The Gathering 2014

[AcuteEnigma]

Apparently The Gathering 2014 is real!!!

http://www.scotclans.com/bletherskite/?p=2931

I have written to Stirling Council to verify they intend to have Clan Tents and a Clan Gathering somewhere around the time of their Bannockburn 700 celebration. The same week would be my vote.

Here is the Stirling Council website:
http://www.stirling2014.co.uk/

Somewhere in there you can sign up for email notifications.

[Jock Scot]

Hummmm the expression of "once bitten twice shy" comes to mind.

[AcuteEnigma]

Shy?

Most people say they had a wonderful time at the 2009 Gathering.

I think some vendors are still unpaid and Edinburgh city should pay them, but that is a different story.

The event itself was awesome!

[Jock Scot]

Shy?

Most people say they had a wonderful time at the 2009 Gathering.

I think some vendors are still unpaid and Edinburgh city should pay them, but that is a different story.

The event itself was awesome!

Was it?

I am delighted that you/they had a good time, it was a shame that the locals were not invited. When you say "most people" I assume that you are not including those from Scotland!

Please, I hope that this 2014 thing is a great success, but I think that many locals are entitled to be rather cynical.

[AcuteEnigma]

Well, many Scottish people knew about it. Anyone getting clan newsletters knew and certainly over 100 Clan Chiefs knew. People reading XmarksTheScot knew about it.

What are your suggestions for getting the word out to the locals this time?

Anything I can do from California? Of course, I'd rather help from Scotland, but I am not lucky enough to live there.

[Woot22]

I want to go for sure, had a blast in 2009. It is a shame it lost so much money however. Really no excuse for that to have happened. There was a ton of people who attended. Hope they learned from the mistakes of the first and have it organized better so it becomes the successful games it has the potential to be. It is my opinion they should have never tried to tie the event to the "pageant". Was not something I was interested in and I have been wondering ever since if this was one area that lost quite a bit of money. Just my thought on the matter. I can honestly say though I love the new location, Stirling is awesome and I for one am looking forward to it.

[Jaggy thistle]

As a Scot I must say I enjoyed the gathering very much it should have made money I think there was a lot of greed involved

[Jock Scot]

Well, many Scottish people knew about it. Anyone getting clan newsletters knew and certainly over 100 Clan Chiefs knew. People reading XmarksTheScot knew about it.

What are your suggestions for getting the word out to the locals this time?

Anything I can do from California? Of course, I'd rather help from Scotland, but I am not lucky enough to live there.

Had I not been a member of Xmarks I would have probably never heard of the Homecoming and there are a large proportion of Scotland who would have been in the same position.Those that did eventually find out about it, at the eleventh hour, decided that they did not like being an afterthought and stayed away.

Many of the Clan Chiefs were more "dragooned" into going rather than being invited and as we don't have strong Clan associations(Newsletters? What are they?We, on the whole, don't do Clan Associations) when "they"eventually decided to become involved they discovered that, more often than not, American(for example) clan associations had got the spot ahead of them, for a particular clan. Clan Cunningham, for example, had this problem if I recall correctly.

There are a few threads here that covered the points at the time, so a search might pay dividends for you .

I think most of the problems stemmed from a "management" who were not thinking local and thought worldwide and sadly by in large ignored the locals which has left a legacy of cynicism. Had the locals been involved earlier then perhaps the event may have paid its way, which leads us on to another problem entirely!

[kilted scholar]

The following is taken from the website in the link supplied by the OP. The site is described as run by a family run Scottish company.

"The Scottish government has also designated 2014 as Scotland’s second year of homecoming. The first took place in Edinburgh 2009. It was a hugely important event for Scottish Clans all around the world becoming the largest clan meeting. So excitement about this next event is starting to build.

Stirling council are going to be organising a summer long programme of events.

Provost Fergus Wood said it was a chance to put Stirling on the “world stage”.

“Let’s all rise to the occasion and start planning now for a terrific 2014. I’d like to encourage everyone in the Stirling family to help shape our celebrations,” he said.

“I hope as many local people as possible will join in by giving us their ideas and getting involved in their communities.”.

We’d love to hear what people are thinking about Bannockburn 700. We have set up a facebook page: The Gathering 2014."

********
It seems from this that it is the Scottish government that has designated 2014 as Scotland's second year of homecoming and that it is Stirling council that is in the vanguard of organization. This seems to me to be about as local as one can get.

[Oldhiker]

Was it?

Please, I hope that this 2014 thing is a great success, but I think that many locals are entitled to be rather cynical.

I was shocked when I got to Scotland and found out how few people from Scotland knew about the previous event. I saw the same people I see all the time in Seattle, I wanted to interact with Scots. I did see/meet some and did enjoy some of the events but it could have been so much better. I will be back to Scotland but not to one of these events. The potential was huge to start a tradition.