Who lives in what city?

[ocluke]

I've been thinking about how poor my attendance has been to with Brewcommune club meetings, brew days, events, etc., mostly because I live on the border of Newport Beach/Costa Mesa, which is a little removed from where a lot of the action takes place with the club (maybe a lame excuse, but I'm going with it). That said, it would be great to know which Brewcommune members lived closer to me. As far as I know, none do.

Even though a Google Map with every member's location would be useful to see and help us all connect more often with each other, I can see how that might be an issue for various privacy concerns (unless it was opt-in?). Any other thoughts on how we can all find others who live closer to us? A directory of sorts?

I'm sure there are people who are members of this community (whether they're paid members or not), that would become more involved if they knew there were other homebrewers in their area.

Feel free to chime in with ideas, thoughts, reasons why this is a bad idea, etc.

[JonW]

I hear you on wanting things closer. I'd like to see something out my way as well.

From my observations, I think there is a larger contingency of people from the Anaheim, Orange, Tustin areas than any others, so that is where we usually end up. I just did a google map and I'm 24.5 miles from Out of the Park Pizza and you're 20.2, so you really have no excuse for not making it more often!

It was brought up at the last meeting to try and find some alternate places to meet so we could move it around a bit. Do you want to make contact with Newport Beach Brewing and see if they would host us?

For the paid member list, I wouldn't be opposed to having our city displayed next to our name.

[bwarbiany]

From my observations, I think there is a larger contingency of people from the Anaheim, Orange, Tustin areas than any others, so that is where we usually end up. I just did a google map and I'm 24.5 miles from Out of the Park Pizza and you're 20.2, so you really have no excuse for not making it more often!

Phew! I'm 24.8 miles from OOTP, so since I'm 0.3 mi farther than JonW, I have an excuse!

It was brought up at the last meeting to try and find some alternate places to meet so we could move it around a bit. Do you want to make contact with Newport Beach Brewing and see if they would host us?

NBBC can get a bit loud unless you're on the patio... But I'd be in favor of this, or perhaps Steelhead, for a meeting. Even Tustin Brewing Co would be more feasible for me...

For the paid member list, I wouldn't be opposed to having our city displayed next to our name.

I'm good with that as well.

[backyard brewer]

Not the same atmoshpere as someplace that serves beer, but I just leased a second unit and can host the March meeting at Brewers Hardware if people want to try a location in HB. At least, I think I'll still have room by March.

[ocluke]

I did give a disclaimer in my OP that it was a lame excuse. That said, it's still a reality. Google maps shows it's a 54 minute drive during typical drive time to get to the meeting on time (55N).

I'd be happy to call Newport Beach Brewing Co. (they are actually quite mellow on Tuesday nights and have a private area for large groups), but if Tustin Brewing Company is a more centralized location, we should explore that option. TBC has much better beer, while NBBC's food is better -- but I hear Derrin's beer and food is the best!

All that to say, the purpose of my original post wasn't really about monthly meeting locations. I feel like I should be the last one to have a say on that subject, considering how many meetings I've attended. The reason I posted was to see if other forum members are interested in knowing if there are other homebrewers that live in their area, and if so, if Brewcommune can somehow facilitate that need.

I'm sure that most active Brewcommune members already know where each other live. I can't speak to how many people visit Brewcommune vs how many users login to the forum vs how many are paid members vs how many actually attend meetings, brew days, etc. I'm sure the powers that be have that information. I would venture to guess that the numbers of those that participate more actively would go up if we had more local community and informal "hangouts" going on (e.g. one or two guys come over to drink beers, help with a system build, etc.). I could see more hangouts happening if we knew about one another? I could be completely off here. Heck, I could be the only one living in my area.

[Greywolf]

I used to be somewhat close... in Westminster, though just recently moved out to the IE... I'm now 30.9 miles on the other side of Out of the Park... which puts me about 55 miles from John's place... ugh...

I do still work in Fountain Valley, so... I may work something out with y'all if there's are meeting scheduled

[dhempy]

To OOTPP

84.4 mi, 1 hour 28 mins
In current traffic: 1 hour 45 mins
CA-118 E and I-5 S


'Nuff Said ...

Dan

[Greywolf]

You win... though I'm not sure what you win....

[dhempy]

I win "Best Excuse"!

Dan

[Grande69]

5.1 miles to OOTPP, I'm spoiled!

If my house was bigger we could hold the meeting there, then I'd be even closer!

[lexuschris]

Thanks for all the good meeting location suggestions!

As we discussed at January's meeting, we will definitely add some more locations into the rotation so that we hit various sides of the Orange County area. It is a rather large area, for being one of the smaller counties in California.

As for finding who is near you, you can click on the 'Members' link up in the forum header and sort by 'Location'... like this! At least you can see who registered in various locations, and such.

I also think those informal 'brewer's lunch' and 'meet me for a drink' are great ideas and will find folks who are close to the location suggested.

More to come!
--LexusChris

[bwarbiany]

As for finding who is near you, you can click on the 'Members' link up in the forum header and sort by 'Location'... like this! At least you can see who registered in various locations, and such.

I'd rather it go here: http://www.brewcommune.com/forum/viewto ... t=6#p22096

The forum forum members list, with its 525 people is obviously not representative of actual club membership or participation. And to have this be part of the paid member list is just one additional "perk" for paid members that could get a few folks off the fence... Knowing someone that may be a paid member but who doesn't post often is nearby might help schedule some of these meets.

[backhousebrew]

I'll start a new thread and call it "Meeting Places" where we can discuss finding new locations to hold our meetings.