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Pub Garden Etiquette: Because it’s Getting Near That Time Already!

We love a good pub here at MixingOut, and with the weather beginning to turn and a hint of clarion in the air – okay, maybe we’re jumping the gun there – we’re already picturing ourselves sat outside, cold drink in hand, meeting people and having a good time.

That’s right, we’re talking about beer gardens, that good old British institution that makes drinking outside socially acceptable. And what better way to kick things off than with a brief lesson in pub garden etiquette.

Thou Will Wear Sunglasses, Even When it’s Cloudy

Whether the sun is blazing or sulking behind a reef of ominous-looking clouds, wearing sunglasses is an absolute MUST. It’s a scientific fact that wearing sunglasses makes you 75% cooler in the eyes of other people, especially the opposite sex. And this figure has been thought to rise whilst wearing sunglasses at night.

Populate Your Table With ‘Trophies’

Every empty glass is a marker for how much of a good time you and your friends are having, so display them proudly on the table. You should be aiming for ‘absolute clutter’ to the point where it’s almost impossible to set another drink down or liberally move your elbows.

Impose Your Sporting Ideologies On Other People

If there’s a game on then for god’s sake let EVERYBODY ELSE know about it. You’re not a real man unless you’re donning your team’s colours and shouting abuse at professional athletes on the projector screen. You may have moobs/a scrawny physique, but nobody will question your masculinity when you’re shrieking like a Viking.

Pick The Largest Table With The Parasol, Even if There’s Only Two Of You

Large groups of people can just collect chairs and crowd themselves around a smaller table, whispering amongst themselves between shooting you seething glances. It’s not your problem. An ideal ratio for picking the biggest, best-shaded table is 3 of them for every 1 of you.

If You Can’t See Your Car From Where You’re Sitting, Move

The biggest advantage of sitting outside in a beer garden is that you can check on your car every five or six minutes, just to make sure it’s still ‘okay’. If for some reason you have to awkwardly crane your neck or get up out of your seat to view it, then insist on moving to another table – even if this means upsetting everybody else with you.

March 18, 2015
2015 Oscar Winners We Want to Hang Out With

If only to brag about attending a red carpet event, we’d love to make friends with some of this year’s Oscar winners. We can just picture it now; invites to A-list parties, rubbing shoulders with the Hollywood elite, and then onto some trendy LA club where the overpriced drinks menu is carved out of ice and somebody somewhere is wearing sunglasses even though it’s pitch black. That’s when you know you’ve definitely made it in life.

Best Female to Have On Your Side in a Scrap – Patricia Arquette

The Best Supporting Actress winner gave a stirring speech when accepting her award, fighting the cause for gender equality in Hollywood. Imagine her reaction to you getting some unwanted attention from some drunken loser the next time the two of you hit a club. She’d probably smash him (or her, if you’re a bloke) over the head with her trophy and stick it where the sun don’t shine. God forbid they lose your coat in the cloak room.

Best Male for Sharing in Some Banter – JK Simmons

Most people will recognise JK as shouty newspaper editor J.Jameson from the original Spiderman trilogy. But this year’s best Supporting Actor winner has played numerous fast-foul-mouthed characters throughout his career – verbally cutting other onscreen actors down to size with his quick wit and comic delivery. We can’t imagine indulging in a little ‘friendlier’ banter with anybody funnier.

Best Best Friend Ever. Period. – Baymax (Big Hero 6)

We all wanted a robotic friend growing up. I don’t care how cool you think you were as a kid, every single one of us would have given anything for a walking, talking, animatronic best bud. Baymax from Big Hero 6 is an inflatable cyborg who just wants to help people – a little bit like the bigger brother who programmed him in the movie – and would make all other human acquaintances obsolete: “Goodbye, we’ve found ourselves the coolest mate ever!”

February 24, 2015
Awesome Video Games You Can Do For Real With Your Friends

Everybody loves video games. That’s a proven fact conducted by scientists and monkeys. But unless you count getting thrashed by a 12-year-old Ugandan on Call Of Duty at two in the AM, it’s not the most social of activities.

Not anymore! We’ve put our heads together and come up with 3 awesome ways to enjoy video games FOR REAL with your mates. Some of them are even better than the originals. Here’s what we found:

Minecraft

Okay, this one is more popular with your nieces and nephews than it would be for you and your mates (although it is totally addicting). We can’t exactly imagine a lot of “spleef” talk down the pub.

