Dreaming of a chess.com members' get-together

I wonder how many chess.com members would be willing to participate in a get-together event. Given that the number of US members alone is around 280 thousand, and assuming that at least one percent would be willing to articipate, is it realistic to expect around 3000 people to show up? An event of this size would have to address various needs of the participants, and thus some thematic sections would seem necessary, such as:

1. An OTB tournament hall, for classical chess and other variants
2. A chess library/shop section for book lovers and opening specialists
3. A move theater with round-the-clock chess related movies ("Searching for Bobby Fischer", "Chess Fever", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Seventh Seal", but also the unique "The Mystery of Chess Boxing" for martial arts fans)
4. Several lecture halls for live chess lessons
5. An art gallery with chess-related paintings, photographs, sculptures, rare collectors' items
6. A chess equipment section with clocks, t-shirts, boards & pieces, software
7. A celebrity section, where Garry Kasparov, Boris Spassky, Viktor Korchnoi, but also known movie stars would give talks
8. A boxing ring for chessboxing
9. An outdoor area for garden chess, grill & beer

Of course there would have to be a participation fee, but why this is only a dream anyway..

Sounds expensive.  How 'bout just a bunch of chessboards and coolers full of beer at a park?

Umm, not glamorous enough.

A Caribbean Chess Cruise seems close to what I envisioned:

http://www.insightcruises.com/seminar_d/cm04_seminar.html

That'd be cool. I'd go if I could.

Sounds like a few got together in Vegas recently.

 I think it would be super cool to go on a Chess cruise...with chess.com people or with other people.  Chess cruise sounds awesome! If it were at least 25% female, I'd go.  

What about regional get togethers? How many chess.commers are there in the DC area? If we all just showed up on the mall one Saturday and set up chess sets, we could probably even rope in some tourists.

You guys should do that and then post pictures of the event.  

And Anthony...hehe.  I guess I'd settle for that...a little gold-plated queen?

I bet there are a lot more than 4 or 5 from DC.

How many from Northern California??

I'll show up dressed like Cheater_1.

On a Cruise you'd be forced to socialize even after the chess is finished so being on a ship with my fellow chess geeks sans females just doesn't appeal to me.  A meeting at a tournament or something like that would be awesome...or organizing a Chess.com tournament otb would be super cool...I'd certainly try to get to something like that, regardless of male female ratio.  :)

The way cruises operate, I know from experience, is that the ship spends the day in a port, so that you are free to visit the city and other attractions. Once everyone is back on board in the evening, they sail away to another island. So there is really little forced socialization, unless the distance between the islands requires sailing during the day.

Trench coat - 50$

Black fedora - 35$

Black face paint - 5$

Showing up to chess.com's live meet and greet dressed as cheater_1? Priceless.

This has been brought up before: http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/chess-retreat

I loved the idea then, and I still love it.

For members in Europe, the best get-together venue would probably be London? Cheap flights from almost anywhere, most members.

Asia - India looks like a winner based on the number of users - New Delhi? Although Australia and the Philippines could be in contention....

A chess.com face to face get together ?!  Sounds interesting. If erik and crew make it anywhere in Portugal or Spain I will be there ! If it doesnt happen until I move back to the USA then the US Southeast is better for me ofcourse. 

I'm dreaming of a white christmas

A European tournament (NOT LONDON) would be a great venue!  Turkey, Italy, or Greece would be great for most Europeans, I think.  Very affordable and no visa issues, really.  

 With the overwhelming majority of chess.com membership being American I think the turn out would be larger if it were in the USA ofcourse but it would be a bit unfair to other countries. Perhaps if it became an annual event they could try to have it on different continents ? I think this is just a "dream" anyway as the title in the thread suggests.

I used to frequent a site for sword collectors. Folks there often had regional get togethers at someone's house or a park. There could be anywhere from five to fifty people depending on where the event was held. The attendees would then post pictures of the event and everybody could talk about the good times.

You don't need to try for large events. The person who suggested everyone in the DC area get together had the right idea. Make it easy and affordable. Have a bunch of them. Have fun and post pictures. We'll all enjoy it.