DOT LOUNGE Happy hour

[hummingbird]

May 9, 2008, 2:59am, liamkelly wrote:May 8, 2008, 4:07pm, kg wrote:Hey, did somebody say EXACTLY SIX MONTHS until we lounge again!?!? Are the dates for this year's Rally up anywhere? If I'm to use my airmiles (which is the only affordbale route for me) I have to book way in advance.Anyone know?http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?b ... 925&page=1

[liamkelly]

Thanks KG & Hummingbird

[Casey H]

I was readin' sumthin' squids mentioned on another thread and also doing some thinking... Last year's "dot" thing was a phenomenally great experience that I'll always treasure. Meeting so many of you was the best! This year most of us will be there again and I hope many new folks from the forum too. I know the "dot" thing made some people feel like there was this inner click and others were left out.So... I hope I don't get beat up for this but.... Maybe it's time to let go of the "dot" thing. I want anyone and everyone who hangs out here to feel a great big welcome as all of us forum folk meet in LA... Now, there should still be the ____ LOUNGE Happy Hour!!.... Maybe just the "Forum Lounge"... Or maybe we should solicit suggestions for a new name for 2008? P.S. This doesn't mean we wouldn't wear something on our badges so people can find each other. Whaddaya think?(God, I hope this isn't controversial... )

[hummingbird]

I was a member of this forum a few years back when other people were going to the Rally and I was not. I have to admit, I was a little jealous, it all sounded like fun and a great experience, and I didn't have the money to go and felt left out. Not that anyone was trying to make me feel left out, I just felt that way. And this was before anyone suggested dots.Well, last year was my third rally, but the first at this location. the purpose of wearing dots was so we who belong to this forum could find each other. In other location, we were so spread out and hundreds of people were milling around and it was very hard to find each other, even when we planned to meet. For my first two Rallys, I arrived at the Rally, was at the Rally for 4 days, and didn't meet 90% of the people who had said 'see you at the Rally'. So the wearing of the dots was to help us get past the "invisible in the crowd" thing & find each other. More than that, though, last year we actually planned to get together and that also cemented the relationships that had already been established between the Rally-goers on the forum.So we joked around and called ourselves 'the dots', meaning 'members of the forum'. Anyone we met who was on the forum and not wearing a dot was given a dot to wear.Whether we call ourselves 'the dots' or not, the fact is that a large group of forum members spent time together in person, and had a pretty good time doing so, at a major career event is a fact. And it's one I'm not going to erase from my experience. I have many friends on this forum, some have been to the Rally, and some have not. Some who came to the Rally haven't been heard much from since the Rally. They'll be my friends whether they ever come to a Rally or not, or whether they wear/don't wear a dot or a plastic chicken, or grow their beards long.Everyone who belongs to this forum is a member of a clique - Taxi members who talk to each other, share information, offer guidance, review music, etc etc via this forum. Members of this forum who attend the Rally are members of another clique - Taxi members who are forum members attending the Rally (dots or no dots).I don't see how these relationships harm anyone. Quite the opposite, in fact, since I and many others who are Taxi members and forum members and have been to Rallys are here sharing our knowledge and experience with all the other members of this forum & all the lurkers as well. I understand that people who weren't able to attend the Rally might feel left out. I've been there. But whether you call them 'forum members who went to the rally (FMWWTTR) or dots (demented obscure taxians souffle) you can't deny that the members of this forum who went to the Rally connected with other members of this forum who went to the Rally. And plan to do so again this year.Just some Fri night thoughts from me.Hummin'bird

[kg]

