Me me me !! I'm a rock fan in Spice

yeh id be up by both...

Anyway back to my original thought.

There's badmington, bowling, unihoc etc. Does anyone do squash, is anyone interested in squash (not the student stuff in a Mini Cooper or the orange drink ).

I used to play raquet-ball a lot but can't find a court locally and squash is the nearest thing I suppose.

I'm eager to learn some new rules, so is there any chance Martin?

quote:

Originally posted by Cazdoinspice:
Dear Spice, just a suggestion - you do the theatres what about Spice doing concerts? For example how would a group of us spicers like to see a rock concert at MEN Arena or a similar venue - I think that would be a ball (followed by a few drinks later.

The main problem with concerts - and indeed any big stadium events generally - is that tickets have to be paid at the time of booking and are non-refundable. Most theatres on the other hand allow us to put tickets on reserve - usually until about 1 month before the show date, by which time we will have a much better idea of what demand will be.

So with concerts we have to either pre-buy the tickets - which if we buy say 30 tickets would be a gamble of up to £1000 - or advertise in advance and book later, which risks the Event being sold out, or very poor seats. If we buy tickets as members book, then our seating will spread out around the venue, which defeats the object of booking with Spice really.

The last concert we booked was the Here and Now 80's revival concert and we sold 4 out of the 30 tickets we bought!

Some venues also limit the number of tickets that can be bought at once (Eg Glastonbury will only sell you 2 tickets, England Ashes match at Old Trafford last year would only sell blocks of 6) to cut down on touting.

There is also almost never group discounts for this type of show, so by the time we have costed in Spice admin costs and a co-ordinators ticket, we have to go out to members at higher than public price which is generally something we avoid as much as possible.

Will have a look at what's coming up though and see if we can get something that works for everyone.

There's always this Martin as a compromise for the rock fans out there (strange breed...all that air guitar and that ) Well Mendit's looking forward to it as a sort of growd up rock concert anyway

It such a shame that - but maybe look at really popular acts that would generate interest - for instance a group like Madness (now dont laugh) or Bonjovi (how cool)- Cant we have one of the viewing boxes where all the spicers can be together (maybe in my dreams eh?)

Not to want to sound repetitive repetetive....oh bother

Not wanting to say things twice....

SQUASH

Any takers?

quote:

Originally posted by Mendit:
Not to want to sound repetitive repetetive....oh bother

Not wanting to say things twice....

SQUASH

Any takers?

We did run it once a month a few years back but numbers dropped off. The feedback we got was that you need to play against someone of fairly equal ability to make it an enjoyable game - and unlike badminton, tennis, volleyball, etc this cannot be evened out with playing doubles, mixing teams, etc.

Am more than happy to give it another go though if there are any other takers out there?

You mean we'd have to find someone who plays as badly as Mendit

Could I suggest that all pub meet co-ordinators be requested to register on the boards ? It would not mean they needed to be on all the time and become BAHMBAs, but it would be nice if they checked daily, for perhaps a week, before their meet is due, to see if there are new members posting enquiries about it. Then they could contact them and arrange to meet and greet etc. This might also encourage the less, shall we say, "pro-active" co-ordinators to be a little more in evidence ! I have been to a range of pub meets now, and while some co-ordinators really put themselves out to make the evening go well and see that everyone is happy and included, at others you can't always tell if there is even a co-ordinator present ! At its worst, this has led to new members going home thinking they have gone to the wrong place as of course they don't recognise anyone. It's all very well the write-ups saying "Look for the Spice magazine and red clipboard" but at most meets that simply does not happen, so someone needs to be actively looking out for people and steering them in the right direction.

I agree with everything BL says. Another idea is maybe for the co-ordinators photo to be included in the Spice newsletter against the write up. At least new people will have a face to look for. As BL... says, not all co-ord's are actively looking for members, but are more pre-occupied with other things.

I agree with everything that has been said. My first pub meet was very traumatic, there was no indication of who the spice people were. If it wasn't for the fact that I recognised Firebird I would have walked straight out again.

