Talk:Meetup/London/121

Time

I haven't changed the the time as I am not sure whether any consensus was reached that it should be changed. Philafrenzy (talk) 16:11, 11 July 2017 (UTC)

You could start an RfC. That should report back in thirty days, which is, er, 12 August... the day before... --Redrose64 (talk; at English Wikipedia) 19:15, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

wmuk:UK Wikimedian of the Year 2017/Nomination#London Wikimedians

Hello everyone. Every year Wikimedia UK holds the UK Wikimedian of the Year Awards. This year Alice White nominated London Wikimedians in the Honourable Mention category. Thank you all for your support of the Wellcome Library residency in particular, and Wikimedia UK's activities in London generally. Raise a glass to yourselves at the next meetup! Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 16:24, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

@Andrew Davidson: @Edwardx: @Geni: @Johnbod: @Joseph2302: @Leutha: @LoopZilla: @MassiveEartha: @Philafrenzy: @Thryduulf: @ClemRutter: @Redrose64: @Rich Farmbrough: @The wub: @WereSpielChequers:

Kool. Gordo (talk) 13:00, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

@Richard Nevell (WMUK): This edit notified nobody, because although it was a new post, you didn't sign it. Nor did this one, because it wasn't a new post but a modification to an existing post. --Redrose64 (talk; at English Wikipedia) 20:04, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

That's what you get for trying to be clever! Hopefully it will work this time. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 09:10, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

@Andrew Davidson: @Edwardx: @Geni: @Johnbod: @Joseph2302: @Leutha: @LoopZilla: @MassiveEartha: @Philafrenzy: @Thryduulf: @ClemRutter: @Redrose64: @Rich Farmbrough: @The wub: @WereSpielChequers: Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 09:10, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

A partial list of Wikimedians in the capital! Gordo (talk) 11:33, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Category:Wikipedians_in_London Gordo (talk) 11:34, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Wikidata at the Mozilla Festival

Hi!

I am submitting a proposal for a session about Wikidata at the Mozilla Festival. Does anybody want to join?

− Pintoch (talk) 12:54, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

Wetherspoons? Really?

I haven't been to a London meetup before, and would like to come, but...

Wetherspoons seems best not legitimised with anyone's custom, let alone with the custom of a group of Wikimedians bearing Wikipedia insignia. Tim Martin, the owner:

• is a multi-millionaire, yet objected to being asked to pay his staff £7.20/hr, even though this is below the Living Wage;
• gave £200k to Vote Leave, despite the clear and well-documented risks to STEM (which transcends national boundaries), the obvious correlation between Vote Leave and ethnic nationalism, the corresponding risk of a rise in hate crimes and discrimination, etc;
• I believe once told a journalist in an interview that public libraries should make way for pubs(!). (Struggling to recall where and when I read that; will add a ref if I find it.)

Moreover, the company itself:

• uses zero-hours contracts;
• has practiced discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, not once but at least twice; and
• on the basis of sexuality.

So, as I say, I'd like to attend a London meetup, but I won't willingly enter a Wetherspoons.

Any chance of switching this or future meetups to a venue that isn't staunchly opposed to so much that Wikimedia stands for? Thanks. (I'll leave this unsigned, I think.)

References

Good points. Gordo (talk) 07:47, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, Gordo. Any chance London meetup 121 (or at least 122 and later) could be held somewhere more appropriate for a socially conscious charity volunteer group? I would guess from your user page that you might know other pubs or venues in central or inner London that are a bit more suitable :) Here are a few suggestions from me:

* Duke of Cambridge, an ethical pub very close to the Angel, Islington. They have a couple of reasonably large tables in the bar area, with power sockets nearby, and have free Wi-Fi for customers. I rang them about bookings. They won't book a table in the bar unless at least 8 people will be coming, but said that even on a weekend, a group shouldn't have much trouble congregating around a table even if not booked.

* Craving Coffee, a Living Wage cafe between Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale stations. They, too, have a reasonably large table with power sockets nearby, and have free Wi-Fi for customers. Rang them too. They don't take bookings, but as with DoC, said that they're unlikely to be so crowded that a group couldn't gather happily around the table. (Their website needs JavaScript. Here's a version from Google's cache that doesn't.)

* The George Inn, Southwark (owned by the National Trust)?

I think it should be discussed on Sunday by everybody present. Gordo (talk) 18:03, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

The George Inn is unfortunately not going to be a good venue as it is both very busy and very expensive. I also don't recall any large areas indoors that would be suitable for a large gathering even if it were free. Thryduulf (talk: meta · en.wp · wikidata) 09:06, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Also think very carefully before moving the meet outside central London. Seven Sisters and Tottenham are very significantly more difficult for people who aren't coming from north London to get to. I travel from the Isle of Dogs and the Pendrell's Oak is 45 minutes away with one change, Carving Coffee (whose website really doesn't make it easy to find where they actually are) would be either an hour and 10 minutes via central London (Green Park) with two changes and a 10 minute walk at the end, or an hour and a half on two busses. For someone arriving at Waterloo it's 35 minutes vs 15 minutes (on top of travel time to Waterloo). This will make attendance very significantly less attractive to most people.

