Miscellaneous Forum

A VT virtual attendee is a VT member who would like to go to a VT meeting but for one reason or another, can't get there. So, a member who is going to the meeting, will adopt you. They will have something like a picture of you hung round their necks on a lanyard and you will be taken everywhere the member goes, you will probably heve plenty of photo's of you and your adoptive member having a good time. Remember that you could get into loads of trouble without realising it as well, depending on how well behaved your adoptive member is :o)

No such thing as a dumb question, as they say. A VA is basically someone who cannot physically attend the meet. What generally happens is that the organisers print out a photo of the VA (often laminated and hung round someone's neck on a lanyard) and the adopting member who is physicaly at the meet takes some photos of the photo (if that makes sense) in various places with the members who are there. It is really just a vicarious way of being at a meet if you can't make it.

Ah, another crosspost. Ricky, do you ever sleep?

What a great idea! Thanks Ricky and Fergie for providing light on that question. Glad that you both enjoyed it in Bergamo. Follow-up question I assume you sign up right before the meet?

Yes. Depends n the meet but there is usually some sort of post, normally in the Misc. Forum and you just say you'd like to be a VA. Obviously the more notice you can give the better. For the recent Euromeet (I wasn't there), I believe Hansi (waaleweiner) co-ordinated the whole VA thing, which must have taken some doing. I think it is a great idea so that people who cannot make it for whatever reason can feel involved. Just another thing to like about VT really.

The tradition was started in Baltimore a few years ago where we had a big vt meeting and since then it has continued at most other big meets.

Thanks Claus, I had never actually known how it originated.

I have been known to go to bed before 3am, not often, but it has been known :o)

Everything said above is 100% correct . Some years ago the VA thing was done by a VT member who mmade a lot of effort and spent a lot of time and money on this project . I found a way to do it a bit different and that way is If you want to be a VA you will have to make an effort by asking a VT member who is going to the meet to adopt you . When you are adopted you work out with the person who adopts you what picture of you to use and so on . This way it is quite simple We had 40 adoptions at the Eurmeet 2012 and imo that was very good number Hansi

Ricky, another VT insomniac obviously, I can relate to that. Hansi, 40? That is a big number, great work my friend.

Thanks to Klaus, Ricky, Fergy and Hansi for the info! Now if I can't attend a meeting I can do so virtually :)

Thanks for the list compliment. VA's are just a pain in the ....; they always cause most trouble at Meetings, haha. PJ

Thanks for the list compliment. VA's are just a pain in the ....; they always cause most trouble at Meetings, haha. PJ

Hansi did an entirely brilliant job of sorting out the VAs for Bergamo and Gilly, Sue & I very much appreciate his efforts. :-)

I'll do the VA's anytime if asked The Video well you all know about that I could not stop that if I tried Hansi

Hansi your videos were super and put a lot of faces behind names we see on here often. Thanks! Does VT have any way of helping those who are attending their first VT meet?

Vt meets are organised by members. Staff sometimes give a little assistance with the very big ones, if asked, but it's up to members to make newbies feel welcome. And they most certainly do, whether the meeting is big or small. So all you have to do is look at the 'Member meetings and events' section and sign up to whichever meeting you fancy. Once you have signed up the organising member will do the organising: making a page for big meets, sending VTmails to potential attendees and so on and so forth. We had a Eurmeet Bergamo page ready to upload as soon as the announcement was made, and Gilly made sure that there were regular group emails to all attendees so they could keep up to date as plans progressed. Staff helped with the provision of VT 'swag' of various types (and by attending!) but not with any of the planning or organising.

I'm not sure what help VT could give to first-time attendees, to be honest. All they have to do is sign up and then go to the right location on the right day at the right time, unless a meal or specific trip is involved: then the organiser will get in touch re details etc. Big meets can be a bit disconcerting if you've never been to a VT meeting before, so we set up a 'first-timers' meeting on the Thursday so new attendees could have (if they wished) a gentler introduction. :-)

Steven, J (leics) has a good steer on this, she is just after co-organising a huge meet. I have had the privelege of attending a couple of big meets as well as attending and helping to organise a few smaller ones. I know he VT heirarchy (if that is the right word) are very keen not to be prescriptive about meets, it really isn't that kind of site. As best I can make it out, VT meets are just about people with a similar interest i.e. travel meeting up wherever and whenever. I would, however, offer this. I have found VT meets to be extremely friendly, both the large and the small and I don't really know what assistance VT as a site could give. To anyone who may read this and be a little hesitant about going to a meet, don't be. Just turn up (as J says) at the appointed time and place and you will be made most welcome. That is my experience anyway.

Hi Stephen (tootallfinn) Thank you for your compliment on my videos . I went to your paged and I found out that you have also an interest in visiting Andalucia Spain That area is our winter get away from cold Canada I just want to tell you how much VT has enriched our lives Lori & I traveled before joining VT but there are so many places we would never have seen with out VT and the great VT meetings we have been to . Even in our getaway place Torremolinos Spain we have had a few VT meetings and they are all so much fun My wifey Loripori makes the pages of the places we visit and I take the videos We both enjoy doing what we do very much . So Stephen I hope we will meet one day at a VT meeting Hansi

Me too Hansi and keep up the videos! Great to see some of those VT folk.