We are delighted to announce the revival of the annual ECM Event this summer - our last "in person" one was in 2019, with a Virtual one in 2020 because of "outbreak" BGS state globally. With no Lavecon in 2023 - this is THE summer party for the Elite community.
NOTE: 50% of tickets have already been snapped up in the last 24 hours after Hutton Orbital announced it live on the show last night. Capacity is 175
Taking place at the Hilton St Anne's Manor (as it was in 2018) in Wokingham (UK) on Saturday the 19th August, it's an opportunity for the community to get together, indulge in some socialising, gaming and more.
More details can be found at: https://elitecommunitymeet.info/
For those that haven’t been to an ECM before – “What is it?”
It a non commercial event run by us, the community, to have a place to get together and share company, gaming, a bite to eat and a drink with fellow gamers.
It’s NOT a “programmme driven” event with formal panels, talks etc from a stage, NOR is it cluttered with stalls from commercial sponsors.
Whilst it began with Elite, & friends getting together from the Elite Dangerous playing community – over the years it just celebrates our hobbies in a wider sense.
Do I "NEED" to stay at the hotel?
Not at all - though if you are, the late evening shenanigans are good fun. We have a code with the hotel fixing prices for rooms but for those on a budget, there's also a nearby Travelodge.
Many of the regulars arrive on the Friday, help set up and then retire to the bar area for cards against humanity/board games/relaxation over a beer and a chat.
What is there to do?
Whilst those of us helping organise it bring a lot – it REALLY hinges on you. If you’ve got a game you want to play, consider hosting it, whether that’s a board/card game, something on your computer or anything else.
As always there will be some multiplayer gaming courtesy of our retro area – things like manic games of MarioKart, Gangbeasts (always a laugh) for 4 players at a time on a shared screen. Our retro area is CHOC full of BBC Micro, Spectrum, Amiga, Atari classics. There’s an upright arcade machine for a bit of Streetfighter, Pacman and all that jazz.
There will be a charity raffle. Details later on that one.
And of course, it’s traditional for us to have a Hutton Orbital Live and Dockers live recording in the evening – often featuring guest presenters.
We like organising a quiz in the afternoon – something to do after lunch.
To help commanders break the ice there will be many other social games to try. These will include modern card and board games for you to enjoy. Or if you wish you can just sit and chat with other commanders over lunch or a beer.
We also have our Artemis Starship Bridge simulator for teams to enter and try and achieve the highest score against our very own Commander Zaphodbeeble.
You are also encouraged to bring your own PC kit should you want to demo hardware or games. Also if you have a board/card game you’d love to play please do bring them along.
As always we are supporting our two chosen charities at this event Special Effect and Hearing Dogs. Any surplus funds following the event will be divided up and donated to these two charities. Check out our Chosen Charities Page for more information on, and links to, these charities.
What does it cost?
Everyone "chucks in the tin" for the costs, and ANY excess is split 50:50 between our two chosen charities - SpecialEffect and Hearing Dogs
£25 for the day's event including lunch
or
£50 if you want to join in the barbecue dinner in the evening
Rooms at the Hilton are £126/night for single occupancy including breakfast - pay as you check out - or £136 for a double or £166 if you're roomsharing in a twin deluxe family room.
If you can get it cheaper through deals, Hilton points or super booking prepay without breakfast rates then please - choose what suits YOU!
Are there panels/dev content etc?
No. Whilst Frontier have ALWAYS attended (and we understand will be joining us once again this year) - they're there as PART of the community - to join in, play games and socialise like the rest of us are.
Anything special going on?
A quiz
Special guest Norman Lovett will be popping in later in the day/evening and joining us. We MIGHT even be able to persuade him to do a turn behind the mic in the evening. Courtesy of HCS Voice Packs
Hutton Orbital LIVE (evening content)
Dockers LIVE (LATE evening content)
The ENORMOUS raffle for charity
+more
I can't get there and want to take part!
We're hoping, as we did in 2020, to run a vECM - or at the very least a live stream from parts of the event. Certainly there will be some parallel shenanigans organised both in game, and in other games
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