[Scott F.]

Hiya guys,

Sounds like we had a pretty active weekend with the GAS group. There’s been a fair number of mini-gatherings going on, lots of new gear getting exposed or systems getting tweaked. All great stuff!

As we’ve grown, I (personally) don’t see any other way to do gatherings. I’m not sure anybody could handle all of our 30 (or so) members if we had everybody show up. It’s just a fact. Most people can only handle four or five and then you run out of room. Heck, there’s only one or two of us that could handle more than about ten guys in their room at once.

The great thing that I see is that we are active as a group, even if it’s on a smaller version at times. As we continue to grow in membership, we will continue to feel these growing pains. There will be a point where we won’t be able to gather as a single group at a single person's house. We’ll have to start splitting up into two or three more manageable sized groups and post what everybody played with (which we're already starting to do).

One thing that would be great is when there is a mini-gathering, be sure and make a post. Let everybody know who showed up and what gear you listened to. Maybe post some pics for the rest of us.

As we've grown in membership, our number of gatherings appears to have dwindled by the number of listening session posts here on AC. People might be reluctant to post a get together for fear that too many of us will show up to accommodate. OTOH, if we have smaller get togethers where we invite a handful of people we think would most enjoy the meet, there's always the fear that somebody might feel slighted if they weren't invited. If anything, I think you’ll probably find that some of the guys that didn’t make it over on the day of an announced gathering will probably contact you and want to come by at a later date. This let’s you show off your gear again.

Collectively, we’ve got some great gear that many of our members haven’t been exposed to before. The more we get exposed to new gear, the better prepared we all become when it’s time to make our next purchase or implement our next tweak.

In order to keep our members interested in staying members and staying active around town and here at the GAS regional Circle, we need to show that we are active, even if it’s in smaller groups, which are absolutely cool.

I don’t know if there is any good way to handle invites to the mini-gatherings. Maybe we can do like our neighbors at NYAR have done, make a post and let everybody know how many people can fit in your room. Then its first come first served. I don’t know,…maybe not. I honestly don’t have a good answer, hopefully you guys have some good suggestions. The point is we need to encourage smaller gatherings to keep ourselves active and having fun. In the same vane, we need to keep the rest of the group in the loop too. This will stimulate other mini-gatherings.

Obviously guys that live close to each other or are good friends are going to get together more often just to hang out and listen to music. That or maybe check out a new piece of gear or tweak. In my mind, those really aren’t gatherings, that’s just hanging out. Unless you guys want to post about something cool you found or a tell us all about great new piece of music, let those audio-hangs stay audio-hangs.

To kinda sum up (at least) my thoughts on the mini-gatherings my vote is go for it! Be sure let everybody else know there was a mini-meet. Tell us what gear you listened to, who showed up and be sure to post some cool audio porn pics (if you remember your cameras). Remember, it lets the rest of the GAS group know that we are active and doing stuff. Heck, even make a post when you take in a great concert (how was Ahmad Jamal BTW?) That insures that our membership will stay strong, active and continue to grow.

[mark@marktwain]

Hey fella's

I agree on the small gatherings. Although I for one would like to see a gathering invite posted at least every three months or so for us members that reside a ways out of town or I'm afraid were going to be left out in the cold.   I would host one myself If some of you guys are willing to take a road trip although I've downsized to prepair for the house sale and move. I tore down the high powered theater rig but my flea powered 2 channel rig will be set up till I move. I'm about 1-1/2 hours from Lambert Field.

As for all of the members getting together at once I doubt that it will ever happen. With 30 members or so I don't think everyone will be able to show up on the same date, probably 15 or 20 at the most. The gatherings which have been announced that I have been able to attend didn't have more than around a dozen I think and usually some arrive early and leave early and some arrive later and leave later so there not all there at the same time. That's still quite a few bodies for someones house and to stuff into a small listening room though. If we need to get together at a meeting room somewhere that's cool too or someones garage or basement would probably work too. They could leave their rig set up in the house and any gear coming in could be set up in the garage, just a thought.

Anywho I guess my point is I'm very thankful that I found this group, I really enjoy getting together with you fella's and don't want to be left out.

Mark

[alana106]

Well said Scott....You managed to sort out and post many of my thoughts. (Much better than I could have)

Being new, it was great to having a group over.  Thanks again to everyone who attended.  I would have liked to open up the invitation to the entire group and meet some of the other members.  
I probably have a little more space that some of the members, but I was afraid to just stick an open invitation to the entire group, and see how many decided to attend.

  Should someone in the group be considering purchasing gear similar to what I have, or just care to have a listen, send me a message, and I'll be happy to work out a time for them to drop by.

 In the near I hope to do some tube rolling with the Rogue and other possible changes, and it would be great to have a couple of extra sets of ears to help evaluate.  I may be asking for volunteers.

  I'm grateful that this group exists.  Attempting to discuss audio to any of my other aquaintences, results in a general response, of only a distant stare.  

Alan

[electricbear]

I for one do not feel upset or left out when I hear about small gatherings at someones house. It is just about impossable to get more than a handful to fit into most homes. We do however need to feel free to discuss and post these mini gatherings .

[mark@marktwain]

I hear ya on the deer in the headlights look Alan, and then they usually ask WHY??? While they

Mark

[DeadFish]

Yeah, what you guys said!  

