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AH.com Meetups

AH.com is unusual among internet communities because several of its members have met in real life, and so far no-one has been murdered and had their organs harvested.

Definition of a meetup

Much like Psychomeltdown's definition of the Writer Chimps, the definition has been adjusted repeatedly to keep excluding the Americans. However, the general definition is that it is a 'true' AH.com meetup if three or more AH.commers meet, and they didn't already know each other in person before that.

"True" meetups

Rendezvous Beneath The Dreaming Spires

On July 29th, 2006, seven AH.commers met beneath the aforementioned Dreaming Spires of Oxford. These were Satyrane, Thande, Kit, MrP, Flocculencio, Ramp-Rat and MerryPrankster. The meetup involved several locations, including a Genuine Fake Irish Pub and a pool table. It was also noted for Merry making a very amusing joke about radical_neutural and French Connection, and Thande first bringing along his Giant Union Jack, which he went on to bring to subsequent meetups.

The Americans CAN do meetups, but only if a Commonwealth person is present

In the summer of 2007, Leo Caesius and Abdul Hadi Pasha managed to set-up two separate meet-ups with Doctor What, Kit , Grimm Reaper, Ian and edvader showing up at one or the other.

A year later, Thande proved this theory once more when he met Ofaloaf, sunsurf and RCTFI in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Theory of American Incompetence was, allegedly, disproven on 25 August 2012, when FDW, Ephraim ben Raphael, and Codae had lunch together in San Francisco.

Wolf's Lair Meetup in the Wilds of Deepest Wales

On the 15th of February 2008, four AH.commers met up at Grey Wolf's den in Wales. Present were Grey Wolf, Sargon, MrP and Khib_yusa with Sargon having not met MrP and Khib-yusa in person before. Gifts were exchanged in the form of a 12 year aged bottle of whisky from Sargon to MrP & Khib-yusa, with MrP and Khib passing on bottles of whisky to Grey Wolf and Sargon. MrP being very assiduously observing Lent, stated that he was looking forward to appreciating the whisky come Easter-time.

Seeing as Sargon had not met MrP and Khib before, and what with there being more than three people present, it was considered a true AH.com meetup. Topics of discussion revolved around AH.com, gossip about board members, and general nattering about weird experiences, battleships, model-making and unicorns. Sargon also took the opportunity to pass on Sealion to MrP, along with a small white Seal called Snowy as a new travelling companion for the little fellow, and a map he'd made showing Sealion's travels thus far. After a couple of hours of enjoyable conservation in which all got on very well indeed, MrP and Khib-yusa continued their journey on to Lampeter, whilst Sargon and Grey Wolf went off down the local pub for a few drinks and followed it up with a trip to the local pizza and kebab house in the late evening. Sargon stayed overnight with the Wolf until the following day, when he left on a complicated journey that first took him back to Sheffield and thence off to London on the 17th to meet another long time friend.

Ottawa Conjunction

After discovering that no fewer than five AH.commers lived in Ottawa (and a little prodding when it was pointed out how absurd it was that they hadn't managed to meet yet), Doctor What, Dan1988, Dreadnought Jenkins, and Zyzzyva got together at Parliament hill in October 2008.

Other RL meetups

Doctor What met fortyseven while on a trip to Montreal for a wedding in the autumn of 2006. Straha's recent banning was one topic of discussion.

Thande met with Doctor What in the Great Wastes of Canada (Jasper, Alberta) while both happened to be taking trains across the country, in August 2007. In order so that he would not be missed, the Blame Magnet brought a sizeable Union Flag with him so the Whatster would be able to easily identify him in the middle of nowhere.

Chronos and Sargon found out in February 2008 that they are members of the same history group in Sheffield without even knowing they both participate on AH.com! This is hardly surprising as their paths have never crossed in any discussion threads. They only found out after Sargon recommended some Byzantine and Persian History threads on AH.com and they were subsequently astounded yet pleasantly surprised to find both were posters here. They consequently spent most of the rest of the class gossiping about all the people they know on the Board.

Sargon met Abdul Hadi Pasha in quite possibly the coolest location on earth and an entirely appropriate place for these AH and Naval fanatics: the former capital of the Roman/Byzantine & Ottoman Empires, Istanbul. AH.commers know it better as Constantinople. A great time was had visiting various places and taking Sealion pics whilst both chuckled evilly about having probably the most perfect location to do them in. Funnily enough, Sargon took a sizeable Yorkshire Flag with him, so that the Pasha could identify him easily. He got the idea from Thande. It worked, although it was just possible Sargon saw Pasha first when he was walking by the hotel window to meet our lad from Yorkshire. Sargon thought the Pasha was pretty handsome and his sense of humour was even more awesome than on the board and more subtle than his oft smiley absent posts. As for the flag, sadly, he didn't manage to plant it on top of Hagia Sophia to claim the place for Yorkshire. It was rather high and windy and he didn't fancy getting blown into the Bosporus.

Grey Wolf has met and stayed in Sheffield at Sargon's REAL Stronghold (as opposed to his online forums one) at least twice. The first time he almost froze because of heating problems, but luckily it had been fixed for subsequent visits, which goes to show how much he likes it there. On one visit, Grey Wolf managed to drink over 20 bottles of alcohol in 3 days that the Acting President had stockpiled for a good booze-up, which was fine as he didn't wish to risk drinking because his stomach was dodgy at the time after catching some cold virus in Turkey the week before. The Pasha understandably denied any responsibility for that mishap and didn't Blame Thande, but Sargon's iffy constitution.

