Hello fellow code developers,

I would like to know who among us is coming to Bletchley Park and is interested into meeting people.

This means that the ones not coming to Bletchley, or not interested in meeting other people (you antisocial bears! ), do not need to be concerned by this thread; so I hope there still would be replies here, to demonstrate how good-mannered we are.

I’ll land there on Nov 14th, near the station at Milton Keynes; my hotel will be around 30 minutes from the mansion.

I will be alone there, drifting in the loneliness of deep thinking.
And surely willing to target a restaurant and pub to get a feel of the country.

I would like to know if people would like us to have a dinner or something, or are disposed to show us the nice places/pubs/restaurants around Bletchley, and have a nice evening before, or even after the Live event!

Meaning, I am all available on the 14th and the 15th and am in no need to get shy. I suppose we should rather get the best from the Loebner experience, including friendly moments. I am sure we all have our stories about our involvement in the contest.

And ... and I could use some help at feeling at home around the place. :D

Of course, if you feel like being not interested in a nice pint of ale in a friendly pub, and tagging with all of us “future self-proclaimed masters of the AI world”, I sure could understand. Maybe you have another life or so. Or are one of the Final Four and having a firm argument with your programs.

For me, it’s not a lack of interest, but a lack of fiduciary options that keeps me away. My last trip to the UK (during which I was able to visit said location) cost me nearly $8,000USD, and that’s an amount that would take me several years to accrue.

that said, however, I’ll be with you folks in spirit, if nothing else.

When the contest live will be in the US, we’ll be happy to meet you Dave!
Well, of course the US being so wide, we’ll have to get lucky, but luck also happens, from time to time.
Being lucky is an inherent part of ourselves, after all.

Hi Christophe - I plan to come to Bletchley park to install the Uberbot, and would be happy to meet on the day. I haven’t been to Beltchley before and have no idea what the area is like. But I’m sure at the least, we can get a cup of tea or something!!

Hello Will,

Thank you and good luck for the technical steps
I understand you mean that you’ll be there on the 15th.
Surely all the staff around Bletchley will point us at nice places!

I wonder how it usually unfolds at the end of the event.
Maybe we could get the Loebner winner to pay the drinks? :D

I have no idea how it unfolds at the event as I have never been before. But I am looking forward to being there on the 15th.

That’s a good idea about getting Steve to pay for the drinks (Whoops did I say Steve? I mean the Loebner winner )

Thanks Will but all 4 bots have a great chance of winning. It all depends on what the judges ask and whether their questions fall nicely for the bots.

I will be there with my wife and one of my step daughters and will be more than to treat you to a coffee in hut 4, as I believe they will be spending the day shopping around nearby Milton Keynes before returning to hear the results.

Looking forward to seeing you all there. It really is a great day and all the press/media attention really makes you feel like a rock star for the day.

Erwin - Are you coming along this year?

Thanks for thinking off me Steve. Sure, I would have lovvvvvvvvvved to be there!!!!

But as you might remember, I invested a vast amount of money in Chatbots.org in the past, to much, to fast, and as a result, I’m still in recovery phase. Things are getting slightly better now, and I have been able to do some investments in the site (site performance, CMS upgrades and member database cleanup) and we will introduce a new spamproof member registration system soon (based on social media; in test phase now). I’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready.

Once I’m back on track, I will certainly schedule all the Loebner Prize contests in my diary because I love the field, would love to connect again and would love to expand the site again!

Lots of success Steve!!!! May the best win!!

-Erwin

That’s a shame Erwin. It would have been good to meet up again. One of the things I love about the Loebner Prize is meeting many of the folks I only ever talk to online. Hopefully, one year soon we’ll get together again.

Just came back from the meeting at Bletchley Park!

It really was something to be at the very place where the WW2 code breakers worked and lived, see Alan Turing handwritten notes, and at the same time see the Loebner contest going live at the Bletchley mansion.

My warm thanks go to Stephen Worswick, Daniel Burke, Will Rayer and his brother; because they all were so welcoming and helped me feel “at home”. Thanks to them, I could forget about the awkwardness it was for me, a foreigner, to be there. It was great to have them to talk to, and to exchange about chatbots stuff.

The AISB organization was also very friendly, just like Dr Loebner and Dr Keedwell.
I was a bit of an eccentric guy there, waiting to get a chance at talking with experts. I am sorry about that. The truth is that I wanted to get “the best of the experience there”... and this is what I got, thanks to the people who took part to it.

See you next year then, guys!

For me it is great news to learn that the AISB will organize the event now permanently, and (if I understood it correctly) that it will be hosted at Bletchley Park next year.

Oh, and warm congratulations to the four winners:

1. “Rose” by Bruce Wilcox (bronze winner)
2. “Izar” by Brian Rigsby
3. “Uberbot” by Will Rayer
4. “Mitsuku” by Steve Worswick

Bruce and Brian were not there physically, but they still got to the top!

It was good meeting you too Christophe and also Dan, Will, Ed Keedwell and Hugh of course, as well as a few others that I only really know from the online world. Oh and of course saying hello to James May too! I’m looking forward already to the next time we meet.

You lucky duck! Meeting James May? On TOP of attending the Loebner? I’m so very jealous now that I can hardly quantify the feeling!

Me too!

lol guys - I’m not sure if I detect sarcasm or not there. His presence was certainly enough to make my wife swoon.

It was great to meet everyone there - Hugh, Steve, Christophe, Ed, Bertie and all the others. It’s a real buzz being at the event and seeing how your bot responds! Oh, and I did see James May even though I didn’t have a chance to talk to him