In fact that night everyone was tucked in a corner on the top floor of the pub. You would have assumed that they didn't want to be found!!

Hi Stewie, it was a shame that you found the first pub meeting traumatic as they are normally quite good.

Maybe pub coordinators at the bar near the pub entrance rather than stuck in the corner where they cant be seen, I dont know. What else can be suggested? Name badges?

It isn't an easy one; newcomers may not recognise anyone (I don't get to all of the meets but glad to have been a point of identification Stewie btw.)

The spice magazine is useful - but what about something like a plastic A4 poster stand that could sit on a table with a suitable sign inside?

can we have sand or land yachting sometime. I see London do it near Royston and while this is a bit of a way, I could be tempted to travel there. (come to think of it it's not that far from my ex's and she might put me up for the nighyt )

also how about offering some more sailing next year even if it's out of Southampton or the East Coast?

Don't know if Spice has done anything like this before but it looks very interesting, getting back to nature and survival skills.
Several courses from a Weekend to a week. http://www.bushtruck.co.uk/

quote:

Originally posted by Firebird:
It isn't an easy one; newcomers may not recognise anyone (I don't get to all of the meets but glad to have been a point of identification Stewie btw.)

The spice magazine is useful - but what about something like a plastic A4 poster stand that could sit on a table with a suitable sign inside?

I like that idea - I'll look into it

quote:

Originally posted by Firebird:
can we have sand or land yachting sometime. I see London do it near Royston and while this is a bit of a way, I could be tempted to travel there. (come to think of it it's not that far from my ex's and she might put me up for the nighyt )

also how about offering some more sailing next year even if it's out of Southampton or the East Coast?

We used to do it at Blackpool but I think it was banned there after a few accidents. Not sure of anywhere else local that does it?

quote:

Originally posted by Martin Whalley M'cr Co-ordinator:
We used to do it at Blackpool but I think it was banned there after a few accidents. Not sure of anywhere else local that does it?

I believe they do it at Ainsdale and at Hoylake, but no idea whether they would put on events for visitors or whether it is for club members only.

I did land yachting with Spice, at South Yorkshire Air Museum on A64 south of York a few years ago.

Website is at: http://www.bfslyc.org.uk/pages/fed_club_york.aspx

There's also a club on the Wirral, but dunno if they allow Joe Public? Website is:
http://www.wsyc.org.uk/wsyc_pages/wsyc_sandyachting.aspx

I'd be prepared to travel some distance for a go at land yachting - not fussed if it's sand or on an airfield.

can we look at a new venue for SHT?

I like Barca at first - but our last visit was dire. We seemed to be the only people in there.

We did suggest Bar Rogue - I still think this was better than any venue I've been so far for SHT

Might be an idea to have a buffet meal in a restaurant before the club so newbies can ,meet up with the coordinator - then go on to the club

Never mind newbies - how about the light weights that can't drink on an empty stomach (like me) they need a meal before they can party with the best of you!!!

lightweight? yeah right!

There is a new Italian restaurant called Avanti in Heaton Moor that is due to open very soon - (Moorside Road.

Might be worth a try!

Just a thought.....Have Spice ever had a martial art as an event - e.g. karate? Maybe you could get an instructor to agree to give weekly / fortnightly classes, obviously aimed at complete beginners to give people a taster, and with the emphasis on fun rather than competition?

Karaoke would be good and how about getting tickets for some concerts. I want to see Dolly Parton in March!!!
How about some day trips to Blackpool, Alton Towers, Cadbury World (mmmm chocolate)

The Birdcage (drag and cabaret club) opening soon near The Printworks looks like a must for great Spice night out.

A good night out to be had at the Thai Esarn Restaurant In Didsbury. They do a buffet & karaoke special

Just a few ideas

Halloween in Ireland
Halloween in Whitby
Whitby goth weeks (theres two a year)
New years eve on the top of a mountain
Diceman weekend (makes more sense if you have seen the programme)