OK, whew... time for a more serious update. This message should provide enough information for folks who are considering camp to hold dates and times. When I hit "post", I will start a weekend countdown, and then ask
@arebelspy to lock this thread sometime next week, and we will move to a new, clean thread with the proper event year and information in the title.
The smart people who help me run this thing sat me down last night and we walked through this year's get-together. I feel like there is consensus that we can make something happen. It was a long meeting. Close to 3 hours. We are confident that if you all are as awesome as you always are, we can make this work.
Let's begin now...
1.
What is the event: This iteration of CMTO will have a VERY different look/feel from previous camps. For that reason, we are calling it
CMTO 2022 - FIREscape. It is both an escape from normal life, an escape from the 9-to-5 lifestyle and an escape to FIRE for folks who have worked hard to get clear of employment. It is also a chance to look at the landscape of personal finance, to see a new landscape in front of yourself, and to see where you fit in the wide-world.
We have spoken with Pete, and he is less concerned with the look and feel of camp than we are, but we thought it important to get his blessing since this event is not following the pattern of other CMTO events you may have seen.
2. Where is the event: Nearly mid-way between Toronto and Ottawa/Montreal. If you google "Ontario Wine Tours" you should be able to narrow down the location to the county it is in. Finding the right venue will be a little more difficult - there are literally dozens of vineyards, cottage resorts, provincial parks, hostels, country Inns, etc. that we could choose to host our event. We will be in tourist country. What the heck - Prince Edward County. It's in Prince Edward County.
3. When is the event: We have booked our venue for
September 16-18th September 30-October 2. You may choose to extend your stay beyond those dates, however the room rate at our venue will be 2-3X the rate we have negotiated outside that window. We are in harvest season and people like wine/beer/mead. There are a lot of other options nearby if you choose to stay elsewhere after the FIREscape is complete.
I would
strongly advise against making any concrete plans or booking travel until you hear further from us. While the planning has advanced to a stage that I have some confidence this event will take place, the only thing set in concrete at this point is a hold on rooms. We have no other details like food, meeting space, etc. locked in.
4. If you know all this, why aren't you already selling tickets? The venue we have booked is low cost for good reason. Outside the room rate, we need to separately negotiate catering, meeting space, activity space, and figure out a pile of dumb details like what we are going to do for chairs, whether there is a spot to set up the chairs, and if a shade/rain fly can be rigged.
Unlike our usual venue, this space is shared with other groups and we need to make sure that our event and theirs do not interfere with each other. We can't just say "We're going to set up 20 chairs on the lawn" because the lawn may not be available. We have already been put on notice for noise both from our event and the other events taking place to be sure there isn't cross-interference, and to make sure our schedules coincide for the quiet bits and loud bits.
We anticipate that much of our event will take place offsite - about a 10 minute walk from the actual venue since a short walk is easier than separately negotiating so many details, schedules, and noise levels. Our Escape may stretch itself over multiple properties with multiple partners providing different facets of the weekend. This is very different from our usual CMTO which is just a single negotiation with the camp venue.
We are working with Cthulhu and each tentacle has a separate cost, negotiation, and outcome. We can't slap a price on a ticket until we have all those pieces roped in. I am building a flow chart to keep track of the pieces. As soon as we know what each piece looks like, we will get ticket details to you.
5. Can you tell us anything more about the venue? At this point, no. I am nervous to commit too much in case things fall apart (See item #4). I will tell you that rooms are for 2-4 individuals, and priced per room rather than per person, and will be billed separately from your CMTO "pass". You will buy your FIREscape pass from us, and pay for your room with the venue. Once you get your pass we will send you details to book a room. All of that is in its infancy though, so subject to change (see - we have a long way to go.)
If you plan on attending, you should be thinking about roommates to reduce costs. If you are travelling with a baby, you will be in an actual room which means a much more comfortable environment for nap times, changes, etc. if you prefer to do those things in private. It also means an escape for the folks who are more introverted and need a time out when things get too hectic.
6. Are you looking for presenters? YES! Because our presentation space may be offsite, we really need to know how many folks are available to present so we can judge whether a space rental is needed or if we can roll the dice on a shady tree that may or may not be available is enough. If someone wants to do a drum circle, we need to understand how the noise will affect other events onsite and if we need to push to the adjacent venues. The earlier we can find out who is willing to put on a workshop, the earlier we can nail down costs and venues - both on and off-site.
What about spur-of-the-moment, organic conversation circles? Those are a big part of camp! We think that there is space where folks can go for these conversation circles without needing a dedicated space. Because we are sharing the venue, we are trying to beware of how these organic conversations will take place and how openly folks will share. We are working to create safe spaces that gaggles can form and folks can be themselves. We may book an entertainment suite just to have that safe space onsite. This is still percolating.
I don't have too much more to share at this point. I was hoping that by last night I would have more Jello nailed to the wall, but it hasn't happened. Go ahead and ask questions though. I'll answer what I can, and I'll ask ARS to lock down this thread early next week so we can share more in a clean new format as info comes available.
