Kickstart Events and Activities

One Month Until Our Kickstart 2 Meet

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Time has flown by and as I write this, we are just a month away from Kickstart 2, the next Kickstart Amiga Group meet. There are some new announcements below about the February meet around our special guests. I will be emailing out and posting the final update with all the logistics info two weeks before the meet.

The big thing to say is that we have just two table spaces left for Kickstart 2 in February, so if you are not already in, time has almost run out!

Kickstart 2 – Our Next Meet – February 2024

Special Guests

David Pleasance

David Pleasance, Commodore’s former UK MD, will be joining us at the February meet. We’ll be having a chat with David on the stage after lunch and he will have his latest book available for sale and signing, as well as his previous books. David will also be bringing a range of Commodore merchandise for sale as well.

Jakub Kosiec from Retro Lemon

Also joining us will be Jakub Kosiec, who sells a wide range of Amiga and other system upgrades via his company Retro Lemon. Jakub will be bringing a range of Amiga add-ons for sale, along with some of his Medusa retro scandoubler boxes and Hydra SCART switches. However, if there’s anything in particular you want from his range for your Amiga, Atari, Sinclair or Commodore machine and you want to save some postage, please drop Jakub a line at info@retrolemon.co.uk and he’ll bring it with him on the day.

Soldering Demonstrations

Kickstart member Vinay Dhir has kindly agreed to do some soldering demonstrations, alongside helping members with some of their soldering problems, over the course of the day. Vinay is an expert solderer and has repaired and assembled a variety of computers and accessories over the years, including building the first new Amiga computer of 2024, a compact Denise machine which was powered on for the first time as Big Ben rung in the new year.

Remembering Andy Costin

It is with great sadness that we pass on the news that Amiga North Thames (ANT) and Kickstart member Andy Costin has passed away. You can find our full post over in the Facebook group.

Our condolences go out to Andy’s friends and family at this time. His funeral is taking place on January 24th 2024. After lunch during Kickstart 2 we will take some time to celebrate Andy’s life and raise a glass of bubbly in his memory.

Draft Plan for the Day

  • 9am – Doors Open
  • 11am – Games Contest 1 – Worms Deathmatch Tournament
  • 1pm – Lunch Arrives
  • 2pm – Champagne Toast for Andy Costin
  • 2.30pm – Chat with David Pleasance
  • 3pm – Games Contest 2 – Skidmarks Tournament
  • 9pm – Doors Close

Join Us Online

We’ve created Facebook, WhatsApp and Discord groups for you to join. We also have Instagram and X (the artist formerly known as Twitter) accounts for you to follow for updates.

The web site has RSS and Atom feeds so you can get easy alerts to any updates we post there.

A Quick Word About Kickstart 3

The annual barbecue is a Kickstart tradition that dats back to the 1990s. We’ve picked a great date in June (moving to a Saturday to make it easier for people to stay over for the night, have a drink etc.) and we have some top-notch food lined up for the grill.

This will be a regular meet in terms of format, but we are replacing the usual sandwich lunch with a longer, more leisurely lunchtime with hot BBQ food cooked out in the Village Hall garden by me. We’ll be doing good quality burgers, sausages and steaks, as well as vegetarian options. You are welcome to bring beer and wine, we just ask that you drink in moderation.

More details about the June meet to follow, including competitions and guests, but tickets are on sale now, please grab them while you can.

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