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	The strange saga of what can happen when you say something on the internet… And people are listening.

Ah, where to start... a little history I guess. Near as I can remember, it was when it was mentioned on the SENS list that Cheezie wasn't going to do Meet In The Middle anymore. I had stumbled in to RMH a couple of years earlier and was still rebuilding my motorcycle during MITM#7, but I was able to go to MITM#8 on the farm. It wasn't hard to see that there was a lot of effort involved in putting on a meet for over 200 people, and why a lot of people in the groups admired Cheezie for organizing what was one of, if not *the* largest gathering of Netscum.

Now I'm no stranger to large events since I worked rock & roll for half my adult life, and even once I stopped doing it for a living I would help out on campus for concerts, picnics, frat shows and the like. One thing we did was put up tents for various events, and one reunion had us pitching a 40' X 40' at a local campground. When the conversation on the SENS list turned to, "anyone know of a place to go this year?", I mentioned that campground. Well, Cwedge replies, "I nominate Big Mouth Elmore to find us a place to party!" And so the challenge, and the acronym MAMBM (Me And My Big Mouth) was born.

I talked to the campground owner and he was interested. After a few unanswered phone calls, I finally got hold of him and set the date. After that he disappeared. The phone was disconnected. His email bounced. Letters to his address were returned. To make a long story short the campground was closed and no one knew where he went.

By this time I had a Yahoo Group set up for interested people to keep track of what was going on. There were around 70 members. I took a 30 mile ride to Reelfoot Lake to look for another place, but the lake was swelled with rain and the area was under water. I went 50 miles to Kentucky Lake and asked at a small tavern if anyone knew of a place that I could put maybe 100 people. Turned out there was a small market on the highway, the owner rode a Harley, and he had hosted poker runs and pig roasts in back of the market for the local riders. He said, "sure, we can work it out".

So I asked the Yahoo Group if I should just drop the idea or did they want to move it to this place. The overwhelming response was, "Just tell us where to show up!"

I had insurance lined up, and my lawyer had checked the registration form for proper wording. I signed the lease papers with the market's owner. A week later he sold the store. But... his mother had a 12 acre farm 5 miles from the store if I wanted to look at it. So I looked at it and I knew I could make it work, since this was basically just a circus and you could set it up anywhere.

So I asked the Yahoo Group if I should just drop the idea or did they want to move it to this place. The overwhelming response was, "Just tell us where to show up!"

I put the registration page up on the website, and forms started coming in. And then they stopped. I had 10 people, the most vocal on the list, signed up. Two months before the party I told the land owner that if things didn't pick up I'd just have the party in my back yard. Within the next month, only 9 more forms arrived and I saw the writing on the wall.

So I asked the Yahoo Group if they wanted me to mail their $60 back or if they wanted to come pick it up at my place. The overwhelming response was, "Keep the money. Just tell us where to show up!"

During the days before the event around 20 more people let me know that they were on the way and would cover their costs on arrival.

Supplies were purchased. That Thursday I mowed the lawn and waited for the tent to arrive. Around 1:30 the tent crew showed up, we sledgehammered stakes and that much was off my mind.

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