Possible QL Is 40 event, UK

[dilwyn]

A small group of us are hoping to plan a UK-based event to celebrate 40 years of the QL later this year (jealous of the success of the recent event in Spain, no doubt!)

I emphasise we've only just started planning, so can't yet say anything will happen with any great certainty - we have yet to find a venue, for example.

My thinking on this was:

• There has been a resurgence of interest in the QL in recent years - QL Forum has over 1,000 members now, and the Sinclair QL For Everyone group on Facebook has 1.6K members.
  
  The work of people like Peter Graf, Derek Stewart and Vitaly (Tetroid) and other individuals who've worked so hard to produce useful new hardware has injected a lot of new enthusiasm.
  
  My own website has experienced more visitors recently than it has for a long time.
  
  The "Welcome Area" on QL Forum experiences a steady trickle of new members introducing themselves from several countries.
  
  The recent event in Spain managed to attract 40 attendees - in the UK, that would have been a good figure for the events we used to have years ago, but of course interest in the QL has if anything grown a lot since back then

To start the discussion, I'd like to invite suggestions for preferred dates and venues this year, and who might be interested in attending. Left to our own devices, it'll probably happen in the Manchester or Lancashire areas, easy distance from the M6 motorway and Manchester airport.

My personal thinking is that the venue should be fairly central in the UK, reasonably equidistant for both ends of the UK, and close to a major airport (for anyone from outside the UK) and motorways, reasonable access to public transport.

[napsternds]

Dilwyn,

That would be a great initiative. If it finally happens, I am sure that, if calendar fits, some representation of the Spain group would be willing to attend. Personally, Manchester area would be great.

Go for it!!!!

[XorA]

There has been a resurgence of interest in the QL in recent years - QL Forum has over 1,000 members now, and the Sinclair QL For Everyone group on Facebook has 1.6K members.

I would take those figures with a touch of salt though, Facebook like Twitter before it is famous for being mostly bot accounts. The majority of qlforums members have never posted. Check any thread and its the same 10 or so people normally!

[badaman]

A small group of us are hoping to plan a UK-based event to celebrate 40 years of the QL later this year (jealous of the success of the recent event in Spain, no doubt!)

XD

The location where the event takes place is important. We could have had more visitors if the event had been in Madrid, since some of the people from the QL scene in Spain were missing, but we wanted to do it in the facilities of what will be the Computer History Museum.

London seems like a good idea to me for those visiting the United Kingdom for the first time, but if a suitable route or access is identified, I think Manchester could also be an option for those coming from outside the island.

In my case, I can travel from Lisbon, directly to Manchester or London, at a reasonable price.

I want to contribute my grain of sand. If the community approves, you can use the logo I designed for the 40th anniversary. The logo contains, mixed, the "4", the "0", the "Q" and the "L". (I would send in SVG for printing)



You can count on my help.

[stephen_usher]

Finding a small computer museum and asking if they could be a venue could be a good plan as they would have the facilities to help with any equipment and knowledge of what's required (such as power sockets!). Some will also have classroom type areas they can use for this sort of thing. They could also be cheaper than many venues.

Maybe the North West Computer Museum could help? (Their web site is really annoying though.)

[dilwyn]

Is that http://www.nwcomputermuseum.org.uk? Because the website doesn't work at all atm.

There is a Facebook page with contact details, but little by way of actual information and pictures that I could glean from a quick visit. It's also so s-l-o-w as to be pretty unusable.

If anyone from that area has visited and knows anything about the place, it'd be handy to have a personal recommendation and local knowledge. I assume we mean Leigh, west of Bolton/Manchester area?

[stephen_usher]

Is that http://www.nwcomputermuseum.org.uk? Because the website doesn't work at all atm.

There is a Facebook page with contact details, but little by way of actual information and pictures that I could glean from a quick visit. It's also so s-l-o-w as to be pretty unusable.

If anyone from that area has visited and knows anything about the place, it'd be handy to have a personal recommendation and local knowledge. I assume we mean Leigh, west of Bolton/Manchester area?

Yes, but the web site only works if you have a full Javascript capable browser as it's a stupid pseudo green screen display writing the data out at a simulated 300 baud. It's non-interactive too. I've seen worse web pages but not many.

[dilwyn]

Is that http://www.nwcomputermuseum.org.uk? Because the website doesn't work at all atm.

There is a Facebook page with contact details, but little by way of actual information and pictures that I could glean from a quick visit. It's also so s-l-o-w as to be pretty unusable.

If anyone from that area has visited and knows anything about the place, it'd be handy to have a personal recommendation and local knowledge. I assume we mean Leigh, west of Bolton/Manchester area?

Yes, but the web site only works if you have a full Javascript capable browser as it's a stupid pseudo green screen display writing the data out at a simulated 300 baud. It's non-interactive too. I've seen worse web pages but not many.

OK, I won't bother with the website then. M$ Edge just said the website wasn't available. One thing I did notice from their Facebook is that the museum is on the fourth floor (might be an issue with carrying QLs up there) of the Leigh Spinners Mill - don't know what car parking wpuld be like at a busy-looking place like that, but they do have meeting spaces, cafe and classroom areas. I'll wait to see if anyone local has information on the place (it looks easy to find (M60/A580/A572) before I contact them to get prices and availability (unless anyone advises me not to bother).

[XorA]

That computer museum has already been contacted by rob!

[dilwyn]

That computer museum has already been contacted by rob!

OK, I'll wait for him to let me know.