Sfmeetup09′s Blog

The Sunday morning breakfast will comprise of basically bagels, donuts, OJ, and milk… feel free to bring stuff to share if you like. Oh, and for those who wonder “where’s the bacon and eggs?”, remember, this thing ain’t sponsored!

For those thinking of doing some sightseeing in SF on Sunday, please note that both sidewalks on the Golden Gate Bridge will be closed for the morning and at least part of the afternoon on Sunday! You’ll be able to get near, but not on, the bridge… of course if you’re taking a car or tour bus, you’ll be fine.

9pm Friday night we’re doing a beach bonfire at Ocean Beach (weather permitting). Click the map on the side for the location. Bus or taxi suggested, but if you have a car, there’s plenty of parking. Make sure to follow the SFmeetup09 Twitter feed for important updates or last minute changes.

(note: “My Maps” isn’t working on Google currently… we’ll put the pin on the map when functionality returns. Meanwhile, you can search for “Ocean Beach” in Google Maps.

Follow the meetup updates on Twitter using your mobile device (that’s fancy talk for phone) to get updates and last-minute changes if there are any! Don’t worry, we won’t inundate you with Twitter posts pre-meetup, but that will be THE PRIMARY MEANS of communicating anything important during the weekend!”

Twitter page for SFmeetup09

BART, the train from the Airport to San Franciso, will cost you $5.35 from San Francisco Internation Airport or $3.55 from Oakland Airport.  Those prices are one-way, so it will also cost you the same amounts to get back to the airport.

Taxis from the airports into the city are expensive ($50 or so), we don’t suggest them.

Rental cars?  You can figure that on your own, but he highly discourage renting a car for this event.  San Francisco is a geographically small city and public transportation here is excellent. Conversely, driving is a nightmare and parking is a feat meant only for the most self-abhorrent.

Busses, MUNI trains, and street cars are $1.50 a trip.  Hold on tight, they drive crazy and you could likely end up in someone’s lap, but they are quick and efficient.

Cable cars are $5 for each one way trip.  Expensive but pretty.

Cabs within the city are fairly cheap. From the Club Quarters to the park is $7.61 according to this taxi fare calculator site.

Here’s a link to San Francisco’s public transportation routes

If you try to book a room at the Club Quarters through the hotel’s site you’ll have no luck.  If you use any of the services like Travelocity, Orbitz, CheapTickets, etc., or you use the link at the left, you should be OK.  Club Quarters rooms have one bed, but we’re told the “two-room suites” come with a pull-out bed in the sofa.  The thing is, it’s more expensive and it might just make as much sense to book two rooms if you’re worried about “cooties.”

The Sheraton is currently the least expensive of the two hotels we’ve suggested and they do have regular “two bed” rooms.  Of course, you’re perfectly justified looking for other hotel options on your own.

Why no “group rate?”  To get a group rate at any of the hotels we checked, we would have to book a block of rooms in advance pre-paid.  Since we don’t really know yet how large or small this gathering will be, and where people will be staying, that just didn’t make any sense… it would have been too much of a logistical nightmare, especially since the savings would not have ended up being that great.

Either hotel is within walking distance of the park (a mile-ish), or if you don’t feel like “hoofing it,” cabs are very cheap in San Francisco.

So, for anyone interested in coming to this thing, shoot me an email at SFmeetup09@gmail.com with what kind of information you’d like to see on this site. I’m willing to try and dig up anything you need, but I don’t want to just fill up the site with information people won’t need to use? Of course I’m planning to add transportation info, some basic attractions of the city, and stuff like that already, and I’ve started this Google Map to help people get around and I’ll keep updating it, but I want to hear from you… so get to it!

AT THE VERY LEAST, click the “I’m Going” link at the side and leave a comment letting us know you plan to attend!

Thanks!
Christopher

You asked: “So what if there were a website where all the information about the San Francisco gathering could be displayed in a nice and organized fashion?”

Wow!  Great minds think alike, we thought about that too!  Fancy meeting you here!

Keep your eyes on this site for updates on information regarding the upcoming San Francisco gathering!

See ya there!