GH meetups data

This pastebin is basically a database of testimonies from people who have hosted GH meetups in the past. The goal is to gather data about meetup organisation to make things easier for people planning future meetups. I'll also write in useful information myself regarding planning all that I'll prob edit based on those testimonies. This entire pastebin is a work in progress. If you wish to contribute then feel free to dm me on discord @ Abisionkk#9372

Short summary of some sort:
-Plan months ahead, if not a year ahead. People coming from afar need time gather funds and plan their time off work and all.

-Tell people about the things your location has to offer, both the hosting place itself and the surroundings so people can have an idea of the possible activities to do.

-Duration should be around a week. Anything below a week makes it difficult for non-local folks to justify the huge expense of travelling. Anything above a week and it can start to become overbearing as each day might feel the same.

-Communication is very important. Setting up a Discord server is a great way to stay in contact with the possible attendees and make it easier to keep up with their situation. It's important to know their situation, both financially and for transportation. Things such as if they are driving or if they need to be picked up at the airport. If the latter, plan out which airport is closest and see about having people land around the same time to reduce round trips if the airport is a reasonable distance from the hosting place. It is good to have everyone flying properly discuss about when they land and when they leave.

-How much should you charge for attendance? You have to account for an increase in your water and electricity bill as well as food expenses. It's important to think of those who can't afford to eat out, especially on a daily basis. You should assume that people will most likely not order food online and buy food according to the size of your group. It's difficult to predict how much a bunch of teenagers eat so if you don't have a huge freezer than can hold on any extra food then it might be wise to buy less than you think you will need and go shopping a second time as to not be stuck with a stupid amount of leftovers.

-What makes a great GH meetup is not just playing the game with each other, but the interactions and bonding with friends outside of the game, going outside and doing fun activities with. Plan all the possible activities in advance and have everyone vote on what they wish to do. Process by elimination and have a proper group discussion about it. At the end of the day you want everyone to have fun.

-Tell your guest how much they should bring given the activities in your area, usually $100-$200 minimum for things is a great place to start. This should be brought up while discussing all the possible activities with your group, you don't want people to be left out because they cannot afford certain activities. I would recommend bringing $100+ on top of the money planned for the activities that are decided for any potential extra expenses. It's also important to make compromises. Not everyone will be interested in the same things or can afford the same activities.

-Pizza, with pineapple.

-As with all GH meetups, people will want to stream or at least document things. A decent internet connection is very important for that. It's also very important that you have a computer that can handle 4 players with a good framerate. It's worth asking the attendants about bringing their own setup if you don't possess a decent computer. You want at least one good setup, ideally two if you have a reasonably big group.

-If internet is an issue, it might be worth contacting your ISP about prices for decent internet speed for a single month. Of course this isn't always viable, not all areas have as much room to negotiate as others. Personally where I live we switch up ISP every 2 years (or just threaten to leave, sometimes that work too) and they offer to drastically lower the price of our current deal or to increase our speed at no cost because they don't want to lose customer. The truth is that ISP punish long time customers, calling and threatening to leave can be quite beneficial. Unfortunately that may not always be possible because of monopolies in some places. Still worth a shot though :^)

-Rules. MAKE RULES AND ENFORCE THEM. If there's one thing people have a hard time with in bigger meetups is to enforce rules. The more people, the more chaotic it gets. It's important to make rules for the duration of the meetup and to make it clear to everyone that they should be respected. It's also increasingly more difficult to enforce them as you increase the number of people. I suggest entrusting some people with rule enforcement to reduce the burden on your shoulders, people you trust enough to do the job. Things can (and likely will) go out of control if you try to be everywhere all the time and it's unreasonable to expect you to be.

