GDC Indie Meetup...

[Curiosoft]

Hey folks,

For those of indies going to GDC, let's do a meetup. I'm thinking Wednesday night at 6 PM for dinner at Original Joes (near the convention center)....or....

maybe later on in the night at one of the hotel bars (9 PM).

Let me know what works best for you. I'll make a final decision right before GDC starts.

Take care,
Curiosoft

[Matthew]

Wednesday night is the IGF awards (6:30-8:30pm), which is going to collide for a few people. As for location, University Chicken--formerly Cluck U's--has a new location near the convention center. You can't go wrong with insanely delicious spicy chicken strips.

[Skinflint]

Minna Mingle is right after the IGF awards too. (8:30 to 1am)

I guess I was under the impression that the minna mingle was "the place to be" on Wednesday night...but I could be wrong. Anybody not going to the minna mingle for another reason besides "I didn't know it was happening?" (i.e. I hate those guys...or... they refused to let my monkey in so I'm not going... or ... ?)

[DrWilloughby]

I'd love to have a meetup but not during the IGF awards. I have to be there to accept my fifth place award. :D

[Midnight Synergy]

Ya, Wednesday night is not the best choice.

Two other options (not exclusive):
-Tuesday night after the Casual games summit?
-Monday night for the early-birds (I'm going to the Physics Tutorial, but it looks like most of you aren't coming until Tuesday?)

[Curiosoft]

Ok,

I'm thinking either Tuesday or Thursday night now.

Tuesday night at 8 PM may work best.

Any conflicts with Tuesday night at 8 PM?

Later,
Curiosoft

[Matthew]

My vote is for Tuesday--there are a lot of other events on Thursday (suite night, other parties, etc). People attending the classic days of the conference should be in town by Tuesday night, too.

[Midnight Synergy]

Tuesday sounds great to me (won't be in town Thursday night)

[Mike Boeh]

Tuesday works for me too, yay!

[ChilledOut]

For those of us not attending the tutorials, Tuesday's not really possible. Even though there's other stuff going on, my vote's for Thursday.

On the other hand, I'm sure I'll run into most of you anyway at various other events so I'm not too worried.

[Matthew]

The tutorials end at 6pm. I know the IGDA cocktail reception is on Tuesday night, but aside from that I don't think there are other major events going on.

[arcadetown]

Last year most everything was on Weds and Thurs night. Not sure but sounds like same thing is happening again this year so Tues probably best.

[James C. Smith]

Any night would be better than Wednesday

[TimS]

I agree.. no Wednesday for me... Beyond that, anything between Saturday night and... the other Saturday night... is good. (barring "work", but I don't think much of that'll be going on after hours)

-Tim

[Musenik]

I vote for Tuesday night. The chicken thing sounds interesting. Last year we ended up at Mel's Diner, after a prolonged adventure walking around downtown SF.

[Larry Hastings]

I was gonna post to suggest this dinner, too. I set up the indie dinner for the 2004 GDC. I guess he who hesitates is lost, huh.

I've been doing a little location scouting in San Jose recently--I live down near there--and I think a better venue would be The Sonoma Chicken Coop (http://www.sonomachickencoop.com/). Let's compare it to Original Joe's (http://www.originaljoes.com/), shall we?
Sonoma is a fresh-is-best California cuisine place, the sort of place where everything is ornate. OJ's is a traditional "red sauce Italian" place, as a friend of my puts it; steaks and chops, Italian dishes with red sauce poured over them, fresh spaghetti and ravioli.
Both restaurants have a large, varied menu, so everyone can find something they'll like. Sonoma has more compelling desserts, though. ;)
The food is way cheaper (http://www.sonomachickencoop.com/menu.html) at Sonoma. (Be sure to check out page 2 (http://www.sonomachickencoop.com/menu2.html)!) Most entrees are $10-12; the priciest menu item is Cioppino at $15. At OJ's, most entrees are $19-$25; the priciest menu item is a $37 porterhouse steak.
OJ's is always busy, unless you go there after 11pm on a school night. So we'd have to wait for a table. Sonoma is relatively new, and not a "San Jose institution", so it's less busy. They still get quite busy during lunch, but I think dinner is easier going. And they have more seating than OJ's anyway.
OJ's doesn't have any long tables, so we'd probably get split up. Sonoma has some very long tables indeed, in the patio (which is both covered and heated).
OJ's is a table-service restaurant with busy, distracted, indifferent waiters. At Sonoma, you stand in line and order at the counter, then pick up your food when it's done. You refill your own drinks, too. Slightly less classy, sure, but no waiting--and no tipping!
Parking near OJ's is difficult at best, unless you want to pay for a parking lot. Sonoma is next door to a civic parking structure which is free after 6pm.

The only downside I can come up with: Sonoma is a slightly longer walk from the convention center. Only an additional block or two, though. And, hey, with our sedentary lifestyles maybe that's not such a bad thing, either.

How's that sound?

By the way, if you'd like to read Bruce Schneier's take on the restaurants near the San Jose Convention center, you can read his guide (http://www.schneier.com/restaurants-rsa2006.pdf). (He's right, the chicken is better at Mucho's. But that's a much further walk, and their menu is a lot smaller, and they only have four-person tables.)

[Musenik]

There's also a fine oriental restaurant, around the corner on 1st St. It's in the basement of group of small shops on the west side of the street. They have very large tables for groups, and the food is very good.

I wonder if it's still in business...

[Curiosoft]

I was gonna post to suggest this dinner, too. I set up the indie dinner for the 2004 GDC. I guess he who hesitates is lost, huh.

