I've become official
I think I’ve mentioned that we used to use Meetup.com to organise our local Bookcrossing meetups, but gave it up after some problems, and started using a website which I host. Well, a while back Meetup.com changed the way they run things, and asked for volunteers to organise meetups locally, rather than them just deciding things from a distance. At the time, I thought of putting my name down, but didn’t want anyone to think I was trying to take over too much (we try to organise meetup venues co-operatively, rather than one person being “in charge”), so wanted to wait until I could talk to a few of the other Christchurch Bookcrossers. However, before I got a chance, somebody else volunteered and was accepted by Meetup.com (the person in question was rather an inappropriate choice, but I won’t go into reasons here, or name the person – suffice to say that when I mentioned it at the next meetup (which the person in question didn’t attend), the opinion was loudly and unanimously expressed by the other Christchurch Bookcrossers that I should have just gone ahead and volunteered). Anyway, the end result was that Meetup.com continued to advertise Bookcrossing meetups in Christchurch that weren’t actually happening (or were happening, but in a different venue), and we probably confused a lot of newbies 🙁
But all that has now changed! I got an email this morning from the Meetup.com support staff, inviting me to volunteer to be the local organiser for Bookcrossing meetups (it seems the previous organiser was neglecting their duties and hadn’t actually posted any information about meetups for the last month or two, and this was noticed by the administration). Needless to say, this time I didn’t hesitate – I went straight to the website and put my name down, and seconds later I got an email saying I’d been appointed organiser! (I was expecting there to be some sort of approval process, but apparently not) So now, for the first time in over a year, Meetup.com actually shows the correct information for our next meetup. And now we’ve got a chance of actually attracting a few newbies along and boosting our numbers back up – a bit of new blood is just what the Christchurch Bookcrossers need at the moment, especially with the convention coming up!
Currently reading: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett (seemed like a suitably promising book to start the year off with).