2015 MN Pony Meet: September 5th in Bloomington! (FIRST PAGE INFO UPDATED 9/4!)

[loverofbalto]

Anyone looking for G1 Accessories?  I have a bunch I'm bringing, plus ponies from all gens, some random items, and a bunch of pony items.  Looking for anything specific let me know and I can look.

Yep- working on a list of what I need from PE, and I'm always looking for baby pony stuff! Maybe not so much bibs, bottles and cribs, but like twin stuff.  And duckies. And first tooth toys/accessories.

I know I came across a duckie, I have some ring toys, some first tooth pony things, and some other odds and ends.  I'll be going through things here soon and taking pics and organizing everything.

[ponyqueen]

^^^ Oh my goodness, loverofbalto- I almost fell over when I saw your signature. "MN meet August 13th!?!? When did that change? MMW already bought plane tickets to be here for Sept 5th! Wait, maybe it's an old sig..."

Crisis averted.

I'm also excited to see the special MN Meet merch- whee!

I'm going to make some nice bookmarks like we had at the fair (if anyone's seen those). Will feature Applejack and say "MN Pony Meet 2015/Bloomington, MN"

I'll also have prints and originals of artwork, of course- for sale or trade.

Are we planning to do the game with the dice and the fast-action stealing? And are we planning on a prize table or not? I just want to be ready for what we need.

I hope so! I liked the "Gift Grab Dice Game" aka "the Dice Game" and I liked prize table... I took lots of notes when I hosted last year so I will post those soon.

pq


Post Merge: June 30, 2015, 06:02:06 AM

Okay, forgive the super long post that's coming- if it's a nuisance I can hide it under a spoiler or we can post the info on the front page. I jotted down these notes right after hosting last year. Feel free to use it as a springboard for ideas on making 2015 bigger, better, and 20% more cool.


What we did last year!

Activities
Buying and selling ponies!
Show and tell- Rare ponies, customs, first ponies etc
Group photo of host pony (Tex)
Tour of Hostess’s pony collection
Raffle for Custom pony (G1 Nurse Redheart by ponyqueen)
My Little Pony movie playing in background
Wear something pony-inspired
Vote for contest entries

Games
$10 Mystery gift swap (optional, one gift per participant)
Gift Grab dice game ($1-$3 prizes, many small gifts)

Contests
Custom pony contest
Caption contest for photograph
Art contest featuring host pony (Any kind - paintings, digital, sculptural etc)
Guess How Many treat jar (Starbursts in a Strawberry shortcake jar)

Prizes
Prize for person that drove the farthest! (Customized Barbie car w/ pony)
Guess How Many (Starbursts and jar were the prize!)
Door prizes just for coming!
Caption contest
Art/craft contest
Custom pony contest
Parting gifts/door prizes for staying till the end!

Things we talked about but didn’t get to…
Custom tutorial/demo
Other pony themed games like Fakie Toss, horseshoes, Bingo and Pin the Tail on the pony
Introduction game (ice breaker)

Suggested itinerary

10:00-11:00 Arrive and set up
11:00-4:00ish Shopping!!
12:00 Fire up grill
1:00pm People group picture, then Pony group picture
2:00 Announce contest winners
2:00-3:00 Play games
3:00-4:00 Tour pony room, group show and tell
4:00ish Door prizes and parting gifts

Asked people to bring:
Ponies and other merch to sell/trade
Cash, including a good mix of smaller bills
Potluck food contribution
Contest entries, if participating
Items for prize table, unwrapped (maybe like 2 or 3 things? Small/inexpensive; pony or non-pony okay)
“Gift Grab” dice game gifts, wrapped (if participating. Not mandatory but super fun. These are $1-$3 gifts, the fun is in the game!! Works best if each person playing has brought at least two gifts)
$10 Mystery Gift, wrapped (if participating, not mandatory. One to one swap.)
Ponies for “Show and Tell”
A spare table
Possible a camp chair, if needed
Items for free bin

Hosting notes/tips:

Setting up

Tables- don’t turn away tables! If folks have one, we could always use more. We need tables for pony sales, food, more food, game gifts, craft/art displays, and prize table.

Space- Spreading out is nice! Used all common space inside house, as well as large deck and 2 car garage.

Labels- Make ahead of time for labeling custom/art contest area, prize table, mystery game gifts etc.

Number the $10 Mystery Swap gifts as they come in, and have #ed slips prepared to hand out later.

Name tags- Put current avatar pictures on name tags again- this really helped know who everyone was!

Prizes

Encourage everyone to bring one or two small/inexpensive items for prize table. There were several contest ties, so it was a good thing to have a lot of items. Extras make great door prizes so everyone has a chance! 

Potluck

Have slots for signing up, such as Main Dish (spaces for 3-4 names) Fruit and Veggie sides (space for 3-4 names) Drinks etc

About an hour into the meet (after the initial shopping frenzy) have spouse start heating up the grill or other meal prep tasks.

Costco cake was a little big for the size crowd, and ponyqueen had no choice but to polish off the leftovers (with some help from MoondancerMilkyway and husband. Some.)

Have fresh drinking water available. Tap water in a pitcher was perfect.

Misc

Designate a photographer (perhaps a non-pony spouse?) To make sure we get lots of fun pics!

