GO: Heart Of England

Online Boardgame Evening

Another opportunity to play boardgames and cardgames online with other group members. There are no hosts, you pre-contact each other. Please read both 'GENERAL INFORMATION' and 'EVENT SPECIFIC INFORMATION' below, thank you!

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

Meet virtually during social distancing, and beyond, each Monday 6pm-10pm. We play using "Boardgamearena.com" and via other recognized websites. RSVP here, get yourself a free account, and then add yourself to our online group. Play with other members who are available.

Once established, you can optionally upgrade yourself to a premium account for a nominal fee of around £2 per month, which gives you access to even more games and features.

Join text communications within our group page at 6pm, with the option of a voice call within Facebook Messenger which remains open until everyone is finished, and is useful for rules explanations.

Some people have account names which differ to their meetup.com profiles, so please ensure you are identifiable to other members by also providing you real and meetup names.

1. Get yourself a free account with boardgamearena.com 24+ hours in advance in order that your chat facilities are activated

2. Go to "Community" and choose to join "Birmingham Central Boardgaming" (scan down to bottom right) or use link https://boardgamearena.com/group?id=3866947

3. Get familiar with the website, click on your profile icon to see notifications, update preferences etc. Also familiarize with any games you'd like to play, via "Games". Also ensure you have access to FBM.

4. Logon in advance of 6pm on the night, and contact others attending, who will be marked as being online on our group page. Please note that we are unable to monitor meetup.com during events

5. Enjoy!

6. EVENT SPECIFIC INFORMATION

From Early 2020 to Spring 2021 we ran general online club nights playing multiple games, where members joined freely when able. However with attentions now diverted to resuming normal gaming later this summer, our online club nights have taken a new direction.

Participation is based on a fixed number of members meeting at an agreed time to play a pre-agreed game or games. If time allows, players may spontaneously play other games afterwards of course.

1. When placing an RSVP, you should also state clearly in the comments section what game (or choice of games) you might like to play.
2. Also state number of players, and start time (if later than 6pm).
3. If flexible, or willing to host/teach, say so, more people may respond. But if you RSVP without follow-up or suggesting what to play, you may be ignored unfortunately.
4. Ensure you swap online usernames or whatever enables you to find each other easily at the event start time. If anyone needs rules explained first, allow 30 mins before starting the game, and let everyone know.
5. Once there are enough/maximum players, please indicate so that others know they will need to join/create another game table.
6. Our regular event hosts may join your games (and even help with rules) by prearrangement or offer if available. But we will only attend games where we have indicated among the comments.

*** GO: MEETUP WEEKLY CHAT SPACE ***
Our chat space now runs monthly! So be bold, and join in! Our scheduled events already have their own chat space (comments) section, but this is for everything else.

The Vibe:
Each month there will be a new (online) event page where you can reach out in the 'comments' below to other like-minded members. Suitable for new event ideas, finding buddies for getting to events, general chat, inquiries, positive vibes, etc. No negativity, spam, or unpleasantness obviously, and please keep it related to our group.

The Time Window:
Each chat-space page is open to contributions for ONE MONTH leading up UNTIL the stated event time, so that each month the content is refreshed. The stated event time on the 2nd Monday evening is when we conclude topics that have occurred in the previous month, and the following month's chat becomes the active one. Feel free to contribute each time, and RSVP to keep tuned-in and be notified of responses.

This Replaces:
This replaces the unwanted 'discussions' white elephant (we only want announcements on our front page, not chit-chat). And it keeps everything in one place to avoid members having to jump across onto other Social Media. Yes we'll still use 'FB/Messenger' if you're already there, but we're staying off the dreadful 'What'sCrap'.

Let's face it, this website structure isn't designed to meet the needs of a multitude of independent groups which inherently work differently. In reality, enforced uniformity across participating groups just serves as a straightjacket, and is misleading to members.

In A Nutshell
So just add your chat as comments to this page below. No web link is necessary. If you raise event/group specific topics, then if an organizer joins the event, they'll try to answer. Else we'll probably deal with anything arising after the monthly event page closes. Though sorry we won't reply to dumb questions about the purpose/function of this page, since it is explained clearly.

