope this is the plot of Terminator 5.

I can't really do May. pretty much anytime in April would be great. Or can do July if that gives people more time to sort things out? Will come if I can, don't forget exam period is May/June for us studenty people.

Anna Woodward wrote:I can't really do May. pretty much anytime in April would be great. Or can do July if that gives people more time to sort things out? Will come if I can, don't forget exam period is May/June for us studenty people.

Yeah, I was concerned about May myself, but it seems very few of the interested parties are sufficiently studenty types for it to matter, and there are enough problems with the other options that it seems to be the least bad option.

I'll be making a post soonish with a confirmed date, more details of the event, etc.

I can't do May. Unless it is a weekday.

Would be lulz if there was someone on the forum called May.

Jimmy Gough wrote:Would be lulz if there was someone on the forum called May.

Haha, I only just paid attention to this. And thoroughly enjoyed it.

Speaking of this thread, almost everything is set up. Keep an eye out for a special announcement next week (hopefully Tuesday).

Cool. Fair play Michael. Looking forward to finding out the date. Have interest, will travel.

Michael Wallace wrote:Speaking of this thread, almost everything is set up. Keep an eye out for a special announcement next week (hopefully Tuesday).

Michael Wallace wrote:Speaking of this thread, almost everything is set up. Keep an eye out for a special announcement next week (hopefully Tuesday).

Maybe not Tuesday after all then? Still a few hours left though.
This looks like being a good event, I hope you choose a date when I can go. Not sure May would be the best month for me, but it seems I'm in a minority. Oh well. I await with baited breath the date announcement.

Neil Zussman wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:Speaking of this thread, almost everything is set up. Keep an eye out for a special announcement next week (hopefully Tuesday).

Maybe not Tuesday after all then? Still a few hours left though.
This looks like being a good event, I hope you choose a date when I can go. Not sure May would be the best month for me, but it seems I'm in a minority. Oh well. I await with baited breath the date announcement.

Yeah, technical problems have been occurring...

However, I can exclusively reveal that the date for Co:Lon will be May 22nd so people should put that date in their diaries. I'll hopefully have the website up with all the details ASAP.

Nice to see you around again Neil.

My attendance will probably depend on whether I can combine it with a visit to friends in London or Brighton.Will see what I can do....

If Leicester get to the play off final, i will be at wembley. If we don't I will be at CoLon. Either way I will be in our grand nation's capital

Michael Wallace wrote: I can exclusively reveal that the date for Co:Lon will be May 22nd

Looking forward to it already!
Thanks for taking on the task of organising this.

I might be interested in this as living in Bristol, London is much easier to get to than the various other places these events are held at. My brother also lives in London and I have several friends at UCL and Imperial so could probably make a long weekend of it.

However I'm currently out of the country and will be until early-mid May and am only on the forum after booking some computer time and finding that Facebook and BBC didn't work so don't reserve me a place if there is likely to be more interest than places.

If your current choice of venue doesn't work out you could try this place http://www.thehideawaybar.co.uk/

Michael Wallace wrote:

Neil Zussman wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:Speaking of this thread, almost everything is set up. Keep an eye out for a special announcement next week (hopefully Tuesday).

Maybe not Tuesday after all then? Still a few hours left though.
This looks like being a good event, I hope you choose a date when I can go. Not sure May would be the best month for me, but it seems I'm in a minority. Oh well. I await with baited breath the date announcement.

Yeah, technical problems have been occurring...

However, I can exclusively reveal that the date for Co:Lon will be May 22nd so people should put that date in their diaries. I'll hopefully have the website up with all the details ASAP.

Good stuff, I might actually be available on that date. I hope these Co events are as fun as you guys make them out to be! I'm sure it'll live up to the hype.

Ralph Gillions wrote:Nice to see you around again Neil.

Thanks Ralph. I'm supposed to be revising, so I thought to myself, what better time to procrastinate on the countdown forums again!

Me and Badcock are going to Co:Lon (if she gets some more votes on the hot contestant poll)

Michael Wallace wrote:

Neil Zussman wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:Speaking of this thread, almost everything is set up. Keep an eye out for a special announcement next week (hopefully Tuesday).

Maybe not Tuesday after all then? Still a few hours left though.
This looks like being a good event, I hope you choose a date when I can go. Not sure May would be the best month for me, but it seems I'm in a minority. Oh well. I await with baited breath the date announcement.

Yeah, technical problems have been occurring...

However, I can exclusively reveal that the date for Co:Lon will be May 22nd so people should put that date in their diaries. I'll hopefully have the website up with all the details ASAP.

It's been nearly 5 days, Michael. Are we any closer to finalising the whole thing