[OzBargain 16th Birthday] Get Ready for IRL Meetups This November!

OzBargain is turning 16 this November!

We will be asking our members to organise off-line / in-real-life meetup events to celebrate OzBargain's 16th birthday in November 2022.

OzBargain16

List of Events

Please check these events and confirm with the organiser by voting Yes if you are going.

Date Time Venue, Location Organiser
NSW
Tue 8 Nov 1PM Butchers Buffet, Chinatown I Smell Pennies
Thur 17 Nov 6:30PM Dad N Daves Brewing, Brookvale impostor
Thur 17 Nov 7PM Me Tang Thai, Camden Cancelled twilsoncrow
Fri 18 Nov TBA TBA, Shellharbour/Wollongong Cancelled 1og
Sat 19 Nov 2PM The Commercial Hotel, Parramatta Cronium
Sun 20 Nov 5:30PM Holy Basil, Canley Heights twilsoncrow
Thur 24 Nov 7PM Thai Naan, Chatswood dust
Fri 25 Nov 7PM The Savoury Dining, North Strathfield impostor
Sat 26 Nov 1PM All about chicken, Coffs Harbour twilsoncrow
Sat 26 Nov 5PM Okami Japanese Restaurant, Penrith I Smell Pennies
Wed 30 Nov 7PM The Bavarian York St, Sydney I Smell Pennies
Wed 30 Nov 8PM Vandal Taqueria, Newtown bettina44
VIC
Thur 17 Nov 6PM Bad Shephard, Cheltenham neil
Sat 19 Nov 6PM The Abyssnian Restaurant, Kensington cerealsmok3r
Sun 20 Nov 12PM Meat Me Souvlakeri, Oakleigh cerealsmok3r
Sun 20 Nov 6PM Miss Pickle, Glen Waverley RIPwallet
Thur 24 Nov 6PM Fortress Melbourne, Melbourne CBD neil
ACT
Mon 14 Nov 6PM Portia's Place, Kingston cerealsmok3r
Tue 15 Nov 1PM Olive at Hawker, Canberra cerealsmok3r
Fri 18 Nov 7PM Gami, Canberra bargainsgrabber
Sat 19 Nov 7:45PM Hellenic Bistro, Woden bargainsgrabber
QLD
Sat 12 Nov 12:30PM Shabuhouse, Brisbane City stickyfingers
Sat 19 / Sun 20 Nov TBA TBA, Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast brisdaz
Thur 24 Nov 6PM Auckland House, Gladstone Specialist Diaz
Sat 26 Nov 12PM Big Roddy's Rippin' Rib Shack, Fortitude Valley ilyhu
WA
Sun 13 Nov 12PM Pachi Pachi, Victoria Park chuns
Sat 19 Nov 12PM Planet Royale, Northbridge mmd
Sun 27 Nov 5PM Mack Daddy's, Mount Lawley Michael15286
SA
Wed 16 Nov 7PM Pondok Daun Restaurant, Adelaide dust
Fri 18 Nov 7PM Little Bang Brewery, Stepney Spootage
Thur 24 Nov 7PM Okami Japanese Restaurant, Glenunga kickling
TAS
TBA TBA TBA corollachick

Original Post

In last year's birthday celebrations, our community has organised 14 events across Australia cities with 204 OzBargainers participating, and we are hoping for more to this year. Like in previous years, we are looking for volunteers to organise the events, and OzBargain will pay for meals, venue and hopefully some new T-shirts (if they get manufactured in time for November).

Here are what the organisers need to do:

  • Organise a birthday party for OzBargain in your city, on any day in November 2022.
  • Post a thread in Site Discussions to get started, titled it "[OzBargain 16th Birthday] <City> Meetup on <Date> at <Venue>". Add a poll with "Yes" and "No" as options, to get an idea who will be able to come.
  • Once the event gets enough traction, for example 15+ people that are confirmed coming, PM me so I can send the organisers some T-shirts to be given away.
  • Use the event QR code feature to record participants on the day of the event.
  • Organisers would need to pay for the food & venue first, keep the receipt and OzBargain will reimburse the cost (unless you can get the venue can invoice us directly). Basically we would like to keep the events free for the OzBargainers.

In light of past experience,

  • 8 out of 14 events last year were in Sydney, and some people went to as many as 5 different events. I know where there's free food you can find OzBargainers, but as some events have cap in number of participants I would like to ask those with lots of Not a Bot badge to let other people to have a go.

  • Please, we need more Melburnians to organise smaller events. neil has been organising Melbourne meetups in the past years — those got too large and too much work logistically. Don't complain that you only get one meetup in a 5 million people city — pull your hand up & organise one! We might provide bonus funding if you can get jv to come.

