London Ciao Meet > Reviews (14)

THE APOLOGY

Firstly I must start with an apology for breaking the first and most important of my “Ciao Ten Commandments”:

RICHADA’S Ciao Commandment No.1: Do not publish reviews if you are not able to read, and return read and rate, others’ reviews.

As many of you may be aware, I have been absent from this site for some months now, with every likelihood of being so for a while still to come. With the best will in the world I do not currently have time to participate on this site in a way that I feel does it justice. If anyone wishes to contact me socially though, my guest books are always open and I do read, usually responding to, any messages left there…….

THANKS TO

…….which is exactly how Mrs R (ADA) and myself (RICH) found ourselves visiting the very heart of London yesterday to attend a Ciao meet. Superbly organised, and discreetly hosted, by Raffi, A.K.A. hishyness, thanks too to Spence (sghawken) for coming up with what, for several reasons, turned out to be an excellent venue.

I would also like to offer Raffi particular thanks (unsung on the day regrettably), for planning the date partially to facilitate our attendance there – in turn, one or two nudges to friends old and new through their guest books was rewarded by the chance to enhance old friendships and, hopefully, fire up interesting new ones too.

A confession on my part – several present yesterday, Duncan (torr) especially, were well aware of my aversion to London, a factor that has kept us away from previous Ciao meets there. If they have been of similar “quality” to yesterday’s event then that has very much been our loss…..no good crying over spilt milk.

Further thanks to my make- up artist (ADA)……etc….etc…..

……but especially to a long-established Ciao friend of ours, Sarah (duskmaiden) for the pre-meet excitement in the form of a tour of St Pauls’s Cathedral, where by happy coincidence she works, and also for the experience of swift half in Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street. That such a pub can exist in our modern PC and safety conscious world is of great comfort to me…..I am disliking London less by the hour, thank you Sarah for that!

NO THANKS HOWEVER TO

British Rail (or however they brand themselves these days) for their extortionate pricing! Just this once I, honestly, tried to make the journey by public transport; at £42.50 for a return ticket for both of us to travel the 54 miles (1 hour 15 minutes), plus the £6.00 bus ticket from here to the station, the £24.00 that NCP charged my credit card appeared a bargain by comparison!

THE VENUE

Before setting foot in the place, Sarah described the All Bar One as a pub with no character. In a sense she was entirely correct. However, for a meeting of this kind it was the ideal venue, after all such a diverse group of people bring the character with them.

Large, open and airy, we had a great corner in the window – allowing smokers in the group to literally hop out onto the pavement for their nicotine fix without the rest of us having to shuffle out of the way.

By London standards the price of drinks was fair, as was the food, which I think only we and Sarah actually sampled.

We were not disturbed in the course of the five (rapidly passing) hours that we were there, nor, I feel, did our quite large group disturb anyone else in the establishment. Here at the All Bar One there was none of the “you’re sitting in my seat” mentality from the regulars, rather more prevalent in some of the provincial towns and cities in which I have attended similar meetings over the years.

THE MEET

Whilst many of the members present yesterday have attended far more Ciao meets that us, we have been to three previously and met a surprising number of other members socially on many occasions over the last five years or so. I am therefore able to tell you that a London meet has different character to it than any of the others that we have been to ‘in the provinces’.

Both “types” of meet have their pros and cons, but yesterday I was left in no doubt that a London meet draws in a far wider geographical spectrum of members – indeed the combined distance travelled by the members there present would have well exceeded 1000 miles. Far flung cities as diverse as; Carlisle (even if by adoption perhaps!), Cheltenham, Derby, Edinburgh and Norwich were admirably represented, having travelled only from Brighton, we felt like relative locals in such cosmopolitan company.

There were many stories and combined purposes behind many of the attendees presence in the Ludgate Hill branch of All Bar One on Saturday afternoon, but (sorry Mary) I have to single out Marymoose’s fantastic effort in travelling all the way down from the Cumbrian coast for the sole purpose of attending this meet…..

……find us a venue in Mooseport (sorry, Maryport) or Workington and we’ll gladly return the favour. I hope that I do not embarrass you by saying so Mary, but the meet was truly enriched by your presence.

I am not going to list in full all the other attendees present yesterday, if you are curious, or if this is all simply news to you (yesterday’s news perhaps now!) I would suggest visiting Raffi’s review – the one that indeed kicked it all off in the first place:
www.ciao.co.uk/Proposed_Ciao_Meets__Revi​ew_5912416 In a display of remarkable dedication to Ciao, he had updated the review before we had managed to arrive home and log on!

THE FREEBIES

Oh yes dear Ciao reader and non-attendee, you did not just miss out on some cracking good conversation and company, but also on some…..er……how can I most delicately put this? “Quality” Ciao merchandise.

Many of us over the years have in some way or other felt slighted by the faceless Ciao organisation – I’ve even published a fairly strongly worded review about it and have aired very real grievances. Other Ciaors present had their own opinions on Ciao’s contribution to the proceedings, both spoken at the time and no doubt appearing in print here some time soon too.

We do not, and never have, attended such meetings expecting to go home with anything other than fond memories and, if we are lucky, a new friend or two.

Indeed, in the greater scheme of things my presence on review sites (here or there) has never been motivated by any cash benefits, all of which, makes Ciao’s contribution yesterday all the more laughable. At a stretch the Ciao emblazoned plastic biros may come in useful……the lanyards, oh what on earth can I say about those? Maybe if Ciao had supplied a name tag box in which to place our name / user name it may have made more sense, as it was, this enormously heavy bag of promotional neck-wear appeared to have no particular purpose. The Ciao note pads, well they are usefully large and appropriately heavy, one wag (don’t worry I’m not naming names here) actually rather cynically edited the strap line on the front of mine to read: “(Y)our reviews drive (y)our sales!

Never mind Ciao, gift-horse and mouth on my part or not, you did actually make an effort and proved to those present that you actually exist!

Thank you for that……I have on many occasions been left wondering.

THE CHAT AND WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND THE NEXT ONE?

One answers the other really!

I am sure that many of you reading this could be wondering what on earth such a disparate group of people can come together and talk about for five hours. In truth just about anything and everything, reassuringly one comes to the conclusion that there is far more to members lives than merely “being on” Ciao, an impression often formed only by getting to know people only on the site.

Undeniably there is a strong element of Ciao chat – the competitions particularly spark up some lively debate, as indeed does the overall usefulness of the site, not only to members but to the populace at large.

To those of you who maybe have a pre-conceived idea that the whole thing is merely a glorified bitching session about other members, I can only encourage you to attend the next meeting in order to see just how wrong you are.

In conclusion, I and anyone else who attends these meets on a regular basis would tell you that they are an enriching experience, providing good company, often from unexpected members and even better conversation. In a sense one finds out almost as much about ones own Ciao persona as that of the personality of Ciao members, who, inevitably, one has judged on the site. In my case at least, I am usually pleasantly surprised when I meet members with whom I have been corresponding, in some cases for many years.

THE NEXT ONE?

Please Mary, call the next one in Cumbria…..even if only Adrianna and I, plus mystery guest (there is ALWAYS one of those at a Ciao meet!) turn up……

Otherwise folks it looks like yours truly, hosting Brighton, off season, February on the Pier……and no Ciao Freebies!

RICHADA © 08.08.10