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Bloggers' Crafting Weekend 2013 - Errr....

 

A Confession....

 

Erm, I have a confession to make.  In my last Post about the Bloggers' Weekend, I said we had 16 people coming and the bookings are full.

 

So, let's try again. 

 

I messed up and so, there are in fact, 17 people coming....  I had accepted 16 Confirmations (not including me).  But I forgot to add that vital Name to "The List of Who is Going". 

 

I have this super-dooper spreadsheet on my computer, where I am keeping track.  I have a sheet of "People", where I have all enquirers, previous attendees etc, listed by name, with blog names, e-mail address, approx location in the world, which dates they were free, whether they said they could come....

And I have "The List" on a separate sheet, with name, if they have paid (and how much, just to be sure), whether they offered to do a demo/workshop, any specific job they would do, have a food allergy or dislike, if they preferred to self-cater for dinner, or get the YHA to do it, wanted a lift share if possible... 

 

See? I was being Very Organised.

 

Only... with all the Blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting, Texting and E-mailing... I forgot to add someone's name to that all-important List.  So, when she contacted me to remind me she needed my paypal address, for her payment.... Panic ensued (well I ought to say "confusion" actually, as I didn't panic really - just sat scratching my fuzzy duh-brained head). 

 

I can't say "No you can't come now, because I gave your place to someone else, even though you confirmed you were coming", can I?  I felt mean having to turn away genuine "latecomers"...

 

So, we are now 17 people. 

 

And now, we really are Full Up!

 

* * *

Bloggers' Crafting Weekend 2013 - The Latest News

 

Soooo, we are Going!  The Crafting Weekend is booked and people have confirmed their places!

 

That is the Good News.

 

The less good news (bad news for some), is that we have now reached our "Max" of 16 people. 

 

We want it to be a smallish and friendly group; also the hostel is not huge, even though it officially "sleeps" 30.  The sitting room doesn't hold all those guests at once and we need space in the dining room, for scrapping and crafts, as well as eating. 

 

I am sad to have to turn people away - sorry if it is you.  However, I will keep a "Waiting List", in case anyone drops out.  Let me know if you would like to be added to that list. 

 

* * *

Current Plans and News

 

Facebook:

The Group has set up a Facebook Group, for all who are coming along, or interested in attending.  If you are on Facebook, you can find me ("Liz Gillum"), Ruth ("Ruth Sim") or K. ("Kirsty Frisby") and ask to be added to the group.  You'll be welcome to join in the chat and waffle.

 

Some Plans have been made and ideas discussed:

For instance, the general consenus on meals, was that we will pay the YHA to make our dinners for us, but we'll organise our own breakfasts, lunches and snacks.  Last year we had B&B plus evening meal, at the Coalport hostel.  We were given very nice dinners - three courses, plus salad - for a really reasonable charge (under £10).  

The charge this time has yet to be confirmed, but it will be somewhere around £10-£12 per dinner, I believe.   I have collected people's booking fees, but not the dinner cost, so I'll contact everyone soon, with a price for this. 

 

Jobs: 

We are going to have a Jobs List and share out some of the organisation.  Last year, I did much of it myself and was suitably shattered by the time the Weekend came round!  This year, as I have a lot less spare time, I am roping in other people.  Some offers have been made, to help with various things. I will go through these soon and get in touch.  Those people will co-ordinate one of a number of things, such as organising food for specific meals, sorting out lifts to or from the coach / bus / rail stations (if needed) etc etc... 

 

Workshops & Demos:

Some people have offered to do demos or mini-workshops, in areas of crafting that interest them.  I'll go into more detail soon. 

We will also have "Ruth's Challenge" again this time.  I'll leave it for Ruth to elaborate at some future date!

A few people have asked if I'll do something related to bookbinding - I'm thinking about this; if you have particular needs/ wants for this, do let me know and I will think about that too! 

At this point, that's as far as things have got.  More planning will be done, more ideas thought up and talked about, more cakes and cookies promised (!).... But it's early days yet.  I would like to have the money side of things organised fairly soon, since our pocket money will soon be tied up in our Christmas Shopping plans.  Otherwise, we have plenty of time to get ourselves organised (not that I plan on dawdling).

I will try to sort out "Jobs" quite soon, so we have an idea of what needs to be done and who is responsible for making sure it happens (ie. who to blame...he hee hee...).  
The rest will probably just come together gradually.

I am so pleased we've been able to get this organised.  I am sorry if you have missed out, either because the date wasn't suitable, or because you were too late to snag a place.   I'm hoping that we will organise another Weekend in 2013 - perhaps in October or November.  I'll keep half an eye open for a good venue and let you know if I come up with anything good. 

Looking forward to meeting up with my Blog friends - old and new!

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Bloggers' Crafting Weekend - You Are Invited...

 

* * *

 

Dear Blog Friends,  

You are invited to the new, re-organised Bloggers' Crafting Weekend!

 

* * *

 

The Basic Information

When? Friday 1st March 2013 (4:30pm onwards) to Sunday 3rd March (1:30pm)

 

Where? YHA Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire (close to M1, rail links and coach station).

 

Details?

• We will have the Whole House to ourselves.
• It's a small hostel, with 5 bedrooms. There are also a kitchen, dining room and sitting room. We'd have it to ourselves from Friday to Sunday, meaning we could arrange our weekend (and the furniture!) pretty much as we chose.

 

How Much?

• Assuming a minimum of 10 people came along, the basic cost will be £65 per person, for two nights, hostel hire / bed only. 
• If more than 10 come along (sleeping in), then this would lower the cost and a proportion of your payment will be refunded to anyone who pays up-front to secure their place. 
   