  • Due to inflation, we will increase the budget to $35pp. Half of last year's meetups blown over budget anyway, but that does not mean there's no hard limit — please be moderate :) Also note that we cannot pay for alcohol. Some people might choose to order drinks in the meetup events. Sorry they'll have to pay themselves if it's an alcoholic drink.

  • As these are free events, a lot of people indicated they will come in the polls but did not turn up — that turned out to be quite an issue for us & the organisers. For example last year's Chatswood meetup — 73 OzBargainers voted that they'll attend, but less than 40 turned up — when we have already booked the tables & paid for the meals. For organisers — maybe smaller meetup that people can order on the spot is preferred. Alternatively we can also sell tickets. $5 in our Melbourne event last year, but fully-refundable if you show up at the meetup.

I'll continue to update this post for the next 2 months. Hopefully I'll be able to meet some of you in these events.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I bring my SO to the meetup? What about kids?

Depending on the venues, some might not be kids friendly. Moreover, some venues can only fit a fixed number of guests so bringing more people on the day that were not previously registered to come might cause issues to the venue. As of bringing extra people to come to the meetup event:

  • You can bring an extra person, provided that he/she has an OzBargain account and has registered for the event (by voting Yes on the poll).

  • You can bring young kids who don't have an OzBargain account.

Q: I am an organiser and I have made a forum post. What else do I need to do?

If you have finalised the date, time & venue of the event, and have set up a poll for the meetup, you can then

  • Request for your poll to be set up as an "Event". PM @scotty for that. You'll see an extra "event" tab next to view & edit tab under the post title.
  • Add users who have voted "Yes" to the list of participants. These are the ozbargainers you will be expecting on the day! You (+ some co-organisers) will be checking these users in to mark them as attended.

For more information about the event checkin system, please see this help page. On the day of the event:

  • Be sure to be there!
  • Check in the users. If it's a large event (i.e. 15+ people), some kind of name tags would be helpful. Blank address labels are fine.
  • Enjoy the food and chat with other ozbargainers!
  • Pay for the event, keep the receipt(s) and email them to me ([email protected]), together with your PayID or BSB/Acc# so I can reimburse you.

Comments

  • +9

    I turned up here 1st

    • +7

      I turned up late and cut in line to say:

      In my professional opinion, the best locations for meet up events are gaming or other activity venues. They provide much more attendee interaction than simple restaurants.

    • +1

      @Scotty if there's one in parra I will Livestream.

      Wow this was 5 years ago..

      https://youtu.be/2ywwgTtuvIA

  • +1

    Wow there was actually a meetup in Tas last year… but it was in Launceston so I wouldn't count it 😉

  • +9

    Will alcohol be paid for when OzB turn 18? ;)

    • +1

      Hmm no. Sorry it won't be a wild party.

      • +3

        Think of it as an investment. In 9 months there'll be a boost to deals for newborns.

  • +6

    @jv are you keen?

    • +7

      Asking the real questions

      Like do you need to sign an NDA

    • +25

      If someone turns up claiming to be JV and they're not randomly emphasising words I'm gonna be suss.

      • +13

        Imagine an imposter identifying as the REAL JV - then the REAL JV shows up.

        Would be the most exciting story arc of ozbargain forums yet.

      • +15

        I once walked into a meetup where everyone thought I was scotty. Instead I chose to impersonate jv. I also impersonated jv at the Tassie meetup.

        Another time I rocked up to a Shopback party under a different name. I'm thinking next time I'll send my twin to attend multiple.

        • +1

          Please proceed, you are Clear for this year too.

        • I'm thinking next time I'll send my twin to attend multiple.

          You should turn up pretending to be JV, then have your twin turn up also claiming to be JV.

          • +3

            @smartazz104: what if everyone on the table are actually thinking they can be jv?
            so like
            you: hey ever1 im JV..
            other 10 say together: hey, i am JV too

  • +2

    For example last year's Chatswood meetup — 73 OzBargainers voted that they'll attend, but less than 40 turned up — when we have already booked the tables & paid for the meals

    I hoped they donated the excess food to OzHarvest or equivalent.

    • +10

      I hope scotty had the restaurant put the meals into doggie bags, froze them and had them for dinner for the following month or so. ;)

    • +19

      Lots of people pack the leftover into takeaway boxes — as expected from ozbargainers. However I am still hoping that those indicated that they will come do turn up.

      • +1

        We had plenty of leftovers? Wasnt this the Filipino restaurant? Maybe because I left a little early that I didnt realise there were leftovers

    • +4

      40 out of 73 saying they would attend is actually pretty good. Usually it's only like 25-30%

      • I was trying to predict how many no-shows there would be so I booked for ~50 people and ~35 people showed up. So we probably over-catered by around 10 which is still a decent amount of extra food.

  • +7

    Would love to organize another North Shore one but dust did a great job last year and still have young kids so the wife just said … no.