Chances are, however, you’re already participating in a little real-life Minecraft without even knowing it. Okay, maybe you aren’t building forts out of sofa cushions anymore, but every time you exhibit a little one-upmanship in the DIY stakes (we’re thinking home cinema, outdoor pizza oven, games room etc.) you’re practically flexing your Minecraft muscles.

Resident Evil

It doesn’t matter who you are, everybody knows this zombie-slaying, shriek-inducing, trouser-staining video game series. And there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing that meaty crunch as you pop a shuffling corpse in the head. Yay!

Zombie Experience lets you and a group of friends enjoy the fun of apocalyptic carnage for real. Team up for the day and battle hordes of authentic-looking walking dead in all sorts of horror movie-inspired locations – live ammo not included.

Mario Kart

This classic is the stuff of childhood memories. It’s also our personal favourite on the list. We even have a copy of the original in the office!

What could be better than smashing your mate’s car with a gigantic red turtle shell? Well, you can’t quite go to those extremes with real-life Go Karting but it sure rivals any video game equivalent in every other aspect.

February 18, 2015
How to organise the perfect Mixing Out event…
Have you attended a few Mixing Out events and now find yourself thinking ‘I could do that, I could host the most amazing event’?

Well, if you haven’t noticed from the prompts around the site already, YOU CAN!! You could be the host/hostess with the most/mostess.

Your event should very much represent you and your interests, and you will find that those with similar interests will come flooding to join you. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a night on the town, a girly shopping trip, or bowling – whatever you want to do with other people then put on an event for it.

In case you’re wondering just how easy it is to put on an event lets quickly run through the steps to creating a Mixing Out event:
1. Give your event a catchy title and put enough information in it to draw people in – don’t make it too long though!
2. Provide as much information as possible about the event – go on, sell it to us. If you can make the event sound fun and unmissable then people will want to join you. Be sure to set a member limit if you want to keep it cosy.
3. Set the event location, time, and date – if you need to provide more information for getting there or where to meet then please do!
Besides a few others boxes that you can fill in to add a bit more to your event, that’s it! It really is that easy and quick to add your event – then you just wait for the bookings to fly in.

Interested? You may already be aware that to become an organiser typically requires a certain Sociability score. BUT you can skip that process and apply to upgrade your account for free and become and organiser right now!

Click here to apply to become an organiser: http://mixingout.com/info/start-fun-where-i-am
January 27, 2015
2015 Will be the Biggest Year for Meeting People – Find Out Why!

The New Years resolutions have been made and by now the majority of you have most likely failed to see them through. The healthy eating will have gone out of the window, along with the money-saving schemes, and the excessive running schedule.

However, we have some great news for those of you who vouched to get out more and meet more people this year – MixingOut has events coming on left, right and centre! We are now lucky to have a host of fabulous organisers in Derby and Leeds, who have scheduled some cracking events in the coming months. Lets take a look at a snippet of what is coming up and get you booked on:

Derby

Ladies Afternoon Tea – Saturday 28th February

Where: Cathedral Quarter Hotel, St Mary’s Gate, Derby, DE1 3JR

If you fancy a delicious treat in exquisite surroundings then this is for you. Relax with a good cup of tea, some lovely cake, and enjoy some pleasant conversation. With just 6 places available, this will be a nice cosy meet up.

Find out more: http://mixingout.com/socialEvent/View-social-event-dash/421

Newbies Welcome – Tuesday 10th February

Where: The Friary, Friar Gate, Derby, DE1 1FG

Calling all new members to the group! Fancy meeting other newbies and a chance to chat with regulars?

Join us for a relaxed chat, have a bit a laugh and meet some of the other newcomers and regulars looking for an excuse to go out.

Why stay in and watch TV (Tuesday night telly anyone?) when you could have some fun! If you haven’t been out with us yet this one is especially for you.

Book on here: http://mixingout.com/socialEvent/View-social-event-dash/414

Leeds Ladies Lunch – Saturday 14th February

Where: Red Hot World Buffet, 44 The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 8TL

This is one for the ladies (as the title suggests), where you can enjoy an ‘all world’ meal and a nice chat. With just 6 places available, you can really get to know the other ladies whilst enjoying the diversity of the food.

Find out more here: http://mixingout.com/socialEvent/View-social-event-dash/428

These are just a few examples of the sort of events that you will see coming on regularly this year. So, never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life – i.e. get out!

January 22, 2015
2014 Roundup – What a Year it’s Been!

