Where does your Doll Meetup Meet?

Meetups out here in SoCal are all over the place with different kinds of Meetups and different areas and different groups!

This year: Park, park, park, rented meeting space, convention panel room, convention panel room, apartment/home, park, doll con in rented space, park.

Previously: Restaurants (usually special space for groups), Tea Room (also specially reserved), Restaurant/Snack place--just met there without any restaurant involvement, potlucks at homes, Lobby or hotel rooms for cons, Disneyland, Downtown Disney (although the hotel there didn't like us taking up space in the lobby where none of us were registered), Gardens (although they didn't like us crowding some areas).

Pretty much you can meet anywhere where you wish, as long as there is enough space and you won't annoy others with a whole group of dolls and folks camping out there. You might want to think about security--as in it not being in a very public spot where people can walk off with doll carriers or even dolls that no one is keeping an eye on... AND you might want there to be a safe place to display dolls--a table or shelf somewhere--not on a restaurant table with food or where they can be knocked over.

That's about it, really. Points for new and fun places to meet.

 

I've been to a few meets at conventions, restaurants (small, local places, with private rooms reserved for us), one at a cosplay picnic, and another at someone's house. We didn't originally plan on going to someone's actual home, but it ended up being just a few of us, and we all knew each other pretty well, so we felt okay with it. Not having to worry about something going missing or just being super awkward is a good thing

 

We don't have one location per se - our "group" is very small (5 people), so we usually take it in turns to meet at someone's place, usually one of the Hamburg folks, I'm in the country so it's quite a ride for them to get to my place. We've met at a restaurant once, it was kind of limiting to what/how much we could bring along and do (imagine re-stringing an SD in public ... ) but we had a lot of fun watching other people's reactions to our dolls For a new group I'd suggest finding a café or restaurant that doesn't mind a well-behaved group of people sticking around for a couple hours.

 

I host meetups in my house 4 times a year. I understand that opening up one's home isn't ideal for everyone, but it works for me. I take certain precautions like locking all the doors to areas that aren't part of the meet, and there is always someone in the room keeping an eye on things. Really, though, everyone is quite careful of my belongings and home and is even good about cleaning up trash and the like.

It's worth it to me because you can do a lot more in a home than in most other settings like a restaurant or park. You can have lots of room for lots of dolls, instead of just one or two. You can have a longer meet (mine are usually around 8 hours). I also really love having a doll hospital/modding station, which I could never do anywhere else. I think it's worth it if you have the right home!

 

Mitsuwa Market is where my meet up group usually goes, but there's also a few cons, (last year we did KaroshiKon, which was my first meet up AND convention which made it double special) and one meet up was at someone's house (it was a lot of fun, we got to sell stuff, meet people, talk and eat a lot of delicious food) but at Mitsuwa we do wait until after three, that's actually the rule of the place..XD They don't mind us there long as we're not interfering with the lunch rush. Usually me and my mom go early so we can eat, and afterwards walk around a bit before heading to the back....And usually claim a few tables in the name of dolls.

 

Let's see, we've done...

-The private room at the public library, which can be reserved for various types of club meetings
-Restaurant meets
-Teahouse (a staple)
-private residence
-The reservable 'classroom' in the back of a Super JoAnn's (dangerous, because of course then your dolls want you to buy fabric for clothes, or tiny stuffed animals, or jewelry boxes that look like tiny dressers... but fun!)

I've never been to a park meet myself but weather permitting and with a good source of shade I suppose I wouldn't mind... (I just burn pretty much immediately)

 

My favorite place to meet is at a cafe/coffee house type of place. There's food if people get hungry but you don't have to buy anything if you don't want to. Restaurants usually want you to buy food if you're using one of their tables. They also probably don't want you to hang around for too long so that they can use your table to get more customers in. Little cafes/coffee houses usually don't mind people hanging around for a long time (as long as you ask permission if you have a big group).

Meeting at someone's house could work out too but it might be hard to get new members for your meet-up group. Some people feel weird (like me) about meeting at someone's house you don't know. Meeting at someone's house tends to work better when you all already know each other.

I've never thought about meeting at a library before... That sounds like a good idea. They only problem I can see with it is that you wouldn't be able to eat in there if you plan a meet-up around lunch/dinner time. But you can solve that problem by eating before having the meet-up. Maybe everyone could go out to eat together beforehand and then spend time at the library with their dolls. That could be fun.

Having outdoor meet-ups are fun now and then but can be difficult on a regular basis because of weather. If it rains then you'd probably have to cancel your meet-up.

 

I've been to a few meetups at a Japanese garden around here, if you have a place like that or another kind of garden I think that's a good place
It's a pretty place to take photos and such

 

Summer + awesome weather= outside! In winter though, its usually smaller meets in coffee shops and restaurants.

 

Another thing for the home hosted meet ups to consider are allergies to things like cats or dogs. I was able to attend a meet up at a person's house who had two dogs and didn't have any problems but cats are a no go for me. I can't psychically handle cat dander. (Last two dolls I got that came from a cat friendly home had to be wiped down even to the joints)

 

We have a very large and active local group where we meet every other month or so. It's usually either at someones home or at a cafe where we inevitably take up a ton of space and turn some heads XD

 

We mostly meet at a public park or garden where we can make a small picnic on a field.

 

All over the place! There are meetups quite frequently in Melbourne. We have had quite a few winter meets at the Pancake Parlour in the city as it's easy to get to and they give us a whole section and we stay for hours. Hey who could resist pancakes and dolls? We also have meets at local doll markets and large conventions and in good weather in parks. Anywhere with a bit of space, some shade if needed and we byo munchies

 

I've only been to two meetups thus far (and a third tomorrow!) and the first was at a gorgeous Victorian tea room, and the second in a beautiful garden outside of a Victorian heritage building (hmm...starting to see a theme here). I really like outdoor meets. If I did not live out in the suburbs, I would love to host a meet at my house and have a traditional Victorian dinner in my dining room. I just don't want to burden people who live in the city

 

Quite a few of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) meets take place outside during the summer on the grounds of an historic building or sometimes on the provincial parliamentary grounds. They're both free spaces although you do have to contend with sometimes less than stellar weather, curious people and the occasional aggressive squirrel demanding food. Indoor meets usually happen at a particular mall in the food court or bubble tea shop and we've had a member generously reserve the party room of her building several times. Because the GTA group covers a good sized geographical area (approximately a 150km radius), we try and choose places that are fairly easy for everybody to get to regardless of where they're coming from (i.e. downtown Toronto).

 

In Arizona, it's essential we stick to the indoors during the summer months to protect dollies and people, but during the winter we go out all the time. Our group is growing so fast, it's really hard to find locations now!

Here's a list of some of the places we've been...

-People's homes
-Parks/Gardens
-Rec Centers that have rentable rooms
-Conventions
-A tea house