After a very long absence, we brought back the most celebrated day of the year, the annual Kickstart BBQ, and what a day it was. We were very fortunate that the weather was perfect, so we were able to make full use of the outdoor space at Ottershaw Village Hall to make some memories over good food, the odd beer and a lot of technology chatter.
We are all ready here at Kickstart HQ to welcome you to our annual BBQ meet tomorrow. Ticket sales are closing at 2pm today for non-table spaces if you want to join us, but table places are all sold out.
What To Bring
If you have a table ticket (which most people will), there will be a table and a chair for you – all you need to do is bring your Amiga! This list will help ensure you don’t forget the essentials:
Your Amiga
A monitor
Mouse, Mouse Mat and Joystick
Power Cables and Power Supplies for your Amiga, Monitor and other peripherals
Any games or software you need
Speakers (if not built into your monitor)
Mains extension lead (the more sockets the better)
A screwdriver (just in case you need to open up your machine)
Other than that – we can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow at Ottershaw Village Hall in Surrey.
Hot on the heels of the success of our first meet, we are pleased to announce the date and details for our second meetup. Following a survey of members coming to our first event, we have confirmed Sunday 18th February 2024 for the meet. Tickets are on sale now, so please be quick as we did sell out of table spaces for our first meet.
Key Information
When: Sunday 18th February 2024
Where: Ottershaw Village Hall, Brox Road, Ottershaw, Surrey, KT16 0HG
Time: 9am-9pm
Cost: £14-16 per person (price includes lunch, snacks and soft drinks throughout the day)
Kickstart is a non-profit event. The price we are charging is purely to cover the cost of renting the hall for the day and for the cost of the refreshments. If by some miracle, we have money left over, 100% of it will be put towards the cost of booking the hall for the next meet.
Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who stopped by the Kickstart stand at Zzap Live this past weekend. It was great to see so many people and to talk about our plans for the group. We even met a few Kickstart Originals (members from before hour hiatus) which was wonderful.
We had a double table in the Amiga room at Zzap, where we originally had five machines on display for people to use as part of our promotional efforts, but soon we were down to four after a customised A1200 we had on show decided to malfunction. We think its a Chip RAM issue, so should be easy enough to fix.
For the day, the remaining four machines were an example of member-owned computers, either modified and updated for 2023, or brand new hardware.
Ahead of our next Kickstart meet in Ottershaw in October, Kickstart will be on the road in August and September, popping up at some events and supporting some of our friends at their user group meets.
On 12th August 2023 we will be heading to the Holiday Inn Kenilworth (it’s about half way between Warwick and Coventry) for Zzap! Live 2023. It’s a hands-on show celebrating all things Commodore, from the early 8-bit days right the way through to the Amiga and even Commodore’s difficult history as a PC maker. We are there in conjunction with our friends at the South West Amiga Group, helping to populate the Amiga area. Some of the Kickstart team will be there showing off some modified and updated member machines, showing how you can make the most of the Amiga in 2023.
Zzap! Live 2023 will feature over 50 interactive exhibits, representing the entire history of Commodore computing from the humble pioneering days right up to the present. Not only will there be plenty to play, but other ways to spend your time and your money while you socialise!