So Christmas draws near and 2014 is nearly at a close. And what a year 2014 has been!

Since launching in Leeds back in January, we’ve had even more members sign up with MixingOut, putting on more events than ever. It’s been a busy 2014 and we wanted to give you a roundup of our favourite bits. Hope you enjoy!

January – Beer & Ping Pong

We started the year in Leeds, taking in some of the local bars and hotspots. We had lots of fun checking the city out and found plenty of fun and interesting places for our Leeds members to go on a night out.

But our favourite place had to be The Roxy Ball Room, which may or may not have gotten its name from the ping pong tables in the venue’s back room. Nothing beats beer and ping pong for a fun time – whatever time of day!

February – Festival Time

Most festivals don’t start until the summer but February was highlighted in our calendars for one of the country’s biggest beer festivals.

The CAMRA National Winter Ales Festival took place at the Roundhouse in Derby and we can’t wait for 2015 for another round!

March – Our First Ladies Night

Back in March we hosted our first ever Ladies Night – an all-ladies event just for our female members in Leeds.

So it was all about lip-gloss, new shoes and letting our hair down (or wearing it up if that’s your thing) and really letting loose. It was a massive success and one of our best events of the year.

April – Suns Out, Guns Out

With summer just around the corner, we decided that combining exercise with socialising would be a great way to have some fun with friends whilst seeing positive results. So we really pushed you guys to find as many ways to get in-shape together as possible. Hope it paid off!

June – Ladies That Lunch

In June we saw a surge in women-only events; namely lunchtime get-togethers for a few cocktails and giggles. Thusly, Ladies That Lunch was born and a string of regular events followed throughout the rest of the year in Derby and Leeds.

July – 10 Hour Party People

Admittedly, we didn’t last the full 10 hours at The Made in Leeds Festival but we did have a great time.

It was the first music event of its kind in the city, so we just had to check it out. After all, we love music, we love the city and we absolutely can’t get enough of meeting the people there.

September – Your Social Life Horoscope For This Month

Born under a wandering star, instinct leads you to explore new territories and form tight friendships by joining a gang. Approach this avenue with caution, though, these people take loyalty very seriously.

November – Bowled Over With Laughter

November was a busy month for our Derby members. Highlights included a classic night out bowling and a trip to The Bless comedy Night.

Comedy nights have become something of a runaway success here at MixingOut – with groups of regulars meeting often for a few drinks and a good laugh. After all, that’s what we’re all about.

December 23, 2014
Top Christmas Gifts For Your New Friends

Every year it’s the same dilemma: what to buy your new friends for Christmas. If you’ve known your mates a while, it can be easy. But if you’ve only just met then there’s a fine balance between getting your gift idea spot-on and disastrously falling short of the mark.

Luckily we’ve already scoured the internet in search of the perfect prezzies. So why not arrange a last-minute secret Santa for that big Christmas get together followed by a fun night out!

Gingko LED Clock – For the techno-chic

This stylish Gingko Clock is a great gift idea for anybody who loves cool, quirky gadgets. Made from a seamless wooden cube (available in teak, black, and ceramic white) the time display is LED and flashes at the tap of a finger. If you can’t think what to get us for xmas, maybe one of these?

Starbucks Hot Chocolate Trio – Because that’s what Christmas is all about

Everybody loves a cosy mug of hot chocolate at Christmas. This Trio of special blends by Starbucks offers three of the most delicious hot chocolate flavours around – including Double Chocolate, Marshmallow, and Salted Caramel. Yummy!

Amazeballs Mini Saucer – For the person with the boring desk job

Forget having photos of your loved ones on your desk, this mesmerising Mini Saucer is the perfect distraction from the drudgery of work – as the ball moves up the corkscrew and runs the circuit with a seamless flow. Simple but hours of fun!

Jelly Belly Draft – For the person who loves beer

Sometimes all your mate really wants for Christmas is a pint. How about shaking things up with hilarious Jelly Belly Draft. They really do taste like beer and make for a fun stocking-filler for anybody who likes beer, sweets and a giggle.

Grow Your Own Cocktail Garden – For the party girl with green fingers

Everything she needs to grow her own cocktails ingredients in one box, including 18 recipes put together by expert mixologists. You may have to throw in a bottle of something, if you’re feeling generous, but this is otherwise a great gift idea.

December 18, 2014
New Year, New City: MixingOut is coming to Nottingham

You don’t need us to remind you that Christmas is well and truly underway, which can only mean one thing… New Year is right around the corner.

