OzBargain 18th Birthday Meetups (2024)

This is the forum post that some of you guys have been waiting for — a placeholder for all the OzBargain birthday meetups in 2024. We have been running these IRL meetups in November each year since 2017, and last year the OzBargain meetup organisers put together 29 events where 565 ozbargainers get to meet and share a meal together. We will be doing the same again this year —

  • Someone from the OzBargain community might want to organise an event locally
  • Other OzBargain users will want to attend those events
  • OzBargain will sponsor those events

There will be a new OzBargain T-shirt this year to be given out exclusively at the meetup events, in Aussie green & gold with "OzBargain verified Not A Bot" at the back. Finger crossed that the factory I found on Alibaba can deliver those shirts on time though.

Process will be similar to last year. To organise an event:

  • Post a new thread in Site Discussions with "OzBargain 18th Birthday - <Location> Meetup" in the title. Use the thread to discuss with the community to work out preferred date/time & venue. Please note that the meetup event must be in November 2024.

  • Update the title with date/time and venue when it's confirmed, and I'll add your post into the list of events. A poll will be created to allow users to confirm who will be coming.

For the rest of this post, I'll be copying the snippets from last year's, and I will highlight the changes.

Organising events

Budget for the 2024 events will be updated to strictly $45pp (due to increase of cost of living), which should cover food, venue and/or activities.

Try not to duplicate the location. For example if someone has already organised a meetup somewhere in Parramatta, don't organise another one even if it's at a different venue or date.

Please have all the events posted up before the end of October. We will not accept any new meetup requests after 31st of October.

Some budget examples copied from last year,

  • BBQ or pizza at public park (with coupons, of course)
  • Everyone orders UberEats / DoorDash / HungryPanda to eat at the beach and send receipts to scotty for reimbursement
  • Cheap eat in a cafe / restaurant

We are not able to sponsor alcoholic drinks in these meetup events. Some people might want to consume alcohol at meetup events, and that can be done at their own expense.

Add the tag ozbargain18 to your posts.

Soft cap of organising up to 2 meetups. We are going to limit the number of events one can attend this year (see under "Attending events" below) and we don't want people to get around the limit by being organisers of multiple events.

Attending events

You can attend at most two events that you are not organising. We did have that clause last year but we still have quite a few people attending 5+ events, so we will be putting a hard cap this year, i.e. you won't even be able to click on "Yes I am attending" if you are already registered for 2 events.

OzBargain meetups are strictly users only this year. In the past there were some leniency for partners, children or other family members that don't have OzBargain accounts. However for this year we decided that one must have an OzBargain account to be part of the meetup.

We won't allow "new accounts" from participating in meetups either. In the last couple of years we had accounts created just to have free meals at OzBargain meetups, and then never logged in again.


This post is work in place. I'll keep everyone updated when we move closer to November and event features get implemented.

List of Events

DateTimeVenue, LocationOrganiserRegWL
NSW
Fri, 1 Nov1:30PMIppudo, Chatswoodihbh70
Sat, 9 Nov12:00PMTaste of Shanghai, Burwoodjiayijames266
Mon, 11 Nov6:00PMFortress, Sydneyimpostor490
Tue, 12 Nov6:30PMLuho, Crows NestSerathis270
Wed, 13 Nov6:00PMBar Reggio, Darlnghursttlai40
Thu, 14 Nov6:00PMLeumeah Hotel, Campbelltownweb5020
Fri, 15 Nov6:30PMTBA, ParramattaI Smell Pennies450
Sat, 16 Nov5:30PMStar Buffet, BankstownI Smell Pennies190
Mon, 18 Nov7:00PMNikaido, MascotFat Horny Ghost4212
Fri, 22 Nov6:00PMEd Square, Edmondson Parksuchan60
Sat, 23 Nov1:00PMAll About Chicken, Coffs Harbourtwilsoncrow20
QLD
Sat, 30 Nov11:30AMRen Yakiniku, Sunnybankjaysee-teh3823
SA
Wed, 13 Nov7:00PMTBA, Enfieldtwilsoncrow190
VIC
Fri, 8 Nov7:00PMWill's Dumpling, Moonee Pondsharryozz190
Tue, 12 Nov6:00PMMoohan, Box Hillhamroll460
Fri, 15 Nov30:00PMTBA, Northern SuburbsRoadZilla30
Fri, 22 Nov6:00PMTBA, Flemingtoncerealsmok3r160
WA
Sat, 9 Nov6:30PMThe Gate Bar and Bistro, SuccessOzbargainasaurus100

18 events from 16 organisers.

Comments

    • I think you would need to make an account for them but there's also a no new account rule applied there too..

      • Yeah true, that is also a valid blocking rule.

        Oh well. I might not organise one this year then.

        • We would like to bring our kids too, I was reading posts from last year and I am assuming that they mean they won't pay for kids rather then kids are not allowed to attend? I.e. I was thinking we can share our meals with the kids or we can pay extra for their meals?

          I would also like confirmation about this as we won't be able to attend if kids aren't allowed (we are happy to share or pay for the kids)

          • @birdnw: Yeah it is nice seeing kids at the events, if they are super young, then it should be OK with venues to bring food along for them, or users paying for smaller meals is reasonable.

    • +13

      Hi.

      For this year OzBargain will sponsor its users to attend birthday meetups, at maximum $45 per person. So if you have kids or family members who wish to come along but do not have an OzBargain account, they can still come but OzBargain is not able to pay for their meals.

      • Just finished typing my post above and see your comment.

        Thanks for clarifying.

      • Thanks for replying. Just to ask similarly please, if we get 10x valid members then the budget is $450? So if we're frugal we could try to cover all attendees within that?