Hi-Fives Everyone!

Friendly games. All standards. Clock available.
If you have a set, bring it along!

Midweek Sutton Park Afternoon Walk

Let's get outdoors! After the popularity of previous midweek afternoon walks, we continue for anyone with unusual working hours, shift patterns, or who can take off the occasional half day. This is now a monthly event, so please feel invited to attend every month.

Logistics:
(*) We start walking at 1.30pm (sharp) so please arrive 5-10 minutes beforehand, as necessary. The walk duration will be around 2 hours, and the pace will be sociable.
(*) Parking is free, or local public transport is available. Please allow time to put on your boots etc.
(*) We aim to finish before rush hour traffic ramps up. We tend to walk to the clock, for a couple of hours, rather than a specific distance, which indicatively means we'll cover perhaps 5 miles, maybe a bit less in winter/mud or a bit more in summer/dry.
(*) There is no cost for attending this event, it is volunteer based.
(*) In order to vary the walk route, the start point changes each month, according to the list below. This means we can use a recurring event proforma, but also means you need to check carefully which starting point applies and avoid going to the wrong place...

Important: Variable Start Point:
Unless otherwise stated, we rotate the walk start point as follows:
JAN: Far end of Mulroy Road, Sutton Coldfield (B74 2PX).
Parking area (or roadside) at junction with Midland Rd (private track).
FEB: Outside The Crown Inn, 4 Walsall Road, Four Oaks (B74 4RA).
Pub car park ticketed, but local street parking available
MAR: Boldmere Gate car park, along Stonehouse Road (B73 6LH).
200 metres beyond the cattle grid (and beyond Mills & Carter)
APR: Four Oaks Gate car park, off Four Oaks Road (B74 2XU)
Park on the right immediately after entering the park.
MAY: Banners Gate Car Park, Monmouth Drive, New Oscott, B73 6SD. The entrance is right next to the main traffic lights with the A452.
JUN: Streetly Gate car park, off Thornhill Road (B74 2LH).
Park on the left immediately after entering the park.
JUL: Blackroot Pool car park, via Hartopp Gate, Four Oaks (B74 2YU), Enter park at junction of Hartopp Rd & Blackroot Rd, taking right fork immediately, then next left over a railway bridge.
AUG: On Park View Rd, Streetly, corner opposite Sutton Park, B74 4TE.
Wide road with plenty of roadside parking
SEP: Boldmere Gate car park, along Stonehouse Road (B73 6LH).
200 metres beyond the cattle grid (and beyond Mills & Carter)
OCT: Four Oaks Gate car park, off Four Oaks Road (B74 2XU)
Park on the right immediately after entering the park.
NOV: Banners Gate Car Park, Monmouth Drive, New Oscott, B73 6SD. The entrance is right next to the main traffic lights with the A452.
DEC: Streetly Gate car park, off Thornhill Road (B74 2LH).
Park on the left immediately after entering the park.

The Plan:
We'll grab some fresh air, wandering over nearby sections of the park. We may venture onto some lesser used tracks, please wear boots, sports trainers, or sturdy footwear, not pumps, sandals or smart shoes.

And please wear outdoor clothes appropriate for whatever the weather is doing. If totally unsuitable, we will rearrange/postpone the event, but we do not expect anyone to be of the mindset to withdraw based on a raindrop or single light shower!

Well behaved dogs are welcome, but unsuitable for pushchairs or very young children. This is a sociable event where we stick together as a group and mingle as we walk.

Attendance:
No-shows and late withdrawals within the final 24 hours (collectively known as ghosting) is frowned upon and thus not permitted. We need to know attendance numbers in advance to confirm event viability and a suitable route. Thank you for your understanding.

As a guideline, minimum attendance = 8, maximum attendance = 30.
Emergency contact from 13:20 until 13:30 will be 0.7.8.1.3.7.3.7.6.2.3