That’s right, 2015 is on it’s way and marks a new horizon of exciting things to come for everybody here at MixingOut. Yep, it’s all about getting out more, meeting new and exciting people and having a great 2015.

And to get the ball rolling, we’re pleased to announce that MixingOut will be expanding to Nottingham as of January next year!

Nottingham joins in the fun

That’s right, Nottingham joins the MixingOut fun as of 2015. We’ve already taken a good look around the city and visited some of the friendliest bars, clubs and venues we think would make excellent places for groups to meet up and hang out (more about those venues coming soon on our website).

MixingOut has seen massive success in Derby since we launched there earlier this year, with over a thousand members using our social network, and now we’re very excited to be taking the party to Nottingham. We’ll be rolling out events at the start of the new year, beginning with our ever-popular ‘Ladies That Lunch’ sometime in the near future – so keep an eye out for that, ladies of Nottingham!

So, if you’re new to Nottingham and looking to meet new friends, or if you already live in the city and feel like trying something different, meeting up with lots of new people who just want to have a good time, then sign-up to MixingOut and get a heads-up on the latest goings on near you. Click here to sign up for one of the 250 FREE accounts that are available.

In the meantime, be sure top keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter for further developments and MixingOut News.

December 4, 2014
Another Busy Month of Meeting People Done – What We Got Up To

It’s been another busy month for MixingOut and now that October is finally over, we thought it would be really cool to take a look back at a couple of our favourite events. This time we’re in Derby, where bowling and comedy was on the agenda – not at the same time, of course, although some of our bowling skills were laughable!

Living life in the fast lane

Above: Having a ball at Tenpin Bowling Derby

Remember the last time you went bowling? You probably had a blast, right? Everybody loves bowling! And that’s just what our Derby members decided when they were coming up with ideas for a fun night out that everybody would enjoy.

We rolled up at Tenpin Bowling (you can check their venue out here) for a few games and a couple of drinks. Be advised though; drink responsibly, kids, because alcohol can seriously impede your ability to bowl!

After one too many gutter-balls, we decided to take things a bit more seriously and have a friendly competition – guys against the girls, as standard. Needless to say it was of a disgrace to the sport. But everybody had a laugh and a really great time all the same. Definitely something we want to do again and would certainly suggest to all our MixingOut members who fancy a great night out without having to hit the bars and clubs. Fun, relaxed, and a great activity for mingling with new and old friends.

Comedy Night, The Bless

Above: No, no that kind of Bless!

Monday nights are Standup Comedy Night at the Blessington Carriage and even though it’s become a regular event for some our MixingOut members, we wanted to mention it here because of its growing popularity amongst newer members also. And needless to say, our last event at The Bless this month was another big success.

November 10, 2014
Meeting New People is Easy, When You Know What to Say

Wherever you go, whether it’s down to your local ghetto or across the other side of the world to some distant shanty in the middle of nowhere – it certainly pays to know the lingo. Otherwise, who can say what kind of trouble a simple misunderstanding of the term “blood-pact” may get you in to?

Whilst you aren’t going to find yourself in nowhere near as a precarious situation as a gangland shooting, it’s still worth brushing up on the appropriate vernacular for your next MixingOut get-together. So with that being said, we’ve put together some useful slang that should see you in good stead nicely…. maybe.

Brofie (Bro-fee)

A “selfie” with your bro. In other words, a picture that’s been taken on your smartphone of you (by you) and another guy, in full-on “selfie” pose.

There’s probably a female equivalent but an all girl selfie is such a regular occurrence, there doesn’t seem a need to give it a name. Sorry, ladies.

Oskilio (Osk-ee-leo)

Taken from the Alpha, Bravo Alphabet; Oskilio combines Oscar and Kilo to mean O.K. (as in everything is okay) and mashes it together with “coolio” – a painfully outdated term meaning pretty much the same thing.

We predict it will be HUGE, quickly making its way into the English dictionary along with “selfie” and “twerk”, before succumbing to absolute obscurity. So you might not want to use it by the time this post goes live…

Minesweeper (Mine-sweeper)

Somebody who goes around blagging drinks at a party or at a bar amongst a group of friends, only to avoid the very same people who have already bought them a drink (and possibly expect one in return) upon their second go-around.

Snappening (Snap-en-ing)

When something newsworthy is taking place abruptly on Snap Chat. Kind of like a live rundown of a good night out, including the buildup and the aftermath.

November 4, 2014