Grey Wolf, Sargon, MrP and Sargon's partner met up in the autumn at Grey Wolf's place. Fun was had at the Owain Glyndŵr festival, the pub, and the Scotch flowed freely back at the Wolf's pad along with some Doctor Who viewing which was very much appreciated by all.

Leo Caesius and Abdul Hadi Pasha both live in New York City and have met independently many times, including with The Bald Imposter.

The Bald Imposter stayed with Matt at his apartment in Washington D.C.

MrP launched a road trip in June 2008 and has so far visited Thande, Kit and Sargon.

Alayta and Susano met while exchanging Sealion on October 25, 2008. This won the record for 'shortest meetup ever' due to German efficiency, lasting two minutes - but it did include a photo so that's all right.

Lord Roem and The Professor met up in London on October 18, 2009. A highly enjoyable bar crawl followed around Camden during which theatre, love and a larger meet up in December 2009 were all discussed at length.

Both MrP and Grey Wolf stayed with Sargon for a few days in May of 2010, taking walks in the countryside, meeting up with a couple of Sargon's friends, drinking copious amounts of fine alcohol and enjoying vegan cuisine with recipes supplied by MrP. They were also present for one of Sargon's Movie Nights and a jolly good time was had by all.

Lord Roem met with Sargon and Sai in July of 2010 at the Old Queen's Head pub in Sheffield, which happens to be one of the oldest inhabited buildings in the city. Much friendly banter was engaged in and worthy drinks shared.

Due to the strange proliferation of AH.com members at the University of Durham recently, there have been at least three unoficial meetings involving Alex Richards, Martin23230 and minor members of the board. Full listing would probably involve a census taking.

SpanishSpy and General Greene met in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, in January 2016. The two wandered the historic district and sang sea shanties and solved riddles at a pub.

The above two users also went to the residence of the parents of thekingsguard to watch SuperBowl 50. SpanishSpy and General Greene have met up several times since.

On August 23, 2016, SpanishSpy, flamelord, and Mitro met up at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. SpanishSpy later appeared on Mitro's YouTube show.

On January 7, 2017 SpanishSpy, Gray Antarctica, Baconheimer, Laqueesha and Tardis218 met near the General Pulaski statue in Freedom Plaza, in DC. They enjoyed American and Mexican food at Ollie's Trolley and Qdoba in the freezing cold of the New Year. Topics discussed were politics, memes, shitposting, and general AH.com shenanigans.

On May 27, 2017 SpanishSpy, Laqueesha, Tardis218, Zachanassian, Dilvish, asnys, High Plains Drifter, and Zmflavius met up at the U.S. Navy Memorial in the afternoon in Washington, D.C. They managed to go to the same two restaurants as the meetup in January, Ollie's Trolley and Qdoba, with the added bonus of walking in and around the National Mall. During the 5 hour trip throughout the city, Laqueesha and Tardis218 talked about how they grew up just a few miles away each other and that they were aboard the very same Metro train coming into Washington, D.C. Topics discussed included AlternateHistory.com, food, chemistry, science, the job market, current events, memes, etc.

On July 29, 2017 SpanishSpy, Laqueesha, Tardis218, along with Kaiphranos and his girlfriend met up in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown neighborhood. Kaiphranos, his girlfriend, Tardis218, and SpanishSpy saw the movie Dunkirk at the Regal movie theater at Gallery Place beforehand. Laqueesha was due to attend the movie too but could not make it due to “SafeTrack” maintenance delays on the D.C. Metro and instead had lunch at Qdoba waiting for the movie to finish. After the movie finished, everybody had lunch at the Fado Irish Pub. Afterwards, Kaiphranos and his girlfriend left but the remaining three members toured the U.S. National Portrait Gallery nearby and concluded the meetup there.

On December 30, 2017, SpanishSpy, Matt, Laqueesha, Baconheimer, and Leo euler met up in Washington, D.C., ate lunch at the Shake Shack and then toured the American History Museum.

Most Meetingest Meetupishness AH.com Champion of Meetups

The question has been raised of who has met the most other AH.commers. For a while Kit held this title, but he has recently been surpassed by Doctor What, who used to be only one of a few AH.commers to have met more than 10 other AH.commers. Though, with the large British meetups and the like, a much larger group has met 10+.

As of September 2014 the title may now be held by Thande, thanks to the 17 member London meet of the Politibrits in conjunction with his wider travels. This is almost certainly the largest meet so far. By 2015 it is likely that TheDarkMessiah has the title instead due to attending further large meetups and also meeting other members abroad.

Though as of August 2017, SpanishSpy might be the user who has met the largest number of AH.commers upon the North American continent, having met ~14 other users on his travels, thanks in large part to the May 2017 D.C. meetup which had 9 people.


List of all pre-meetup discussions to date

Updated as regularly as possible, sorted chronologically.

NOTE: + - meetups that were planned, but ultimately didn't take place


See Also

AH.com Meetups - Very old discussion about this very article and the whole topic, started by Thande.

What is a proper AH.COM meetup ? - A very old discussion.

Have you ever met another board member in real life ? - An old discussion.

How many AH.commers have you met in real life ? - An old discussion.

Who do you want to meet in real life ? - An old discussion.


offtopic/ah.com_meetups.txt · Last modified: 2019/03/29 15:13 by 127.0.0.1

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