Pilots of the Elite Community - it's that time of year when we once again extend our invitation to come and join in ECM. Last year was Basingstoke, the year before Bristol, then Glasgow but this year we're heading to Manchester.The event is dedicated to the social, to playing games, to meeting fellow commanders and to having a laugh. Last year we had VR rigs, retro gaming, an XBox/Playstation corner, a projector for multi-player gaming fun, board and card games and of course Hutton Orbital Live from the stage in the evening. There was a quiz where teams from the Hammers of Slough and others competed in "Universally Challenged". We had a room dedicated to a multi-crew Artemis session, commander Blastard brought his full motion VR rig project for us to see and some of the Frontier team turned up an joined in the shenanigans (Will, Ed and Paige last time I seem to recall). 160 commanders last year packed the place out and had a whale of a time.The event is not for profit - ticket prices go to the costs of the hire, insurance etc and any surplus is split two ways between SpecialEffect and Hearing Dogs for the Deaf. Last year we were able to donate £2500 to each charity thanks to the community generosity.Tickets are £20 including your lunchIf you want to join us for dinner, there's an £18 supplement if you want feeding, but you can stay all evening regardless - likely opening is from 10am until midnight and then we pack and reconvene in the bar area for late night social.The hotel has a number of rooms at a discounted rate if you want to stop over for the late evening shenanigans - but being the city centre, there are loads of options available to suit all budgets. http://elitemeet.info for details - Spidermind and HCS are expected to be there and we've got confirmation that Will, Paige and Sally from Frontier are booked in and joining us - maybe more from the team.If you're coming and want to bring a computer to rig to the LAN setup, or VR to run some games, or an old retro computer, please let us know and we can make space for you - we're particularly hunting for more for the retro corner whether it be a BBC Micro running Elite, or an old Amiga, even ageing MarioKart gear for some shenanigans.There's a raffle - last year we were sponsored by Noblechairs and TinMan Games as well as Spidermind, HCS and Frontier with some great prizes - the year before was also Swiftpoint with some fantastic technology.We look forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones there! Set up is on the Friday night and the crew and any early arrivals normally have a dinner outing once we're all set up, followed by games of Cards against Humanity and others in the bar.