I've been doing a little location scouting in San Jose recently--I live down near there--and I think a better venue would be The Sonoma Chicken Coop (http://www.sonomachickencoop.com/). Let's compare it to Original Joe's (http://www.originaljoes.com/), shall we?[list]


Ok, I'll consider it. But...here's a challenge for you....how can we all quickly and easily eat In-n-Out food?

Later,
Curiosoft

[Larry Hastings]

If you mean "what's the closest In-N-Out Burger", the closest one would be at The Mercado shopping center in Santa Clara. It's just barely east of 101, between Lawrence Expressway and Great America Parkway / Mission Blvd. If you were making a sly allusion to something else, you'll have to unpack it for me.

[Curiosoft]

k,

We'll definitely have the meeting at 8:00 PM on Tuesday night. I'll post the exact location in a couple days.

Take care,
Curiosoft

[Midnight Synergy]

Sounds great - I'm looking forward to meeting you folk.

Also, I'm at the Physics tutorial on Monday, and hence around Monday evening. If any other earlier birders are around and want to meet for a drink or a bite, please let me know.

[FlySim]

Where are you guys meeting on Tues?
I'm not going to GDC, but am doing contract work in Mt View, so San Jose is a quick drive and I'd like to join the dinner.

[Curiosoft]

Yeah,

Here are the final details for the Indie Meetup...

Day: Tuesday, March, 21st 2006

Time: 8:00 PM

Location: House of Siam (Thai Food)
http://www.houseofsiam.net/

Directions: Walk down San Carlos st. towards Market (go down until you hit 2nd street)....hang a left. Walk until you see a Starbucks on the left side. Walk a little more...you'll see a restaurant called "House of Siam"...

Exact Address:
The Pavilion (next to Strarbucks)
151 South Second Street
(across from San Jose' Rep)
Tel 408-295-3397 Fax 408-295-3412

For those of you that want to walk from the convention center....we'll be meeting at 7:45 PM near the fountain in front of the center. We'll walk from there to the restaurant.

Take care,
Curiosoft

[Drake]

Mmmmm, Thai yellow curry. Count me in. :)

[chanon]

!!! ... I wanna go !! (but i can't ... :()

[TimS]

Just walked by the House of Siam a bit ago... looks like it's gone out of business -- had some coming soon signs for a different place, but the insides were bare...

So -- any other good places close to the convention center?

[DFG]

Looking forward to meeting many of you there.

[Matthew]

Just walked by the House of Siam a bit ago... looks like it's gone out of business -- had some coming soon signs for a different place, but the insides were bare...

So -- any other good places close to the convention center?

I know Kukar's House of Pizza can handle large groups, and it's cheap/good. I haven't been myself, though (the CA volunteer program for the GDC retires there after every conference in San Jose, and say it's great). Within walking distance of the convention center too.

[Curiosoft]

Just walked by the House of Siam a bit ago... looks like it's gone out of business -- had some coming soon signs for a different place, but the insides were bare...

So -- any other good places close to the convention center?

The House of Siam IS OPEN. You were looking at the old location. Go to the address in my post...and you will find the new place :)

Later,
Curiosoft

[TimS]

Sorry about that... Who knew there were TWO of the darned things... Well Curiosoft knew... but who besides him?

Sorry for the false alarm there, see you folks at the other House of Siam....

:confused:

[Larry Hastings]

Are you looking for folks to RSVP? Or will we all simply descend on the unsuspecting restaurant en masse?

Also, what name will the table be under? Or shall I just find the group comparing notes on merchant account providers and 3D engines?

See you tomorrow night,

[James C. Smith]

Thanks Curiosoft for organizing this. It was a huge success.

[Ryan Clark]

Thanks Curiosoft for organizing this. It was a huge success.
Agreed; thanks very much, Curiosoft! It was great to meet James, Brian, the Oddlab guys, and (of course) Curiosoft/Action himself.

The food was good, too :)

[Midnight Synergy]

I agree - thanks, Action! Really great to meet people and finally put some faces to the various e-mails and pseudonyms.

[TimS]

Yes, thanks Action! I didn't get a chance to meet everyone, but it was good to meet a bunch of people from here that I hadn't met yet.

[arcadetown]

Obviously next year we're going to have to get a bigger place. Last year we filled up a large table. This year we filled up a section. Next year we'll fill up...

[TimS]

Yeah next year's options should be interesting... San Francisco here we come! :D I think I'm going to go start packing for that.

[Drake]

Thanks, Curiosoft! That was a good place. I wish I could've hung out to meet more folks, but I was soooo tired....

[Mike Boeh]

I was there, but I was still feeling sick- so I pretty much just sat there trying to get down my rice :( So "hi" to everyone if I didn't say it while there! :-)

[jetro]

Hi everybody who was at the meeting, it was nice seeing you!

Here is a few pictures from the meeting:
http://jet.ro/pics/GDC06_IndieGamerForums/

I know I'm really late with posting those, but I took two weeks of vacation after the GDC to spend time in California before returning to Finland.. and you know there's a huge backlog of stuff after being away for a few weeks.

Unfortunately I didn't catch names but only from a very few people, which I tried to scribe down to the notes going with the images. If I have some incorrect notes there, please tell me!

[impossible]

Heh, I'm in three of the pictures :) That's the advantage you get for sitting next to the photographer. TimS is the shady guy hiding. He was mistakenly identified as Shawn Recinto in picture where he's not hiding. I guess he doesn't want anyone to know his true identity.

[jetro]

Oops, don't know where that came from then! Fixed. :)

[TimS]

I know I'm really late with posting those

You call that late? Wait 'til I get mine developed and resurrect this thread (possibly in time for GDC '07)... One of the disadvantages of using that old 'film' stuff.

-T