exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

@PhilC Ok, fair enough. We probably dont want any of that! :|

How about this then on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard:


Cheaper to hire (£18/hour), bigger than last time (~7.4m x 14.5m EXCLUDING the size of the stage), parking and ameneties ok, far enough away from any other unwanted visitors and a stage.

The only problem is that its not a short straight line from the M1: (Its St.Leonards Church Hall at the bottom of the map)


Answers on a postcard please :lol:

I’ll pm you @mrbombermillzy

Looks a cracking venue 👌
There will always be winners and losers for location but hope its close for many.

Has there been any more progress on this ? Would be cool to attend another Cyber Legends event, as last year's was cool :)

CiH and I are possibly considering renting a table, so do please let us know details on this. The location at Leighton Buzzard does look good too.

felicemaggie wrote: 09 Mar 2024 18:54 Has there been any more progress on this ? Would be cool to attend another Cyber Legends event, as last year's was cool :)

CiH and I are possibly considering renting a table, so do please let us know details on this. The location at Leighton Buzzard does look good too.

Yes Leighton Buzzard does look promising. No further news yet as @mrbombermillzy has been busy and I've been sick, so between us it's not progressed any yet.

Hope to have more news over the next couple of weeks

Thats right.

As @PhilC has mentioned above, we have between us not had much time to deal with this due to 'real life' issues of one sort or another, that can cause our hobby related plans to grind to a halt sometimes.

We have not abandoned the search for the ideal 'holy grail' venue. However, it can take some planning/time to find the best mix of size, availability, cost, location and whatever else.

Rest assured that we *will* have this sorted as soon as possible, with details of the venue soon and then after that we can begin to fill in the details of who will be attending to exhibit, plus the machines that will be showcased, along with any special events being planned for the show.

Please bear with us. :)

Ok guys, time for an update...

So, in case anyone was wondering why we seem to be dragging our heels with this, its not quite as simple as that.

This post should illustrate the procrastinations of organising an event...

So the above mentioned hall (St.Leonards) is pretty much ideal, from the size of the hall and the facilities.

However, the location isnt as simple to get to, but more importantly, the parking is far from ideal:


As can be seen in the plan above, I dont think much more than 10 cars are able to squeeze in the grounds.

And looking at higher numbers arriving, the non site parking is even worse:


So theres that.


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However, we do have another choice, which I have literally found this week and it could fit the bill nicely:





So, as you can see, very pleasant, spacious and plenty of parking.

It is also very easy/close to get to from J11a of the M1:


So, it seems to tick pretty much all the boxes for what we need (theres a stage, but Im not sure yet about AV gear/WIFI).

The only real negative is the cost.

While the hall hire is quite reasonable (£26 p/h for a Sunday), they also require a £300 deposit. Thats the best part of £600 for something like a 1-9pm hall hire. :shock:

Im not sure I can quite manage that at the moment.

I did also ask about availability and currently, the hall is free every Sunday from June-September, so lots of choice with dates.

Finally, I now hand over to you guys for some feedback:

QUESTION TIME:

Do we want a nice hall (St.Leonards) with non ideal parking (which I can cover myself), or do you want a hall which has great parking (Chalgrave) and easy to find/short distance from motorway (but I may need some help with financially?)

Your call. 8-)

Sounds like "get what you pay for" again really. Are more people actually going this year ? I haven't been keeping track of anything lately. But I kinda get the impression the numbers could be less than last time ? I can't say if I am going or not (again) at this point either.

But why 9pm end? Granted the day flew by.. I know I suggested doing it earlier in the year so it's lighter at night for going home for us wusses. But I assume as some of the people had a 4 hours drive back home, then likely work Monday morning, that I assume people wouldn't stop much past 6pm anyway ?

Considering I got lost every step of the way last time, which I knew would happen. I think others may also be more likely to attend/stop a bit longer, if its a shorter hop from the M1 ?

Nearby, how about Toddington village hall? (Have to enquire about prices though) https://toddingtonvillagehall.co.uk/

exxos wrote: 12 Mar 2024 21:11 Sounds like "get what you pay for" again really. Are more people actually going this year ? I haven't been keeping track of anything lately. But I kinda get the impression the numbers could be less than last time ? I can't say if I am going or not (again) at this point either.

Yep. However, I have just received the booking form and only 50% of the booking fee is needed up front to secure, so I wouldnt need to front the full amount, which is much easier to swallow. And to answer your next question, there were more people who wanted to exhibit at CL2, but we were literally running out of room/tables. I distinctly remember @stephen_usher not quite having as much space as he wanted. I would like to avoid that in the future if possible.

exxos wrote: 12 Mar 2024 21:11 But why 9pm end? Granted the day flew by.. I know I suggested doing it earlier in the year so it's lighter at night for going home for us wusses. But I assume as some of the people had a 4 hours drive back home, then likely work Monday morning, that I assume people wouldn't stop much past 6pm anyway ?

Well, ok. Why not? How about we do 10am-7pm? At mid summer, that should leave aprrox. 2 hours after end time before it gets really dark. How does that sound?

Anyone prefer any particular month/date?

exxos wrote: 12 Mar 2024 21:11 Considering I got lost every step of the way last time, which I knew would happen. I think others may also be more likely to attend/stop a bit longer, if its a shorter hop from the M1 ?

So the Chalgrave hall fits the bill nicely here. Not far from the motorway junction at all.

stephen_usher wrote: 12 Mar 2024 21:59 Nearby, how about Toddington village hall? (Have to enquire about prices though) https://toddingtonvillagehall.co.uk/

Well, to try to be inclusive and help people who want to come from the north of the country, Ive tried to keep the venue location close to the M1.

I believe somewhere nearer to the southern Welsh border may be a bit more of a trek for most people; again, if this assumption is inaccurate and the majority of you are in agreement, then I can look into that location. The hall and surrounding area certainly seems nice enough and it would otherwise be a good venue candidate.