Doll Meets - Public or Private?

I have been to one doll owners house after meeting her previously at a pub and it was just the pair of us. I live with the folkes right now so I could not host a meet at my home and it is a little hard to get to.
I would have to meet someone public before attending their home for safety and for comfort.

If no one has arranged something more public why don't you do it? Just decide some where locally and put post up then you can discuss dates and times. I've been to Manchester which was fun and Ive been invited to a bjd tea party which is private by one of the members as I had met them previously.

 

"How do you feel about going to Doll Meets at someone's private home?"
If I didn't know the host(ess) already, or if I wasn't going with someone who did; I probably wouldn't be comfortable going to a gathering at someone's home.

"Would you ever consider hosting a doll meet at your house?"
This one is a "depends" for me. If it was an open door, anybody and their grandma could show up kinda thing, then nope. But if it was an established group of people and everyone was comfortable then yes.

I think I was kinda in the same boat you are...wanting to get together with fellow doll lovers, but have it be in a comfortable, fun, non-nerve working setting. So I decided to ask a few folks I'd been chatting with online, who are all localish, what they thought about having regularly scheduled doll time. I got the "Heck yeah!" I was hoping for and then started looking at the local libraries to see which ones had large enough conference rooms that we could meet in on a regular basis. Scheduled some dates and the rest is history. We just had our 9th meeting week before last.

It really helped that each us knew at least one other person in the group so it wasn't a whole bunch of strangers getting together and hoping that everything would click. I'd been emailing with 2 of them for a couple of years and I was familiar with them from other boards and groups so the comfort level was really high there. And both of them had the same kind of thing going with at least one other person, so we knew before any of us set foot in the library that first time that we were gonna be fine.

We set up a separate online group so we could touch base with each other between meetings, share stories about our newest arrivals, talk about the newest additions to our never ending wishlists and be there for each other with "real life" stuff too.

Our first meeting had 7 members and one hubby who was taggin' along. Our last meeting had 17 members and 3 family members who were tagging along. We've got a family of 4 and a close friend, my son has gradually become a member as well, we have a young couple, a mother-daughter pair and a *fabulous* gentlman up north of us whose become closer to me than my own brother. We come from all walks of life, we collect all kinds of dolls and we have a good time. They're the biggest bunch of enablers I've ever run across, but I love 'em.

I hope you get the chance to join a group or start one 'cause with the right mix of people; they really are fun.

 

I have yet to actually go to any doll meets yet, public or private.

Though quite honestly, I think I would prefer going to a private one. I'm generally not comfortable in a public place where there's going to be a lot of people.

I don't know if I would ever host one at my place or not. All the other doll owners in my state are almost an hour away,so it probably won't happen often. But I think I might be alright inviting a few people.

 

My Girlfriend and I have talked about hosting a doll meet at her house before. I have never been to a meet mostly because where I lived there wasn't a lot of them happening.

 

I think restaurants with private function rooms work best for the comfort levels of people coming by more than anything else. I say that even though I've had folks over (to my folks house, which is the clean one *cough*) myself, and wouldn't hesitate to do so again, since though it was a small group, we had a blast.

If you're doing something like a craft meet, or something with a specific activity, I'd lean toward a home meet unless you have a craft store/bead shop/fabric store with a function space -- some do have those, sometimes free to schedule, sometimes for a small rental fee.

 

The very first doll meet I attended was in a public park. The second, with the same people, was at someone's house. Since then I've gone to many of each kind. I'm gonna be honest, I much prefer meets hosted in private than in a public place (I'm counting individual rented rooms as "private", since they are for all intents and purposes only reserved for and attended by the doll group that day). Public meets are really chaotic, and in my experience, almost always end up with some kind of a mishaps, be it rude and pushy strangers, or some small (but expensive!) part getting lost, or something. If it's being hosted in a public place during an event, I pretty much never go nowadays. I just do not want to bring my doll into that environment.

As for actually going to someone else's home - it's fine as long as there are people there I know. And it's not even because I'm worried for my safety or something like that - I trust myself to be a pretty decent judge of character. It's just that if there's no one I know, I just never know if I'm going to stumble into someone else's group of friends that have very different interests from my own, making the meet not very enjoyable and a bit of a waste of time. At least if there's a group of people I know there, even if the rest of the people are a close-knit group of friends that want to watch romantic anime comedies (the one genre that single-handedly never fails to melt my brain), I'll still have some people to hang out with and talk to.

