Ladies and gentlemen,

In October 2016 we had the first official UWOL get together in Bristol, England. Some of us had participated in the UWOL challenges since day 1 in 2007, while others were relative new to the game.

While we were together, we talked about how nice it would be to meet up every 2-3 years, in different locations.
So...
Let us plan UWOL get together, part 2, in 2018.

Some ideas for locations that has been thrown to the table:
Notice that these are just ideas/suggestions, and we are absolutely not limited to these!
Northern Norway - to film the northern lights. Best time would be winter months (February/March)
Alaska - Same reason as Norway.
Hawaii
Safari in Africa (to film the 5 big ones) was suggested for the first get together.
Chime in with other suggestions...

Who can participate:
I'd say anyone who has ever signed up for an UWOL challenge, prior to the day we meet.
It does not matter if you are totally new to UWOL or have participated for years, everyone is just as welcome. It is a great way to get to know others who share the passion for filming, the outdoors, the nature, and of course to have fun. This is the main priority for this. The filming is 2nd priority.

Feel free to come with ideas and comment, both about locations, when to go... and everything else.

Link to this thread can be found in the "sticky" News and announcement" thread on top of the uwol forum.

The meet up in Bristol was really great! Really enjoyed meeting everyone!

Couple things I'd like to put out there...

Wherever we go, it would be nice if there was a person from the "host" country there. Having Mick teach us the ropes was so crucial to us having a good time. If he didn't tell us we had to go up to the bar to order rout food, we'd still be waiting there! :)

We learned that eating in the UK is a social event where people linger, talk and laugh. Here in the US, it's get em in, get em out as fast as possible so the next group can be seated.

WildScreen was great. Saw so many films and met some filmmakers I have followed for a while that were on panels during the week.

The down side was that we spent a lot of time at the festival and not so much with each other except for getting together to eat.

For me, I'd like the next meet up to be somewhere where we can do some shooting. I'd love to see how other people's process works filming in similar situations.

Just got back from Yellowstone and while it is a great destination for filming nature and wildlife, it's very spread out. The great loop road is like 100 miles around. So for Karina and I, it meant extra early wake ups to be across the park at a certain time. But Yellowstone does have a lot of diversity for filming.

Filming the Northern Lights is high on my list of things to do. The downside to that is people with video only cameras will probably be disappointed since you really need a low light camera to capture them.

If we do something in 2018, I'll need to know by the end of this year so I can block off that time with vacation from work. Really sucks having to plan your year a year in advance!

2024 we should really have a meet up to film the total solar eclipse. You can't describe what it is like and photos and video don't do it justice compared to being there in person.

I'm open to just about anywhere along as I can afford it which I'm sure id the big drawback for most of us

2024 we should really have a meet up to film the total solar eclipse. You can't describe what it is like and photos and video don't do it justice compared to being there in person.
This would be awesome for a get-together event!

How about a UWOL get-together early 2018?
Northern Norway.

I recently read that some scientists believe this winter will be the last of the spectacular northern lights seasons in as long as maybe 50 years.

Any thoughts?

Not sure if I could swing it.

Booked a workshop to film synchronous fireflies and another to build on filming the night sky.
So that takes three weeks of vacation and a good chunk of money 😀
I’m game for either late 2018 or early 2019 though

Yes, maybe plan for a late 2018 or early 2019 gives more people time to save up and make time to participate?
I'm wide open for suggestions about location and time.