  • Would anyone be down for a meetup at Crown Casino Melbourne (VIC).

    • I’d prefer CBD

      • Damn, was hoping for an 18+ event we can all eat at one of the food places then head to the Casino 🎰 for some hands of BJ.

    • Crown or CBD would both be great for me.

      • Me too

  • @scotty

    Can I please check if I am planning to organise an event for ACT, and decided to pay via EatClub, will this be a valid reimbursement for your records keeping?

    • If you have receipt / tax invoice, I can reimburse you. EatClub would give you a receipt I think.

      • It does. Only issue was I used EatClub recently for one of the restaurants and it just gave the total overall, didn’t break down by what we ordered etc

        • +4

          Okay. I'll just assume the money is spent on ozbargainers' meetup at the venue and no other funny business :)

          • @scotty: As long as…

            Number of attendees x Costs = (Total Bill =< $45 x Number of Attendees)

            :-P

          • @scotty: He'll use it to grab bargains. BG cannot be trusted ;)

            @BargainsGrabber come Sydney :)

            • @I Smell Pennies: :P

              Jokes aside, EatClub has limited choices here in Canberra, mostly around 25-40% off

              But as brisdaz said below, I’m not sure if they’re strict on the cap system (ie I say that 6 people are going but the final bill is like for 20+ people)

    • +1

      EatClub ususally has a maximum of 6 people per booking though…… Although I'm not sure how that is enforced.

      • could do it twice or three times maybe?

  • Any cheap flights to NSW?

    Fellow WA resident.

    • +2

      Come to Adelaide it is closer!

    • +1

      could organise in WA if you want to

  • +1

    @scotty

    I couldn't add in the tag Ozbargain18 - to the Coffs Harbour event. Can you pls add the tag. Thank you

    Appears it isnt able to be selected.

  • thanks scotty - hopefully will be able to make it out to one this year. last year @ belles was good fun.

  • @scotty - You can attend at most two events that you are not organising. We did have that clause last year but we still have quite a few people attending 5+ events, so we will be putting a hard cap this year, i.e. you won't even be able to click on "Yes I am attending" if you are already registered for 2 events.

    Is this implemented in the system?

    • +4

      Yes, as of this morning, you cannot register for more than 2 events that you are not hosting.

      Some of you have exceeded the number of registration due to conversion from polls. The newer registrations are removed.

      • So the waitlist counts as being registered?

        • +4

          Yes it counts, as you get pushed out from the waitlist automatically when someone cancels.

  • -1

    Never attended one of these, what's the vibe? As much as I love OzB, I've never really struck up a convo with people outside of introducing OzB lol.

    Also, don't suppose my partner (with no OzB) can just take my spot based on the only users rule? I'll be on a trip for November rip

    • +1

      The vibe is pretty chill. I went to my first in Melbourne last year and it was good. Some reminiscing on great past deals and successful price errors.

      No, your partner can’t attend in your place. But they can start an account now, even start commenting and posting deals, and join the celebrations next year.

  • -1

    shouldve put raygun on the shirts too

  • +5

    I have around 8 prizes (worth $800ish) so far for the Parramatta meetup since that'll likely be the only event I attend in NSW :0

    Combined with all the other sponsors that'll probably be the most rewarding event and every person gets a goodie bag.

  • Hi,
    Was thinking of organising an ozbargain birthday poker game (not for cash, just for fun), just with some pizzas/take away and drinks.
    Would this be okay?

    • +1

      Yes that'll be fine. Meetups do not need to be always over a meal.

  • Unfortunately, I don't have time to organise a WA event, but hopefully someone organises one.

    BTW, Congrats on 18 years Scotty and thanks for doing this again :)

  • Keeen!!

  • @scotty can you add tag to my post?

  • Great event!! Have been a member here for more than 7 years but I didn't know this until today.

    I see this clause:
    OzBargain meetups are strictly users only this year. In the past there were some leniency for partners, children or other family members that don't have OzBargain accounts. However for this year we decided that one must have an OzBargain account to be part of the meetup.

    Dose this mean that I can't bring my two daughters together who are in elementary school? If so, I will be missed out for the event. (the exclusive t-shirt is attractive :') )

    • -2

      Dose this mean that I can't bring my two daughters together who are in elementary school?

      Looks like that's one of the many sacrifices you make as a parent. (Also who refers to public/primary school as elementary school? This isn't America)

      • Sorry about the unprecise word that I used. (The schools in the country where I grown up teach American English.) Sometimes I use incorrect phrase here as well…
        As soon as I sent out my post, I thought the word might be 'primary' but I assume it would be alright though, so I didn't update the comment.

        I see your point, thanks for your reply.

    • +3

      they can come, ozbargain is just only covering those with an existing account, so id assume you could ask the organiser if you can pay out of pocket for them?

      Still a decent deal, get a t-shirt and 33% off whatever it is.

  • +6

    Parramatta event update 16/10/24

    • Paid a deposit? Great - you're in!

    Still thinking whether to attend? Spots are filling up fast, so let's hope this convinces you:

    • We have about 10 sponsors as of now for the Parra event. Prizes are still being worked out by each sponsor and will be continually updates as time gets closer to the event.

      • There will be a lot of prizes in total. Thousands of dollars worth of prizes! Will be likely see many winners.

    • Venue is still yet to be confirmed as I am in contact with some venues. Whichever the venue, it will be close to the train station.


    Bankstown event update 16/10/24

    • Paid a deposit? Great - you're in! Spots are filling up and we are nearly full. I will update the attendance list tonight and will start to close off deposits soon.

    • Although not as many sponsors and prizes as Parramatta event, we will have sponsors. Prizes are still being worked out by each sponsor and will be continually updates as time gets closer to the event.

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