Organizing a small BME/IAM event 101.
At A Glance
Author Pierre.
Contact valo@teambme.com
IAM Valo
When Three months ago
Greetings!

I just want to tell you a little about my experience in the world of BME/IAM event organization. I also want to give credit where credit is due; I did have a lot of help with the organizing of the event from the lovely IAM:Rainbow Gyrl. She deserves as much credit putting this little soiree together as I do.

Here was the entire concept of the event: The maritimes (I/E eastern Canada) have quite a few IAM members. I'd hate to speculate how many, but quite a few nonetheless. Only problem is, with Shannon having land in the area and sadly not doing any events with it (yet), it left us maritimers with no real option to meet. One night while talking on the phone with IAM:lilfunky1, we started planning on her coming to Fredericton, NB (where I was living at the time, and where the event was held) I tossed the idea her way. She said something to the effect of "that's right Pierre, you should throw an event in the honor of my visiting". The idea stuck.

After talking with IAM:Rainbow Gyrl (Marie) again about it and realizing it could be pulled off, I started IMing people. I got very little negative response, some people were unable to come, and got quite a bit of people interested in attending. Upon noticing there was interest, I put the event in the IAM events forum and slowly but surely people started signing the RSVP list. Marie and I then started looking into exactly what to do at the event. February 22nd, 2003 was going to be the date.

We originally booked some reservations for the group at a local pub/eatery, the Snooty Fox. People also showed interest in pulling/suspending, which we originally planned on doing. Unfortunately, with no one attending who had any experience in hooking people up, we decided it would be safest if we skipped any such events for everyone's safety. We then were brought to our attention that quite a few people attending were vegetarian/vegan, and that while Snooty Fox is a great restaurant, they don't have much in terms of vegan eats. We were then recommended a local mexican place called El Burrito Loco, which does have great Vegan food (and amazing Pina Coladas, if I do say so myself). One booking change later, we've got the place reserved.

It still left the remainder of the evening empty. Lots of people talked about bowling, so we decided to put some reservations for a few lanes at Kingswood Place, a local bowling alley/gaming place. We advised everyone of directions, and it was on.

The day of the event didn't start out exactly as planned for me. I was picking up Ange from the train station in Moncton, NB (about 140kn from Fredericton). Of course, I get pulled over for speeding and brought to the station because I apparently had unpaid parking tickets. After settling that, I picked her up, brought her back to town, and got ready for the event. We did get distracted, so we (me, Ange and Marie) arrived about 20 minutes late for the meal. oops.

We arrived, everyone ordered. I just had fries, since I wasn't all that hungry. I also had a Pina Colada and my very first martini. We all talked, got to know eachother, and had fun. Some people (such as IAM:killerpotato and IAM:xrobotx, as well as another non-IAMer whose name escapes me decided to drink some of the spiciest sauce in an attempt to pull off our own versio n of BME I bet you will.

Below are some pictures of the event. Click on the thumbnails to see the full-sized pic (you may need a BME Extreme or Hard account to view these)

We then all decided to gather in 30 minutes at Kingswood Place. Me and Ange went back to my place to change and whatnot. We then met up with everyone at the event. Some people left the event to do some partying of their own, and we were joined by IAM:MeR and IAM:lifebleedsmotion. We all bowled, some of us had a few coronas too many (okay, that would be myself). I learned that some of us really stink at bowling (again, that would be myself). We all once again had a good ol' time. Some of us bowled a game, some went as far as 3 games. In the end, I think only Marie was bowling by herself. A good time had by all, I think.

Here's some more pictures. Again, they may only work if you have BME Extreme or hard accounts. If you don't, you can click here to buy one, or to get info on how to add your story or pictures to BME and get a mem bership.

A lot of us were planning to get together at my place after the event. Unfortunately, a lot of the out of towners had to leave right after bowling due to a freezing rain warning. Some of us did get together at my place after. There was a viewing of the BME BBQ DVD, some drinking, some other illegal and perverse activities which need not be mentionned (Just ask anyone who was there, they'll tell you). At around 2am, everyone left, hopefully happy that they were part of the first BME BBQ in maritimes history.

I had a blast both organizing and attending the BBQ. I wish we could have had more people or had pullings/suspensions, but that'll have to wait until someone else decides to organize one. I have since moved to Toronto, ON, so I will not be doing any more maritimes events. Best part of the event is that I did meet my current girlfriend at the event, which is definately an added bonus.

Now here is some advice I can give any future first-time event hosts that I have learned from my experience:

If you're on IAM, another place you can look at for hosting an event, you can always go on Glider's Event Hosts forum to discuss it. Hope you enjoyed my experience.

Sincerely,
Pierre.

Disclaimer: The experience above was submitted by a BME reader and has not
been edited. We can not guarantee that the experience is accurate, truthful,
or contains valid or even safe advice. We strongly urge you to use BME and
other resources to educate yourself so you can make safe informed decisions.

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