This year's COW2022 was a great success ... and I know that I and every other attendee I spoke to is already looking forward to attending COW2023!
For the first time in its forty-two-year history, the Conference of Wargamers (COW) was held at the UK Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire ... and it proved to be an excellent venue. The accommodation was of a standard that one would expect to find in a university Hall of Residence or one of the chain of budget no-fills hotels. In other words, it was clean, a bit corporate-looking, reasonably equipped, and each room had en-suite facilities. The food was of a similar standard, but the surroundings we ate in were more like those found in a university refectory.
The sessions were all held in the so-called Tech Centre of the Defence Academy, which houses a lecture theatre, a large multi-purpose room ... and the Academy's own private museum of weapons! I will write more about the latter in a future blog post but being able to actually look at both the outside and inside of several modern armoured fighting vehicles et al was worth to cost of attending the conference!
The only downsides from my point-of-view were getting to the venue and getting around it. In the former instance, this was down to the fact that I live in southeast London and had to use the very crowded motorway system to get there, and what was supposed to be a two-and-a-half-hour drive (according to both my satnav and Google Maps) took over four hours. The second problem was due to the very spread-out nature of what is effectively a university campus, and that since my recent operations, walking much more than a couple of hundred yards can be very tiring ... or very slow!
Would I go back to the Academy if COW was held there again? Of course I would! The downsides were a mere inconvenience which fade into insignificance when compared to the boost I got from going to COW for the first time in three years!
BOB,
ReplyDeleteGlad you have had an enjoyable time at this year's COW- despite the four hour trip to get there. The Venue sounds great and it would be hard for you to replace the previous years at Knunston Hall. Stay well my Friend. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteWhen you see the photographs of the Tech Centre, you’ll see why it was such a great venue for a bunch of wargamers to use.
Knuston Hall had many advantages, but as it looks as if it will not be available for WD to use for some time to come, the UK Defence Academy is a great substitute … and we were very lucky to get access to it.
All the best,
Bob
I am basing my comment only on my experiences in Boston, NYC and other major cities in the US - but wouldn't the underground be quicker? Dive to or taxi to the nearest underground parking lot ; take it to the nearest station at COW; taxi to COW!
ReplyDeleteDick Bryant,
DeleteThe UK Defence Academy is about 100 miles away in a straight line from where I live, and getting there by bus, underground, mainline train, and then a taxi would have taken about three hours … and cost me three times as much as I spent on petrol.
I did consider it a serious alternative option for getting to COW, but I suspect that during the unseasonal hot weather we are having in the UK at present, I was probably more comfortable driving my air-conditioned car that travelling in a hot and crowded train.
All the best,
Bob
It was my first COW and a fantastic experience. It was a plerasure to finally meet you too, as well as several others.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Pete.
Pete.,
DeleteI’m glad that you enjoyed COW … and it was great to actually meet you and put a face to the name,
All the best,
Bob
It was simply brilliant :)
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteIt was, wasn't it! If I can be busy all day and evening at a conference, and come away wishing that there had been more time so that I could have taken part in the sessions I missed, then it was a great conference.
All the best,
Bob