We're Headed To Wordstock In October. Are You?
Last month we held out first official meetup at a pub in Manhattan. It was a huge success, in that nobody died. Also, everyone was really cool and we all became best friends forever. A number of our West Coast members expressed some dismay at not being able to fly across the country to attend.
So how about this? You know Wordstock, the annual literary festival in Portland, Ore.? It's scheduled for Oct. 11 to 14 this year--and we've gotten ourselves an exhibitors table on the Saturday and Sunday. We're going to be in town anyway, so who's down for a meetup?
Our very tentative plan is to find a place for Friday night, go out, and grab some drinks. It'll be fun.
And given that this is built around a big-deal literary festival, and not some random weekend in the summer, we might just have some special guests in attendance...
So, head down to the comments, let us know if you're down to party. And mark those calendars.
News by Rob Hart
Rob Hart is the class director at LitReactor. He also wrote The Warehouse, which sold in more than 20 languages and was optioned for film by Ron Howard. Other titles include the Ash McKenna crime series, and Scott Free with James Patterson. His next novel, Paradox Hotel, is due from Ballantine. Find more at www.robwhart.com.
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You're giving me an excuse to visit Portland? Hmmmmmmm....
Oh, I'll be there. Are we meeting at Mary's? And then a tamale plate next door after?
Wish I could, but that's too far north for me and at the wrong time. My family is in the SF bay area, and I likely won't be back to visit until winter break due to school. But hopefully a bunch of folks can show up and take lots of pictures for the rest of us poor suckers.
Wouldn't miss it!! Will there be puppies and ice cream?
Stupid. Fucking. Wedding.
I have a wedding to go to the week before that is going to suck all my extra funds and babysitting connections. All these reminders make me hate myself.
Yep! I'll be there, along with crew from Writer.ly and Hedgebrook.
I'm coming. I can't wait.
I will definitely try to make this... love Portland!
Yes! I live in Portland, so I definitely wouldn't miss it!
Yes! I live in Portland, so I definitely wouldn't miss it!
Um, yes. Fantastic idea.
I won't be able to make this one, but maybe AWP in Boston?
I wouldn't mind meeting up and drinking with a few writers. I live about 3 hours from Portland, so I might be down to attend and get drunk and
argue about grammardiscuss lit'rature.Yay!
I am working the Wordstock Festival, so I will definitely be there. And I need to cash in a favor for babysitting, so hopefully I can attend any meetup. May I suggest the Doug Fir as a spot? The food is decent and there's space. I've only lived in P-ville for a few years, so maybe there is a better spot, but this one is pretty close to festival and it's very Portland-y. If that's a word. :)
i wish. east coast, west coast, sounds like Chicago is up after that, yeah?
I'm going.
I envy those who can go. Maybe next time.
Liana, I wish you could be here. I wish everyone could be here. This is going to be fun. Taylor, Doug Fir is an awesome venue...particularly the music. But it gets slammed on Friday nights and the service frequently suffers because of it. And, the last thing we want is a shortage of booze, right? He-he. No, I love that place. Great suggestion.
I have some other places in mind though, if we want to entertain them.
And, no, Mary's isn't one of them.
But...Dancin' Bare might be.
I'm thinking it would do good to tell them how many of us (roughly) and what time to expect us. Let's go a little later than suggested before
(6:30) I'm thinking 8:00 if the place serves copious culinary delights and also good food... 9:00 if our official party spot is the ultimate cool watering hole, but do yourself a favor and eat somewhere else first. Does that make sense? We'll converge earlier if the place is equally good for eats as for brews. In either case, we'll make it a little later than suggested before.Some of us may be engaged in getting out to the ocean and other outdoor adventures in the early afternoon. So ample time to land downtown again would be good. A bar in the Pearl District, if possible, but anywhere nearby along The MAX line would be fine, too. The important thing is they aren't scared to accommodate a group of 12 or 20 serious book readin', hit points rollin', supergeeks.
And what happens when the very same kind start putting back the clear and the colored bottles? Ships revelry. That's what. Eight months at sea and we've landed in the happiest port city in the world. Bring on the college educated, feminist vegans, embalmed in fake tribal tattoos and piercings, with all sorts of postmodernist social theory on whether the philosphical concept of agency pertains to erotic dancers. I have no idea. I shouldn't post these things after I've had my medicine.
Happiness knows no bounds. The Victorian Age is done. Therefore, Tantra for spiritual pracatice. And unusual forms of entertainment....Strip karaoke, anyone? Will Portland allow us back again next year?
Been to Strip Karaoke. Will do it again.
Mark, you are already getting warmed up, I see. Well, it is 4:20 here...so hang on a second...okay back.
