Escapism UK - Picking Cities

[Andalusa]

Hey look, it's that annoying girl reminding you of an event you keep saying you'd love to go to but never actually do!

that's right, it's​

This summer, July 7th til July 9th, a bunch of nerds will descend upon some poor, unsuspecting city for an entire weekend (more about what we get up to here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.945184-Escapism-UK-Needs-You#23854665]). The thing is, we still need to decide which city that will be, and if you're interested, we need your help to do that. The nominations are as follows: London, Manchester and Oxford, and to help you make your mind up I'll break down each place and give you a list of shit we might get up to in each city.
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[HEADING=2]London[/HEADING]
The OG city, the tried and tested veteran host.

We've been here a bunch of times, capital of England, loads of transport links, easy to get to, always stuff to do here. Downside? It can be hecking expensive.

In fact, there's so much to do I'm not going to list it in detail. There's stereotypical tourist stuff, paintballing, karting, ice skating, museums, shops? you name the thing you want to do, London probably has a place to do it.

[HEADING=2]Manchester[/HEADING]
Another strong vet, better than London because it's in the north (also Canal Street).

Oh, you want to go skiing and snowboarding in the summer but you don't want to go abroad to do it? Manchester has you covered.
Skydiving? It's indoors, but Manchester has that as well.
You want to stare at exotic aquatic creatures in huge tanks? Yep, you can do that in Manchester.
Manchester also has karting and museums and stuff along with a whole bunch of other fun activities, like hurling balls at pins, singing badly into an even worse microphone, eating, and paying to get trapped in a room and then attempting to break out of that room!

Manchester also has good transport links, but loads of us can (and do) drive now, so carpooling is an option!

[HEADING=2]Oxford[/HEADING]
lol noob

We've never been to Oxford before (not for Escapism, anyway) but we're always open to try new things. This particular place will be different for that reason and because, if we pick this place, it'll probably be a very chilled weekend. There's karting and lasertag, racing simulators and high altitude assault courses, a decent looking pub crawl and our Friday night staple of bowling, but also museums and heritage stuff and ghost tours.

Transport might be tricky, but as mentioned above, carpooling is an option.
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So, you like the look of any of those places? Fancy joining us for a weekend of ...stuff? To find out more and to cast your vote join the group [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Escapism-UK], the facebook [https://www.facebook.com/groups/escapismuk/] or follow the twitter [https://twitter.com/Escapism_UK] and drop me a message! Voting closes on February 28th.

 

[Baffle]

I think Oxford really is a PITA to get to, certainly from the north. Have you considered Liverpool? I understand it's very nice, though I've never been.

Coastal city with arcades? (Are there still arcades? There are around here, but I'm pretty sure it's just paedophiles in there.)

York is really good btw. Pubs everywhere.

 

[Andalusa]

I think Oxford really is a PITA to get to, certainly from the north. Have you considered Liverpool? I understand it's very nice, though I've never been.

Coastal city with arcades? (Are there still arcades? There are around here, but I'm pretty sure it's just paedophiles in there.)

York is really good btw. Pubs everywhere.

We have considered York in the past, there's plenty to do around there (I'm a local, or I was until I started uni) but lack of affordable hostels/hotels makes it quite difficult. We've also played with the idea of a coastal town, again, affordable sleeping space is difficult to come across at the time of year we do these things. Although, now we've set it as the first weekend of July we might be able to avoid school holiday rushes. As for Liverpool, I don't think we've ever looked at it as a host city.

All things to consider for our next events though

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Can't see anywhere to vote on the Escapism user group...any chance of a prod in the right direction? Or is this a conspiracy to stop us voting eh? EH? I'm onto you!

*cough*

Well, actually knowing about it in advance this time, I could make it to at least the first 2 days. Probably have to leave early on the 9th though, I'm virtually end of the train line South.

 

[Baffle]

Just FYI in case you don't know: I'm aware you did Newcastle last time or before that. Newcastle city centre is about 6 miles from the coast. ?4.60 return on the metro.

 

[maninahat]

I think Oxford really is a PITA to get to, certainly from the north. Have you considered Liverpool? I understand it's very nice, though I've never been.

Coastal city with arcades? (Are there still arcades? There are around here, but I'm pretty sure it's just paedophiles in there.)

York is really good btw. Pubs everywhere.

Oxford always requires a transfer if travelling by train (a switch in London or Birmingham if you are coming from the South, a switch in Doncaster or Sheffield if you are coming from the North). It isn't terribly onerous, but it does take a while to get to. Hull has a similar problem, which is a shame as being the city of culture gives people another excuse to go. As I'm currently living in Oxford, it would normally get my vote, but what about somewhere like Sheffield?

 

[Andalusa]

Oxford always requires a transfer if travelling by train (a switch in London or Birmingham if you are coming from the South, a switch in Doncaster or Sheffield if you are coming from the North). It isn't terribly onerous, but it does take a while to get to. Hull has a similar problem, which is a shame as being the city of culture gives people another excuse to go. As I'm currently living in Oxford, it would normally get my vote, but what about somewhere like Sheffield?

Sheffield has been looked at, even visited for mini-meetups (birthdays, Halloween, etc.) but when we last took it into consideration, there were very few options for accommodation for a group of our size. Multiple hotel rooms are an option, but we try and keep it as affordable as possible and hotels tend to be a bit out the price range.
We're always looking for a decent, central place to keep travel costs/time fair for everyone, Birmingham is probably the closest we have to that, Leicester was also considered but again lack of accommodation prevents us from using it for the big events.

For now, our options are the three cities in the op, once this event is done the organisers will take a short break and then open up suggestions for potential host cities for the next event. If you're still interested at that point, remind us of your ideas. The organisers take everyone's suggestions into consideration, do some research on each place and then put forward 3 cities we feel would do the best job of keeping us all entertained for a weekend. We look at accommodation, activities and travel, usually in that order of priority.

(tbh I'm just so happy people are actually responding here bc I'd love to see some new faces at these things)

 

[Victim of Progress]

I'd definitely join escapist UK if you're picking London. So my vote's on that.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Southampton never gets any love.
Then again, not really much to do here. Laser tag, bowling, a few cinemas, and lots of shops. Some paintball... somewhere nearby. Though, can always take the ferry to the Isle of Wight to waste a day, or take a long bus ride to Lepe Beach. Which is probably the best nearby beach. Not the best beach I've been to, though.
I think I'm busy in London sometime in July anyway. But I think that's around the 20th.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I'm jealous of your country's small size and ability to do this. :/

 

[Nickolai77]

I remember the Escapism in Manchester 2015, which was was a fantastic weekend out. As I'm no longer on the other side of the planet it's highly likely I'll be joining in on this one!