I hope the whole GAS group knows that anytime any of you want to hear what I'm listening to, you are more than welcome, given we can work out a place in time.   Of course, you have to drive across the world to Illinois.   In fact, given the fact that my Altecs are in the attic room where there is more space than anywhere else in the house, I have a tendency to stay downstairs *most* of the time, unless someone comes over.  Oh, I do have small gatherings of 'me' (and the critters) on a regular basis, but we always argue about what to play.  (I'm not fond of the cat's tendency to listen to The Chipmunks do 3 Blind Mice)
 
Most certainly, I have enjoyed the heck out hearing what you guys listen to, both gear and musicwise, as I have a tendency to just huddle down with what I know.

I'm glad you brought this up Scott.  To a certain degree, we get to participate in a little 'cultural evolution', if we're not afraid to not know the dance steps...

BTW, Alan, I didn't get a chance to thank you for your recent hospitality.
Your speakers do a great job of filling that nice big room.  Now, if we could  introduce a few rows of stadium seating in there...
 

Hang in there brothers, we can work it out...

Best Regards,
DeadFish

[alana106]

Deadfish Wrote

(I'm not fond of the cat's tendency to listen to The Chipmunks do 3 Blind Mice)

Bill,

  I'll keep an eye out and see if I can find this cut on SACD, or possibly one of the master copies in vinyl.  You know it must be available.

Alan

[DeadFish]

And another thing:
                           I know what I was forgetting to add before.
All the opinions, like others have said.
Whether you agree with me or don't agree with me, or

Bill,

  I'll keep an eye out and see if I can find this cut on SACD, or possibly one of the master copies in vinyl.  You know it must be available.

Alan

                           ...........just being a wise ass.
I need new material frequently, and y'all are helpful.

[Scott F.]

...I'm glad you brought this up Scott. To a certain degree, we get to participate in a little 'cultural evolution', if we're not afraid to not know the dance steps... ...

Yer right. Its going to be the natural evolution of GAS. Our groups will get smaller but we'll probably meet more often.

Not sure about you guys but in my mind, smaller groups tend to have a tighter focus than large groups. The big ones can get a little chaotic but thats kinda cool too.

Plus, certain people focus on different things in audio. Like Steve, right now he's on the prowl for a DAC (or at least he was). If somebody has a DAC he hasn't heard beforem he's likely to try to attend a gathering where a different DAC is in a system. Its just the nature of things.

Speaking of DAC's and mini-gatherings, since my wife is off to the Cubs Cards series in Chicago with her brother, sister and niece this weekend (all three games I might add), I'll be loafing around in the listening room if anybody wants to hang. I've got the Hagerman Chime in plus I'll probably set up the 2A3 with the new Lowther Alerions in the Grape Room.

Not to mention, I've been listening to vinyl all night. Now I remember why I bought this thing  I know its short notice and completely unplanned but y'all are welcome infin y'unt to.

[bpape]

I agree.  Big groups are fun just to sit around and BS and listen where smaller groups are more focuesd when doing some eval of specific things.  

I'm still going to try to do the BarBQ thing that never came together last year.  I'll put up a thread for folks to put up weekends that are 'out' to see how best to maximize attendance.  Hopefully, will have the upstairs system upgraded by then, 4-5 people listening.  Downstairs in the theater, I can seat about 9.  Others can throw piks, shoot pool, play cards, BS, etc.  

Damn Scott.  I wish I wasn't so busy this weekend.  I'd love to bring my speakers over and try out the Korato, Chime, amp? combo.

[JoshK]

Scott,  

I hear where you are coming from, we in the NYAR are thinking about how to deal with this exact situation ourselves.  Its inevitable.  Its a good thing but at the same time makes gatherings more difficult to manage.

I'll have to read this thread more thoroughly later and get some of the ideas you guys come up with.

*Oh hey look, this is my 5000th post!*

[Scott F.]

Scott,  

I hear where you are coming from, we in the NYAR are thinking about how to deal with this exact situation ourselves.  Its inevitable.  Its a good thing but at the same time makes gatherings more difficult to manage.

I'll have to read this thread more thoroughly later and get some of the ideas you guys come up with.

Hi Josh,

It's tough but but I think we can do it.

Just thinking out loud again, lets say a couple of guys decide to have a gathering. They want to compare DAC's (or something). They post it and ask for anybody that has a different DAC to attend. They limit the gathering to say 6 people. If the response is more than 6 people, we still hold the event but then hold a subsequent event at one of the other guys houses on a different date (and so on). That gives anybody wanting to compare that DACs, several opportunities to hear them. It also lets you experience them in several different systems so you can get that synergy thing going.
Something like that might work.

Then again, a couple of different people (or even three) could offer to host smaller gatherings on consecutive weekends with a completely different focus at each venue. That could be loads fun too.

I know Sturgus brought up a good one. Try a 'progressive' gathering where you start at one persons house, then move to the next, and then the next and so on. You could have staggared arrival and departure times with a small caravan of cars. If you had it at say four different houses, that automatically drops four from the attendee list. Then if you break it up into as three or four groups of four (where they could all ride together), that makes the total attendee list five, including yourself. Concievably, that concept could handle 20 people for an afternoon and evening of 90 minute sessions.

Theres a way to do this, I'm sure. With all of us thinking about it, we'll figure something out.

Hey Josh, maybe let your guys know we are having this discussion. I'd bet they have some good ideas too.