Well, I think we might be more than 12 people. So far it sounds more like 20 to 30.
I have a few places in mind-so far...they would like us to let them know how many and whatnot:
Doug Fir: Central location boutique hotel with a great live music venue in the basement (some of the best acoustics in Portland) and a decent bar--slow service on busy nights. Food is decent and there is a large outdoor patio with a dozen or so picnic tables and another adjacent fire-pit lounge area. A short strut away is Union Jacks...a very proper and respectable establishment with a great Eastburn history.
Produce Row Cafe: Word is one can roast bowls here...and they serve good beers-n-booze and pub grub. Inner east side right next to the river and the Burnside Skatepark for all of you Paranoid Park Gus Van Sant fans. Close in, but can become quite crowded. Casual.
Radio Room: full-service restaurant and bar with multiple spaces including two bars, an outdoor fire-pit (smoking permitted) and an upper deck with a fireplace (smoking also allowed). A marijuana plant was growing on the upper-deck for a couple weeks before anyone smoked it. Plenty of space to spread out...but three miles out of town in lower Alberta Arts District--a five-minute taxi ride on the freeway with some nice grit up the street to meander off to. Casual.
The Lovecraft Bar: Not big on food. But a nice hole-in-the wall with free pours and a dance floor in inner Southeast with surprises and a hot bartender (not divulging the sex of said hotnessesses.) DJ's, readings and all variety of chaosnesseses. Übercasual.Of course we could go dancing in Old Town or do some Karaoke at Chopsticks afterwards-- and take ecstacy, ya know, the usual things. But we should have a good base before we go there.
Plus, do not forget, Saturday morning there is Wordstock. That is what the acid is for.
What do you guys think?
My vote goes to Doug Fir or Radio Room.
I'm with Drea on this. Doug Fir and Radio Room look the most accommodating--each with large, multiple, and varied spaces. Between the two, I think I'm partial to Doug Fir, especially since it's centrally located and will be easier for many of us to find.
With the likelihood of 20+ people in our party, we should probably look into officially reserving a particular section. Please find out if they'll do so without a big upfront fee, and PM me with the details if they need any kind of deposit.
http://www.dougfirlounge.com/parties.html
"One of our most popular smaller spaces is the fireplace room, offering a cozy seating area around a rustic fireplace for 25 seated or 30 standing."
That sounds perfect, to me. It wouldn't keep anyone from checking out the much larger downstairs lounge area with the music, and we'd have a space upstairs where conversation is possible.
Might also note that while The Lovecraft sounds intriguing, it will likely be swamped. The Zompire versus HPL Film Festival Party is the very same night. It would be fun to go there and probably see some people in costume and we could swing it if we were coordinating how four or five people are going to move around in Portland together. The logistics get crazy with a party of more than 12.
What do you do when you go somewhere and you've got too many to be accommodated, but half your peeps haven't even shown up yet? Do you start walking somewhere else while text messaging all the others? Some things I learned when attending a few meetups with The Cult back in the day:
Okay, I will contact Doug Fir and check into reserving something. Sweet.
Hospitality, Teen and Minden are playing that night--Indie Pop.
Plus, from Doug Fir, there are a lot of places to stumble off to.
Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. We'll have something to announce about venue soon.
FYI to those following this thread: the Doug Fir is probably out of the running, as they wanted a rather hefty fee to reserve the space. We have a good alternative in mind, and we'll probably make it official within just a day or two. So please stay tuned if you'd like to have drinks with us in Portland on the early side of the festival.
McMenamins on Broadway? Near Lloyd Center. It's right on the new streetcar line, I think. Close to the MAX too. Just putting my two cents in. That's all.
Radio Room - Alberta Street Arts District
1101 Northeast Alberta Street, Portland, Oregon
radioroompdx.com
Upper Deck reserved for LitReactor Meetup
Friday, Oct. 12, from 7 - 10 pm Pacific
Upper Deck (description)
Seats fifty-six for dining (over 21 at all times :: smoking okay in all areas) in a pre-configured formation of tables with mixed bench seating and chairs. The deck is currently open air with an overhang over half of the tables. Heaters and a real wood-burning fireplace keep things warmer at night while the overhang and sets of large umbrellas keep out the sun when needed.
(Layout graphic)
http://www.radioroompdx.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/UpperDeckWeb.pdf
Three hours of posh urban camping with bar service and food. And us! Don't miss it.
Thank you, organizers!
Looking forward to meeting you, Drea! We're going to have quite a crew out there.
Chester Pane will be doing a Facebook events page for us and linking to it from this discussion thread, so please be sure to visit and 'like' that page and RSVP and all that.