longer networking sessions pls

[Sherise]

Talked to a few people who are not the regulars and we feel the same way...longer networking sessions please, instead of a bit of chit chat before 8pm and after 10pm+..

quite a number of the people attend ad hoc-ly to meet others (its especially true for the people who are not the regulars, look at the popularity of the travel buddies sections), but are turned off by the little interaction presentation style gatherings. When it's time to mingle, it's getting quite late and some have to catch the public transport home and less inclined to stay.

Why not have a break from presentations now and then and just gather to exchange stories and meet new people? the presentations will be more valued this way too.

[Karel]

i think that's an excellent idea. maybe some people want more networking. why don't you organise such extended networking sessions ?

meanwhile, i think we should continue to organise the gatherings as they exist, because they are quite popular and continue to attract new people. why change a winning formula ?

and more interaction, and exchanging more travel stories would be great. i think the panel discussion about latin america that we did during the 5 year anniversary of our gatherings in february was great. maybe we can organise such a panel discussion about other subjects as well in the future.

[travelbug]

Thanks Sherise for your suggestion!

The group is big, diverse and ever-changing, so it is understandable that people want different things.

We will keep the current format (i.e. networking and presentations) since it suits most folks. We will try to keep to the presentation time limits, and try to incorporate panel discussion in future.

The atmosphere is fairly informal, so feel free to skip parts of the presentation if you wish, and of course organize the small group gatherings, like Karel suggested.