I'm all for ditching Wetherspoons for somewhere more ethical, but only if that somewhere meets our practical needs. Thryduulf (talk: meta · en.wp · wikidata) 09:19, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

If it was better located, I'd suggest the Pembury Tavern, but Hackney is really quite awkward and/or time consuming to get to from many places. Thryduulf (talk: meta · en.wp · wikidata) 09:26, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

I agree. But we have been there for so long. Hard to imagine a shift! The East London Wikimeet did have a few meetings in Waitrose in Canary Wharf. But to find a place that has the lack of restrictions of The Oak will be hard. Gordo (talk) 14:38, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

I have organised meetups in other cities before now and was always told to select a spoons for the cheap beer and food... I seem to recall that when I selected a non-spoons, people complained. Perhaps they were not socially conscious enough. Philafrenzy (talk) 23:32, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Indeed, spoons pubs are affordable (excluding those at airports), spacious, family friendly and tend to be conveniently located and not fussy about people moving tables and ordering food at different times - which is a pretty good match for our practical requirements. The Hitchin meet I attended was in a non-Spoons pub but wouldn't have been able to cope with the attendance of a London meet. Cambridge doesn't use a Spoons pub but does things differently to London anyway. Thryduulf (talk: meta · en.wp · wikidata) 01:35, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

The original poster remains anonymous, and may never had attended a meeting in London. Gordo (talk) 08:17, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

The Inn of Court further along High Holborn is used by some other groups and is a pleasant Fullers pub but is closed on Sundays. The Princess Louise is quite stylish and I like their beer but that's a Samuel Smith house. Their proprietor has imposed a ban on bad language which might not suit some of our own eccentrics. Better the devil you know ... Andrew D. (talk) 12:06, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

"Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue", La Rochefoucauld. Edwardx (talk) 12:35, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

The Princess Louise also doesn't serve food at the weekends, which probably disqualifies it in any case. the wub "?!" 21:06, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

All the suggested pubs are inconvenient for some people. Just because one anonymous poster thinks we should move, that doesn't mean we should ditch a long term venue. It's convenient, cheap food, good space, and reasonably helpful staff. Joseph2302 (talk) 17:02, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

I don't want to go to a venue that either (a) doesn't sell draught real ale; (b) charges London average prices or more; (c) requires pre-booking for parties of more than four. As a regular of the Oxford meetups, I am well aware that

The first nonabsolute number is the number of people for whom the table is reserved. This will vary during the course of the first three telephone calls to the restaurant, and then bear no apparent relation to the number of people who actually turn up, or the number of people who subsequently join them after the show/match/party/gig, or to the number of people who leave when they see who else has shown up. — Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything

we've had anything from two to twenty. Also, ambient noise: Philafrenzy (talk · contribs) once told me that he always picked Wetherspoons for the above reasons plus the absence of piped music. The TVs are present but muted; even the one-armed bandits seem to have the volume turned down. --Redrose64 (talk; at English Wikipedia) 20:39, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

Agreed, much as I dislike the owner's political advocacy, Wetherspoons does have a lot going for it for these kinds of meetups. There's the additional problem that a lot of other pubs in that area are closed on Sundays. the wub "?!" 21:21, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

OP here. I am grateful that my objections were taken seriously: thank you. I appreciate the points made above, i.e. that the venue suits the current regular attendees' overriding requirements, and those of expected occasional attendees. However, I doubt I will go to any London meetups as long as they continue to be held at a Wetherspoons. If I ever find a more ethical venue that meets the group's expressed requirements as well as Penderel's Oak does, I will post again on a suitable London Meetup talk page, so that the group can consider it.

Wetherspoons?

Wetherspoons has been the home of London Wikimeets for a long time. There is unlikely to be an obvious alternative. Gordo (talk) 21:39, 8 August 2017 (UTC)

I feel that if the London Wikimeet changed, including a change of venue, we would not have the success of the past few years. Gordo (talk) 08:26, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

My first reactions was negative and and my response was going to scathing and cynical, on reflection my reaction is negative and point out that every good cause I know has only managed to meet because of Wetherspoons free meeting space, wifi, cheap food and real ale. The criterion is a central London Venue within walking distance of KX, STP, Euston, and Charing X- ie Bloomsbury. --ClemRutter (talk) 23:56, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

And on Sunday afternoons not much else is open, especially in the City of London. Gordo (talk) 07:56, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

Ramsgate Spoons

'Shark in minnow pond': Ramsgate locals split on new Wetherspoon pub Gordo (talk) 11:41, 29 August 2017 (UTC)

Wetherspoons REDUX

See Shiny new tricks won’t work for the Conservatives Gordo (talk) 15:26, 14 September 2017 (UTC)