Things to print ahead of time:
Name tags with avatars
Caption entries
List of everyone’s names for door prizes
Numbers for mystery gift swap

[BethyVic]

Wow, that is a lot of great info!

[mngusty]

Awesome PQ!  I also LOVE that you'll have special MN Meet stuff   I LOVED all of your stuff from the big Con, you did a great job! 
Hey everypony, we have a Celeb in our MN pony family!  Congrats Sarah on being the Featured Artist at the My Little Pony Fair in Chicago!!  We are so proud of you!! 

[Aurora]

Hooray, Sarah! Congrats!

I am planning on having another paper-fill-out type game, though not as ridiculous as the different language one last year. In concept, that was a cool game. In reality, it got really long-winded. I think I have a fun idea for this year, we'll see how it plays out! I'll bring the prize for that game.

I like the dice grab game and door-prize-drawing type games because you get to go home with a prize. Last year the box that I forgot at home was (of course) the box with the prizes, but everyone was awesome and let me play anyway. I'm making up for it this year with some good packages. And some silly ones, too, because that's always fun.

Those are really great notes!

[seaponey]

Got this marked on my calendar. So far I'm planning on coming. Can't wait!  Wasn't able to make it to the pony fair this year so if anyone has any fair stuff for sale I'm very interested. Especially the fair pin!

[rosierjay]

is anyone interested in custom pony plushes?
and if yes, what characters would be cool to see?
probably only have time to make a few before the meet.

[nessa16]

is anyone interested in custom pony plushes?
and if yes, what characters would be cool to see?
probably only have time to make a few before the meet.

Sugarberry!

[RedRedRover]

This sounds so much fun!!!! I hope I'll be able to make it this September!

[wizzer218]

Whizzer!!

Not sure if I will really have much to sell this year....I sold so much at the fair.....lol....plus I gotta pay on my grail Pony....and she's a lot so most of my stuff will be up for sale before meet....but I can still come and bring some art maybe customs...show n tell stuff...etc.

[Silver Glade]

Wow PQ!  Thanks so much for posting last year's notes!  Methinks we should start paring down a list of activities for the day of, yah? 

So!  I totally forgot to post some pics of my place!     Here are several shots of my backyard...


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This is a shot from the upper back patio.  Our property extends up the hill to where the mowing lines end. 


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A shot of our lower patio from above.


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A view of most of our yard from the lower patio.


There are hills both by the house and at the opposite end of the yard, but the flat area length extends roughly 70+ feet out from the house, and the width is about 90 feet. 
I was thinking of renting 2-3 canopies and setting them up in the back for spaces to set up sale tables, areas to relax, etc.  That way we have shade if it's sunny and shelter if it's raining.    There's also a covered space on the upper patio and a good bit of room inside.

Would anyone be up for yard games if it's nice out?  I can set up a ladder ball toss and bean bag toss boards, for example.    We also have a fairly spacious home theatre area in the basement; I'm planning on uploading a bunch of MLP cartoons (a mix of G1, G3 and G4) to our PS3 and having them play continuously.  The stuff I've picked runs about 8.5 hours all the way through!

[Delphian]

Lawn games would be fun!

[ringlets_]

Sounds fun! I should be able to make it.

[Aquatic Neon]

Your yard looks awesome, should be lots of fun! We should get started on a guest list like last year!

[ponyqueen]

Yes I am interested in pony and non-pony stuff at this meet!  I can trade art or whatever else I bring for stuff on my wishlist!

I am interested in this non-pony stuff:

vintage littlest pet shop
rainbow brite merch, books, vhs tapes
nes games

Vintage Littlest Pet Shop sets I will buy/trade for COMPLETE or very near complete:

Spoiler

1992
Cozy home pets
-bobbing fish

Li’l paw prints pets
-Puppy

1993
Cozy home pets
-swinging monkeys
-Glittering goldfish

Zoo wilderness
-playful sea lion

1994
Sparkling pets
-Bombay Kitty accessories

Zoo play with me pets
-mommy hen
-baby calf
-baby lamb

1995
Pup and kitty clubs
-clubhouse kitties

Dressed and ready pets
-let it pour pup
-Sweet sleepy pup

Sparkling pets
-thirsty guinea pigs
-need/feed pups

Sparkling pony babies
-saddle filly
-Wash n pretty filly
-Brush and grow filly
-Magic drinking filly

Fancy curls friends
-poof and pretty skunk

Mini surprise pets
-perky and playful kitties
-hop and go bunnies

1996
Fancy curls friends
-fluffy puppies
-silky kitties

Magical hideaway pets
-curly tail trio
-Puppy dress-up palace

Newborn families
-swans

Pony Stuff I am interested in:
porcelains!
backcards, stickers and other ephemera
tray puzzles

Pony wishlist: http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,357541.0.html

Flowers for Flutters!
Finally, I will trade a pouch of Rose Milkweed seeds (retail value ~$5) for ANY flutter pony, ANY condition. Also will trade for their boxes, combs, wings (single, paired, missing tabs etc), and stickers. Will also accept Windy/Summer Wing ponies any condition. See link here for info on Rose Milkweed! http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,370459.0.html

[Anything else I think of I'll update this post.]