The Multipack describes itself as “a community of multi-talented Web professionals from across the West Midlands” and attending one of their meetings has been high on my list for over a year. This Saturday, I finally tried to get to Birmingham for the best price during the March meeting, and it was worth it.
I got there a bit late, so I didn’t manage to speak with all of the 15 or so people in attendance as the seating was initially an awkward L-Shape, but they seemed a friendly, knowledgeable bunch, and people started moving around soon enough. Discussions ranged from Mark James (of FamFamFam fame) describing the features of his pseudo-UML source code generator, the merits (or not) of tweeting one’s every mundane thought, and super-mobile notebooks. I also got to put a face to the name of Owen Gregory, had a general business chat with Noel Welsh and Dave Gurnell of Untyped, bumped into Sukhi Dehal again and had a good chat with Tim Gaunt on the train home, who also happens to be a fellow Underscore subscriber.
I’m particularly excited by The Multipack as it’s (as far as I know) the only general interest gathering of web types around these parts. I like its relaxed beer and geek attitude, and although it’s a bit of a mission for me to get to – 1.5 hr journey each way, including a £20 cab fair for the last stretch home from the train station (although that’s my fault for wanting to drink and living in the middle of nowhere) – I do think Birmingham is a sensible location for the meetings. I also raised the subject of a mailing list aspect to the group, which, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, would mean that people don’t have to remember to visit a website to have a conversation; everyone’s got email, right?
If you’re into web and available for the next meeting on the 12th of April then you should come along. It’s already in my diary.
Update: There *is* a mailing list, hooray. http://groups.google.com/group/multipack
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