Purely hypothetical, at least for now, if I threw a party for my Fluther acquaintances at my house in St. Paul, MN and gave enough warning (like a year or more) so you could save up for the travel expenses, get the time off work, etc., how likely would you be to show up?

I have no plans to do this mind you, though as I was sitting down today, I was starting to nod off, and I had no plans to throw any kind of party, but in my head I was throwing a party and I was worried that it wasn’t going to be that well attended, and I said to myself, I should ask the people I talk to online. When I woke up I though, I wondered, really, if I did that, who would show? So let’s say I decided this year that I was going to do this in 2011, some time on a Saturday night in the summer and started to plan the thing, and we were able to collectively hammer out a date, I posted a list of phone numbers and websites for local accommodations and listings of other recommendations of things you could do while you were in town, we set a time, party rules (like do I have everyone bring a bottle of something or what), and we had the particulars hammered down for a particular date with between a year and two to spare for you to make your plans and save your pennies…if that were to happen, who would say Yes, definitely, who would say No, definitely not, and who would say Depends?

And to make things interesting, I’m going to say that if you say Yes, you are obligated to come if I ever do such a thing. I don’t know what the penalty would be if you backed out, but we would collectively come up with something, like maybe you’d have to give $1,000 to a particular charity if you backed out. Though honestly, I’m probably not going to do this, assume that I 100% am going to do this, and that if you say yes, come hell or high water, you are going to come or suffer greatly if you don’t. That’s the spirit in which I want you to answer this question….really, only say Yes if you 100% mean yes, and realize that nothing short of the death of a family member or something else of colossal importance in your life (and I’m going to want proof) is going to get you out of it. And also, don’t answer Yes to spare my feelings, if I don’t get a single yes, I won’t be hurt. If you want to express your answer as a % certainty that you would given the amount of time you’d have to make arrangements, that’s fine too. I want people to give me sincere, honest answers, because when I’ve seen the whole “let’s throw a get together” question on these things, I suspect far more people are saying, “yeah I’d come” than would actually bother to do it. I mean, realize you’re going to have to pay for airfare or gas and a hotel, meals out, etc. Is it really worth it to you to meet the people you talk to? I ask because I think it’s a neat idea and something I’d probably enjoy, but I sincerely doubt I’d travel to say Texas if one of my Fluther friends from that state were to throw a shindig. Probably the only way I’d ever attend such a party would be if I personally threw it. So, hypothetically speaking (but take this seriously), what are your thoughts?