This BME event came to me in the form of a dream in May. I woke up the morning after and knew that it was time for me to host my first event. I thought that a fun place to bring different IAMers and their non-IAM friends to would be the Bronx Zoo in New York City. We could learn about amazing animals and make new friends at the same time. Very fittingly, this summer's events are based around "Extreme Animals." On Sunday, July 18, 2004, BME invaded the Bronx Zoo.
At A Glance Author ~*punkycat*~ Contact ~*punkycat*~@bme.anon IAM ~*punkycat*~ When A week ago Artist ~*punkycat*~ & Cere Studio The Bronx Zoo Location Bronx, New York Saturday night, Cere, my husband, picked me up after a suspension, and we had a sleep over with Scot, Laura, and Lauren. The five of us woke up early the next morning, and headed to the Bronx Zoo!! I was so incredibly nervous that no one would show up, or that people would be bored. Cere reassured me by saying, "If no one shows up, then the five of us will still have an amazing day. If no one has a good time, screw them." It helped, but only a little.
I decided it would be best for the group to meet up at The Bronx River Entrance of the zoo (Gate B) when the park opened at 10am - rain or shine. When the five of us arrived, a few people where already there (Kirsten and her his non-IAM husband, Will, Jason, and Osiris and two his non-IAM friends, and George.) George used his WCS membership pass, and the rest of us were able to get a group discount because of the amount of people that were already there. I laughed when I saw the ticket that said, "Camp/School Group." I really did feel like a camp counselor for most of the day.
The rest of the group (24 people in total) started to show up after we headed into the park and met up with us along the way. They included Ann Marie, Corinna, 4, Brian, and Atom, Zionlion, and Firelust, Liz, our resident drunk, Jeff, newaddict, and Sweetmeliss420 and her friend. Unfortunately, Sweetmeliss420 and her friend lost us some where along the way, but they found us again later on. The group definitely had a fun filled animal day and the special event of that weekend was "Extreme Swingers." We even took a family photo to commemorate the event. The Bronx Zoo has a lot of great exhibits, many of which we saw, including The Butterfly Zone, Congo, The World Of Darkness, Tiger Mountain, The Bengali Express, and The Mouse House. There was so much to do and see! We broke for lunch around 1pm and everyone ate at the Dancing Crane Cafe. Some people bought their lunch from the cafeteria, and others, like Cere and myself, packed our own lunch. Then we continued on our way through the park and finally left the park at 5:30pm when the park closed. The weather was pretty good, and the sprinkles of rain here and there definitely didn't hold us back. Luckily, the torrential downpour didn't start until we were leaving the park.
After most said their goodbyes in the parking lot, those who were left over headed to Jackson Hole for dinner. Jackson Hole is the home of the most amazing 8 oz burgers you'll ever find. I think even the vegetarians were happy with their food. After dinner, more goodbyes were said. Those who were left headed to the movies, and then home.
All in all, I'd say it was a pretty great day. I had so much fun hosting this event and the positive feedback I've received has just been overwhelming. I'm definitely plotting and scheming more events for the future.
One thing that made this event work out so well, was that there was no pressure to stay as a group. People could go off and see what they wanted to. Even if we had a very stragglers, or even if our meet up time was too early, people could meet up with us along the way. I found it funny that most of the people who were at this event weren't even from New York. We had a bunch of people from Jersey and even someone who lives as far away as Australia.
I definitely recommend getting out and going to BME events. You will make more friends then you could ever think possible. Events truly is a great way to broaden your horizons. Hosting your own event is an amazing experience as well. The love and positive feedback you receive from it is definitely worth some of the hassles you may go through. And it just proves that we are truly one big family!