The Upcoming Sunset

Today Upcoming is shutting down. And I’m feeling nostalgic.

We all knew it was going to happen eventually; nobody has properly used Upcoming for ages. When I heard the news, I didn’t really feel sad; Upcoming had seen its best days, why continue on with a service no one is using? It must have been something like 2 years since I last used it, so why should I care?

But then I logged in.

Looked at my past events.

And realized just how many good memories had their origin in a simple click on an Upcoming page.

In 2007 I moved to London. It was a huge move: new country, new city, new customs, everything was different from what I was used to. I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know how I’d find new friends and people I’d like. I wasn’t really connecting with any of the other students at university, but beyond that I didn’t know where else to go. And then I came across Upcoming.

Thanks to Upcoming, I discovered the Girl Geek Dinners, the Geek Dinners, BarCamps, Hackdays and more. I found out about screenings, lectures and other cool things. When I visited Berlin for a few days, I found out what interesting things were going on.

Browsing through my old events, I came across the first Werewolf night I went to. It links to two videos where Ian is explaining me the rules of Werewolf, with the help of Tom, Sheila and Glyn. All four of them are good friends now, and it’s weird seeing that video of when they barely knew me.

I came across the first BarCamp I attended and remember how stressed out I was about presenting there. I came across the first couple of Geek Dinners I helped organize (and cringe at the copy I most probably had a hand in). I came across the first hackday I ever attended where I ended up creating a Torchwood swede. I came across the Girl Geek Coffee I organized, the first event I properly did on my own. And I came across the first BarCampLondon I helped organized, which kicked off all the event organizing I’m doing today.

Attending and organizing all those events have turned me into the person I am today, and I have to thank Upcoming for playing a role in that.

And that Upcoming list of all my past events? It’s the only real detailed record of my first 3 years in London.

Goodbye, Upcoming.

Thank you for all the memories.