Do you go to moots/meets and if so why? Is it the contact you like or the information you can learn by meeting people and if so can a virtual moot be just as good as or better than one where you have to perhaps drive for ages before getting to the venue only to find that most folk haven’t managed to get there for the night?
Well where I am there aren’t many who actually want to meet up frequently and therefore the nearest regular moots seem to be at least 20 miles away. So I was quite pleased by the idea of the county group organising a virtual moot. I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I thought that maybe because we all had an interest in common it would be easy to break the ice. But no, I was wrong. I found it much harder. No facial expressions to read, in-house arguments spilling over onto the board and although a brief welcome to newbie’s they seemed to forget that we wouldn’t know what they were referring to when they mentioned activities they had done but you couldn’t possibly have got to.
Nice people though they are it seems that the combination of the Internet and slight anonymity of some allows for a type of laziness in response. Well I persevered and tried again at a second meet. This time I thought go with topics in mind and possible conversations and see what happens. After all they also know nothing about me as I know nothing about them. And for a while it worked. But without the lubrication of either a good pint of cider or a hot beverage it seemed to dry up. So what to do? I don’t want to give up. I feel that these are people who having been on their various paths for longer than I have will be able to help guide me, whether that be in the form of simply suggesting reading matter or where to find information, through to in-depth explanations of subjects. Any ideas anyone?
Well where I am there aren’t many who actually want to meet up frequently and therefore the nearest regular moots seem to be at least 20 miles away. So I was quite pleased by the idea of the county group organising a virtual moot. I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I thought that maybe because we all had an interest in common it would be easy to break the ice. But no, I was wrong. I found it much harder. No facial expressions to read, in-house arguments spilling over onto the board and although a brief welcome to newbie’s they seemed to forget that we wouldn’t know what they were referring to when they mentioned activities they had done but you couldn’t possibly have got to.
Nice people though they are it seems that the combination of the Internet and slight anonymity of some allows for a type of laziness in response. Well I persevered and tried again at a second meet. This time I thought go with topics in mind and possible conversations and see what happens. After all they also know nothing about me as I know nothing about them. And for a while it worked. But without the lubrication of either a good pint of cider or a hot beverage it seemed to dry up. So what to do? I don’t want to give up. I feel that these are people who having been on their various paths for longer than I have will be able to help guide me, whether that be in the form of simply suggesting reading matter or where to find information, through to in-depth explanations of subjects. Any ideas anyone?
2 comments:
Ugh I'm sorry to hear about your problems finding ways to meet up with others and get discourse going. I too am stuck sorta out in nowhere, so the nearest places for me to go are quite an inconvenient drive for me.
I wish I had some sage words of advice for you beyond keep up the good effort. It may be that you just might get back some positive for the energy you are expending still yet. Maybe not barking up the same trees if they prove unfruitful, but all the same.
Thanks. We've got another one coming up so will see how it goes.
Post a Comment