-This applies to both the host and the attendees.
As someone who have attended multiple meetups, I can say that there will be people that will do stupid things, all. the. time. Some people get excited and unpredictable during meetups and will most definitely fail to follow rules or clean up after themselves, whether or not they are self aware of the trouble they are causing. Keep this in mind because you'll most definitely have to deal with people like that. I for one have a poor attention span and, while I will more than happily help with cleaning up and other things, I will definitely not think of doing it myself unless being asked. Not because I don't care but because my mind will not even consider the option until it is presented.

-IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING UNDERAGE GUESTS
If you decide to allow underage guests, you MUST do some researches regarding laws and such in your area. It's also extremely important to prepare a document that discharges you of all responsibilities and have them signed by their parents or legal guardians. I am no expert in this and will not tell you what the document should contain, it's up to you to look it up. I would like to link guidelines and perhaps templates in the future so feel free to link me any relevant documentation. If you're unsure about this then it would be wise to restrict attendance to 18+.

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Hey dude hows it going been a awhile sure, The big thing when it comes to hosting a meetup is telling people months-ayear in advance
of an idea of a meetup and what your location has to offer, coming up with durations is good too, ive done many meetups and from what
I can tell you is that anything over a week can start to become overbearing as each day might feel the same, its important for meetups
to communicate to each of the guest in a group DM so you can see what sitations both finanically and transportation if people can
self drive or need to be picked up at a airport etc, I usually charge $30 for my week meetups as that helps me provide for the meetup
with food or for people who cant afford much when we go out to eat or do fun things, what makes a meetup great is not just playing
the game with each other, but the interactions and bonding with friends outside of the game, going outside and doing fun activities with
one another builds lasting memories, go-karts, trampoline park, movie theater anything really, when hosting a meetup tell your guest
whats in your area and what they should expect to bring for the week, usually $100-200 minimum for things is a great place to start
PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA , everyone loves pizza (expect for Cully because hes a meme) (Canada Meetup for example, chicken wing only-eatin mofo)
and whoever hosts should have a decent internet speed and a decent computer that it can run clone hero with 4 people at a time without it lagging to
all hell, one of the things that didnt go to plan many times now is we wanted to go to a specific amusment park and we told
people to save up for it, but a couple guests that do go dont ever have the money to go for it so to be fair for them, we all decide not to go
which sucks but its what friends do, they make compromises. just all in all , make sure the people you invite dont have any beef with
one another, or it will bring down the fun atmosphere you are going for. As a host there really isnt much you have to do but just again tell people
whats in the area to do and what they can expect for the week and if they need anything feel free to ask!
-jdurand11143

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My advice is simple. Hosts can plan it any way they please. The people attending need to be respectful and understand that it is somebody else's home and when they leave that person is left with the damage. A big problem I had is people blatantly ignoring rules. Example, I asked everyone once my parents got home to not sleep upstairs per my mother's request. It then continued to happen 3 more times and I got in shit every time.
Another thing with attendees is people need to realize that there are multiple people there and it became overwhelmingly hard to make decisions based on what to do when you're being pulled in 10 different directions
Especially when it came to food
-PriestNMR

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I have to be honest and say more things went wrong than right though lol. I charged 15 dollars, but I've seen some people charge 20 or 25. Most of the time, I felt like I had to act as damage control and barely had any fun, honestly. A big problem I had was that people almost never ask without doing something or getting something. I think if you provide too much (we were extremely generous with getting food and drink for meetup) then people just take what they want, thinking you're loaded with money, and really take advantage.
I don't think a planned cleanup time would be less stressful; I think it would be much better if people just cleaned up as they went. You also have to be careful about people bringing enough money after the initial charge so that there are less complications when it comes to food and such. OH YEAH also communication is BITCH! Nobody listened to anything and we kept having to tell people the same thing literally ALL WEEK.
The biggest problem is that people don't pick up after themselves with anything until the "cleanup" day. That may work for other people, but the host should be considered in that regard, I would think.
But I think if you want to avoid some of these problems, keep the meet up to 5-6 people MAX
-Anonymous