I've also hosted a couple of meets at my house. One was planned in advance, the other was because it was an outdoor meet that ended up being planned on a day when it was pouring, so I offered my house as the fall-back plan which we ended up having to use. Never had any issues either. Of course, I knew over half of the people that were coming - either in person, or well enough online that I would feel comfortable inviting them over. The rest of the people that I didn't know were friends of the people that I did know, so they could sort of vouch for their behaviour. I didn't post my address and phone in just the public though - I privately sent it to all of the people who expressed interest in attending. I also had a friend of mine help me host the first meet. Overall though, the local doll group, while being rather large, is predominantly made up of very mature and respectful people, so I do not have any qualms about inviting them into my home, even in an open-to-the-public kind of meet. Had I lived elsewhere though, reading some of the stories... I'm not so sure I'd do that everywhere.

 

I don't think I care that much. I've been to one in a public area and I've been to one in a private home. They were both very fun. Though, I'd feel better if it was a close knit group if it was in a private area.

 

I don't think I'd feel very comfortable in someone else's house, especially if it's someone I hardly know. I'd feel pretty awkward. I much prefer public areas.

As for hosting a meet at my place? Well... The house I'm living in isn't my own, my mate and I are still with his parents and younger sister (saves money on bills and stuff) so I'm not really in the position to start inviting random guests over, especially if I don't know those people well. And the house is practically in the middle of nowhere and sooo out of the way for the local group here that it would be inconvenient for them. Admittedly, I'm not sure I'd know what to do as a host anyway... So, no I probably wouldn't do any at my place anytime soon.

In all, I like public areas. Partly because I feel more comfortable that way, and honestly we get the added bonus of spreading the word of bjd's to those not in the hobby. Part of the fun is having other people come up and ask questions about them, and if we're lucky we've converted another to the bjd-side.

 

I'd rather keep things less serious by having them in a public place. I've never gone to a meet yet, but I'd rather come upon a meet up happening in my local mall, park, or generally big open space rather than planning to go to someone's house.

How do you feel about going to Doll Meets at someone's private home?
If it was a friend of mine, and I've been to their house before, I have no qualms about going to their house. If it was someone I didn't know, I'd probably pass it up. I don't want to be the first person (or only person) to arrive there, and have to make semi-awkward conversation with them. At least in a place like a mall or a park, I can just walk buy - looking like a casual observer - before bringing my dolls out, just to see how things look or how things are going. If I go to someone's house, chances are I have to stay there even if things aren't going too well.

Would you ever consider hosting a doll meet at your house?
That would just be the biggest disaster waiting to happen. I don't see how I could relax with people who I might have never met before. I'd be too focused on knowing where everyone is, and making sure they're not doing things they shouldn't be. I don't know these people, so I don't know how they behave.

 

You're welcome. It helps that you collect a wide range of dolls. That'll open up all kinds of possibilities when it comes to groups to check out. Keepin' my fingers crossed for ya.

 

I would go to a private home. I think that's actually a better idea. You don't have to worry about loitering, it is mostly doll people or families of doll people, no random rude strangers making comments or wild children grabbing at the dolls, no security telling you to move, no pressure to buy something or get out.

I have hosted a doll meet in my home, but it was with doll people I had known online or in person for several months or more, though two of them, I had not met in person before the meet. We had a blast! Basically, I would say keep an eye on your dolls, don't have too many people crowding in small spaces and close doors to rooms you don't want guests in. My house is two story, bedrooms up stairs, den, dining and kitchen down stairs. It would be easy to have a doll meet downstairs, and anything I was afraid of "disappearing" I could take upstairs and leave in my bedroom.

If you are worried about theft, don't take more dolls than you can comfortably watch at all times. If you are hosting at home, either keep dolls you are not playing with or showing off put away, or do random quick head counts to make sure nobody is missing...especially before your guests leave.

 

I've attended private and public meets, and I've hosted lots of private meets at my home.

How do you feel about going to Doll Meets at someone's private home?
I wouldn't mind, though I would feel more comfortable if I had met this person before the meet.

Would you ever consider hosting a doll meet at your house?
Of course!

In our little group meets tend to work like this:

Some kind of customization (painting, modding, etc) or a truly private party = private
Photography only = public. Favorite public places include parks and coffee shops like Borders and Panera Bread.

Both options have their downsides. Public places often cost money, and theft can happen at private meets. But both options have their upsides too. Any type of meet can have hilarious results. In the end I would suggest going with your gut. Do whatever you feel comfortable doing.

 

I must say , I have never been to a meet before , but I plan to do so when it will be possible.
How do you feel about going to Doll Meets at someone's private home?
Knowing my shy self , I would most likely feel uncomfortable unless I know the person I`m going to . It would be woerd , at least to me , to just show up at someone`s hous , without ever meeting that person before .
But if it would be a meet consisting of a smaller number of people , that I had at least had contact with on the internets , then I might feel better about it .
Would you ever consider hosting a doll meet at your house?
Most definetly ! Even though I might be uncomfortable going at someone`s house , I`d be super okay with hosting a meet at my own place , even if I don`t know everybody so well. Because , well , my house is mine , and I don`t fear of braking anything , or offending anyone , or doing something wrong .