I HAVE AN IDEA! Every forum member should wear "I Love Kelly Greene" T-Shirts! Ok, so wishful thinking right But seriously...I had this whole big thing typed out and it was a great reply and then my darn logout kicked in. I don't think this reply will be as good, but I'll try...What I want everyone to understand about the word "dot" is that it's just a nickname...just a silly sticker that we all used to identify ourselves to people who may not have been able to identify us in person being that we had only met online. It is a nickname that I am grateful for because it was an amazing experience to meet so many people in person and have that meeting lead to nothing but increased respect for and friendship with each of those individuals. That being said, I feel like I am just a close with and will have just as great of an experience when I meet some of the other board members who have not been to a rally yet, like Squids. She knows how I feel about her and yet I have only ever spoken to her through this board or email and I can't wait for the day I meet her face to face. Dot is not meant to be exclusionary, it's just easier than saying "Everybody-who-went-to-Road-Rally-2007-from-the-forum-who-just-happen-to-be-wearing-a-cheap-sticker Lounge" I believe I am seriously rambling now, but I'm just as excited about meeting more of you this year, and we will definitely need a way to identify ourselves again, because, let's face it, not everyone has a huge mop of easily identifiable curly hair or an avatar that's accurate. A cheap little dot sticker is an easy way to do it and it doesn't make us stand out so much that others feel like we're a different breed. It was my first rally last year and I was a little worried that I wouldn't get along with board members face to face, just because of another forum (not TAXI) where I met a number of members face to face and we all hated eachother. Anyway, I'm done. Don't feel left out, the dots from 2007 are just a few memories ahead and it won't be long before we all have a new set of them.

[Casey H]

May 10, 2008, 3:34am, kg wrote:I HAVE AN IDEA! Every forum member should wear "I Love Kelly Greene" T-Shirts!Damn! The shirts all came back from the vendor and they made a slight error... The shirts say, I Was Kelly Greene's Lover... Oops! Sorry, Weapon... Casey

[kg]

May 10, 2008, 5:32am, hurowitz wrote:May 10, 2008, 3:34am, kg wrote:I HAVE AN IDEA! Every forum member should wear "I Love Kelly Greene" T-Shirts!Damn! The shirts all came back from the vendor and they mad a slight error... The shirts say, I Was Kelly Greene's Lover... Oops! Sorry, Weapon... CaseyOMG! HAHAHAHAHahahahaha

[ragani]

May 10, 2008, 5:32am, hurowitz wrote:... came back from the vendor and they mad a slight error...LOL!!! HAHAHA!!! Now, I KNOW that's not a mad Freudian slip or nothing, Casey... May 10, 2008, 5:32am, hurowitz wrote:I Was Kelly Greene's LoverActually, I think you got the mens' t-shirt. To add my .02 here... I think the "dots" idea is a cute one. I appreciate the idea of not creating an exclusive kind of clique feel, and that's good to keep in mind for the Rally, for sure. (At least until we all sneak off to our "dot" party! Heh heh heh!) I also really appreciate knowing that there will be an easier way to identify all of you, to find you all. It's either that, or we all wear red leather jackets or something. LOL!! (I do kind of like the lighted dots on Casey's butt though...) Honestly, a friend of mind was at the Rally last year (I gave him my guest pass), and I only found him on a lucky break at one of the driver's ed classes. Now, I realize I don't have a cell phone, and that's part of my problem... This year I don't want to have that happen again and miss meeting all of you forum friends of mine. So I plan to wear a dot in November, because I don't look much like my hot, sexy, steaming avatar photo...Speaking of which, I've got some pink lemonade punch here to celebrate our half-way-there-to-the-'09-Rally date... I can't wait to meet all you dots next year! Raags

[Casey H]

Hey Raags... I fixed my spelling error... Not mad at anyone... ( winks at Kelly) Casey

[matto]

Maybe we could be wearing star stickers this year instead of dots...at least "star lounge" would sound "exclusive". Seriously though...people who don't attend the Road Rally *will* feel somewhat "left out", because they *do* miss out.Calling ourselves something else, or even nothing, won't change that.And every forum member who attends the Rally is welcome to wear a dot and become a dot if they want, so it's not an "exclusive club"...matto