    • +1

      Bring her along for the ride!

  • +11

    asking for a friend, what happens if a mod tries to penalty box you irl

    • Depends on your friend.

    • +4

      2 words: Ball gag.

      • Does anyone know any funny ones?

  • -3

    Anyone please organise cabramatta ilcha korean bbq buffet!!!

    • -2

      someone doesnt like buffet ?

      • +16

        someone doesn't like organising?
        someone doesn't like meetups?

    • +6

      You can organise it yourself! I can guide you if you’d like

  • +5

    ill come with my bucket

    • +4

      unsure how i feel bbout come and bucket in the same sentence

    • +11

      And that, kids, is a prime example of why we have 73 people say they are coming and less than 40 turned up.

      • Well thats confusing! How?

        • +12

          In case you're genuinely unsure;
          A meetup could be fun, but going under the impression that people are going to use it to be obnoxious about their personal/political views is not fun.

          People say they would like go to, see comments like you posted, and decide against it after all, but don't bother/remember to change their RSVP.

          • -3

            @Sleeqb7: Oh, i would just assume that it would be full of obnoxious people anyway but dont worry everyone, I dont mind sharing or using deals with randoms but i certainly dont want to be in a room with most of you

            Feel safe to go :-)

    • +1

      So either way you wouldn't be able to go…

    • +3
  • +16

    Hopefully if I'm recovered enough to travel I'll attend with gifts from a few Chinese stores. Some have already reached out to me offering them.

    • +3

      Hope you're having bright moments and good days.

    • +2

      What happened!? :'(

      • +2

        Cancer. I'm cured but still a mess.

    • -1

      hahaa

  • We might provide bonus funding if you can get jv to come.

    JV is from Victoria confirmed.

    • +1

      This is like Carmen san Diego. We need another clue!

  • +2

    Nice..

    Or you could be @cerealsmok3r and organise at least 3 events and probably turn up at another 5 like last year

    • +2

      Watch me organise less and turn up more :^)

      Maybe…

  • +1

    @jv interested ? Happy to divide the bonus 😁

  • +2

    Just wondering is someone organizing a meet up in BrisVegas ?

  • @scotty Are you coming up to the gold coast? Or maybe even Brisbane?

    I will probably attend the Brisbane event. Is anyone stepping up?

    • +2

      I will be on the Gold Coast for family stuff early Nov but I don't think I will be able to attend any event then.

      • What, if anything, would help your decision to make time for Brisbane or Gold Coast OzBargainers?

        • I'll only be in GC for a few days sorting out stuff for family — I don't think I am able to take a break for meetups. Maybe when I am actually able to go there for holidays…

          • +5

            @scotty: You can leave the keys with me and I'll look after OzBargain for a couple of days.

  • +1

    Are there any pre-requisites to attending these meet-ups? Do we have to be a member for a long time? (Asking for a friend)

    • +1

      As long as you are a registered member on Ozb (which are you to post), you are welcome to attend after registering with the organizer

    • +9

      You will need to be a member of OzBargain, but no requirement on how long you have joined.

      We did have an incident last year where someone created an event post and suddenly a flood of new users signed up to want to attend that event — that's just dodgy. We will be checking for these abnormal activities.

      • +1

        Thanks scotty! I was thinking of bringing my parents as well, both are recent members after long time lurking at deals from time to time.

  • +2

    I wanna go to a meetup in Melbourne and see @tightarse

  • +7

    Couple of updates.

    • Sydney - I'm having a chat with Dad & Dave's Brewing in Brookvale to see if their venue is feasible but as I'm in Melbourne, need a volunteer.

    • Melbourne - In discussion with Fortress Melbourne but they've significantly raised their min spend so still working out with them hopefully early November. I think we can up the number of attendees to 75.

    • Non-Central Melbourne - Still thinking of a good place outside of city. Since most people in Victoria live in South East suburbs somewhere down there might be good. Maybe a business that posts on OzBargain?

  • +2

    Brisbane bargainers! Let's party!

    Looking for sponsors, prospective attendees (still working on a venue and date), and volunteers to help me organise and run the event.

  • Is anyone able to organize a meetup at Dad & Dave's Brewing in Brookvale NSW? I can organize the logistics, payment etc through email but just need someone to give away t-shirts, check-in people, and be the point person on the day.

    • +3

      If needed, I can volunteer though I am also planning to host one in Strathfield

      • Sounds good, will PM you.

    • Yep I can run it if no one puts there hands up. I’m planning on making some events as well but looks like NSW is set haha

  • +1

    Nothing for Sydney CBD? :(

    • +1

      I’m trying to plan some around Sydney atm

    • +1

      @Serathis Register your interest for Sydney CBD here

      • +1

        Thanks mate wooop!

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