• If we choose to, we can have our breakfasts and/or dinners provided for us by hostel staff. This would cost about £15-£40, depending on what options we choose.  

• Day-only visitors will be asked for a contribution towards the hire of the hostel, since we are renting the whole building for the weekend.  Obviously, you wouldn't be using all facilities, so a small charge to chip in seems fair.  I think £5 per day is ok, unless anyone objects?

Transport?

• The Hostel is at Bradwell Village, on the outskirts of Milton Keynes, just on the edge of the city and countryside (see the website for a link to a downloadable local map).
• It is very near to the main A5 road and not far from M1 Junction 14.
• It is close to MK Central Rail Station (about 1 & 1/2 miles).
• There is a Coach station in the city centre also, which is served by many national coach routes.
• The city also has good bus services that pass through Bradwell Village and stop just round the corner from the hostel.

 

We may be able to organise some activities, like we did at last year's Weekend. If you would like to volunteer to demonstrate/teach some craft or technique that you enjoy doing, then do shout (I have had a volunteer already!)

Catering

• Last year we brought along food to have at lunchtimes, plus tea, coffee, snacks, cake (!) etc. This will also be the plan for this time, as it worked very well and was much more sociable and nice than having YHA sandwich boxes!
• I would like someone else to organise that part for me, as I will not have time (list of Jobs below!) 

We need to decide whether to arrange our own breakfasts and/or dinners, or to book these from the YHA staff.

• I recommend that we organise breakfasts amongst ourselves (volunteer needed - list of Jobs below!)  Cereal, toast and/or muffins, crumpets, croissants are not hard to sort out... We'd almost certainly have lots of snacks and plenty of lunch and dinner, so a huge breakfast wouldn't be needed!
• Dinners could also be done by ourselves. We could have a "Dinner Co-ordinator" and some people could be "assigned" as Dinner Providers, then discuss and agree the menu with the Co-ordinator. 
• The alternative is to ask YHA staff to cook for us - this would cost around £10 per dinner and would be 3 courses, with soup, a choice of main course, salad bar and choice of desserts.  I would still want a person to co-ordinate this with everyone, collecting the menu choices and letting me know (or the hostel maybe) a few days beforehand.  I would collect the money for dinners, via Paypal, as for the booking (and would confirm the cost!)

We need your opinions about meals.  Please would you tell me what you think - either via comments, or on the e-mail you write me, when booking your place!  We'll go with the majority, to be democratic (though if you decide to opt out and go for a burger, we won't stop you!)

 

* * *

If you want to come along:

• There are 15 "sleeping over" places. 
•  
• I am assuming we'll have 10 people for now, but if more of you do book, then I will refund your overpayment (however, I will probably wait until we have a firm, confirmed number of people, before refunding anyone, so I only have to do it once).   I won't be making a profit from you, I promise.
• Therefore, I'm asking you to pay me £65 to secure your place. It would be best if you could send me the money via Paypal (easier to keep track of the money, quicker etc). If this is a big problem, let me know! 

 

How to Book:

Please E-Mail Me, to confirm you want to come.  Also:  

  

• In your e-mail, would you also tell me if you prefer to order your dinner from the Hostel Staff, or for us to organise all meals ourselves?
• Important - If you have a food allergy or do not eat a particular food, for whatever reason - especially if it makes you ill - please let me know, so I can pass it on to anyone who will be responsible for organising meals.  We don't want anyone to be poorly!
•  
• And, if you can volunteer for a job (only one job!), do say... I will try and take preferences into account!
• Would you also tell me where you will be travelling from, what transport you think you will use and if you'd like a lift (if possible), or can offer one to someone else (not obligatory!)
• I will e-mail you back (first come, first served, ladies!), with my Paypal address and a confirmation of the payment amount. I would be glad if you can confirm that you'll pay within a short timescale. If there's a problem with the payment, do let me know - I wouldn't like you to lose out because of technology etc!

• Also, anyone who has a skill, interest or speciality, which you would love to share with us - either by doing a short demonstration, a mini-workshop (hour, 2 hours, 3 hours...), then I would very much like to hear your ideas! 
• We had some fun last time - Clair showed us how to do some great giftwrapping and ribbon-rose-making; Julie also demonstrated a different ribbon rose; I did a bookbinding tutorial; Ruth posed us a Challenge for the weekend, which was good fun. 

• Some people brought along a few extra craft items, which they didn't want/need, and we had a "swap shop".  I think it would be nice to do this again, unless anyone has a huge objection (?). So, bring stuff along - but please don't bring anything unusable and please retain responsibility for anything of yours, which is not re-homed!  Perhaps we'll ask someone to co-ordinate this a little bit...

 

 The Job List (to date)

• Breakfast Organiser (sort out what's for breakfasts and who will bring it)
• Lunch Co-Ordinator (organise two days' lunches)
• Dinner Organiser (sort out a menu and contributions, for both days' dinners)
• Snacks Co-ordinator (very important job - crafters need tea, coffee, squash, biscuits, and cake!)

 

(We'll split the whole bloggers' group up, into "meals groups", so we have enough food for each meal. If you prefer to contribute to a particular meal, do say and I will do my best!)

 

• Lift from the Rail / Coach Station - Friday pm
• Lift to the Rail / Coach Station - Sunday pm

If you think of anything else that needs organising at this stage, do shout!

* * *

Okay, that's it for now.  I do hope those who were so keen yesterday, are still keen today! I will await your e-mails!

And, any questions, do shout - I am very friendly, house-trained and don't bite (much)!

* * *
02/10/12 - please note, this post is now closed to new comments.  If you want to comment on the Bloggers' Weekend, there is a new post, published today.  We also have a Facebook Group up and running, or you can e-mail me direct (lizziemade -at- aol -dot- com)
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