5th September 2026

ECM 2026

at Village Hotel, Coventry

Meet, play, eat. In the company of fellow gamers - in aid of charity

ECM is BACK for 2026!

Happy New Year to you all!

We have some great news - contracts are signed and we're open for bookings for 2026 on the 5th Septemeber 2026 - a few weeks later, but HOPEFULLY a little less hot and steamy than it was last time.

This year we're back in the MIDLANDS - as you all enjoyed the venue so much last year, we're returning to the Village Hotel, Coventry

They've refurbished all the bedrooms, frozen our prices for 2026, updated the dinner menu AND added in some dessert options.

As before we have dedicated FULL SIZED bar and lobby area - ALL the side rooms, an even better Internet Connection, EV charging points!

That's All Folks

Well, that's all for ECM 2025, folks!

As the crew winds down and pour ourselves a Centauri Mega Gin, it leaves us one final task of saying the biggest thank you to our sponsors, to our crew, to our raffle donators, our content suppliers, to the hotel, and last and certainly not least, to you, the Elite Dangerous community. The constant support and willingness to just get stuck in and get involved is what makes this event. We are always blown away at the generosity of all involved and we could not do it without each and every one of you.

Coming soon(TM), ECM 2026!

Now with a link to this years Gallery. Thanks to all who shared their memories of the day.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UB8yEdnG7GY4BqCn7

What IS ECM?

For those that haven’t been to an ECM before – “What is it?”

It a non commercial event run by us, the community, to have a place to get together and share company, gaming, a bite to eat and a drink with fellow gamers. On the 16th August 2025.... In Coventry.

It’s NOT a “programmme driven” event with formal panels, talks etc from a stage, NOR is it cluttered with stalls from commercial sponsors.

Whilst it began with Elite, & friends getting together from the Elite Dangerous playing community – over the years it just celebrates our hobbies in a wider sense.

What is there to do?
Whilst those of us helping organise it bring a lot – it REALLY hinges on you. If you’ve got a game you want to play, consider hosting it, whether that’s a board/card game, something on your computer or anything else.

As always there will be some multiplayer gaming courtesy of our retro area – things like manic games of MarioKart, Gangbeasts (always a laugh) for 4 players at a time on a shared screen. Our retro area is CHOC full of BBC Micro, Spectrum, Amiga, Atari classics. There’s an upright arcade machine for a bit of Streetfighter, Pacman and all that jazz.

WHEN Is it?

16th August 2025

ECM 2024385 new items · Album by David Pearson

That's IT - it's all over for 2024.

Thank you SO MUCH everyone for coming and having such a great day. Photos available to your left here, video washup below from Hutton.

We've raised a smashing total for our charities £5111.11 SO FAR - which we will be splitting between our two charities, and publishing the full accounts so you can see where all the pennies went.

So many thanks: (2025 - We're up for that, right?):

Psykit, Litho, Little Grey, Chris Mk IV for the stage and tech
Our sponsors
A5ylum and Tisdar for the racing (and Tisdar for the Lego table)
Stephen Usher and Atrus5060 for the retro corner
BeetleJude for the Model Building
LCU and Canonn for the "goodies for sale", Evenstar for the Laser etching
Henry, Glen and Snos for the front desk
The Family Barker (And special Guests) for the raffle wrangling
ZaphodBeeble for the Artemis
Alec for the Subtlemob
Lave Radio, Hutton, Dockers and ToCoSo for the live entertainment
++++ SO MANY OTHERS for all the help - would be simpler just to namedrop you all.

The charities we support through this event

SpecialEffect

Helping people with physical disabilities access the world of gaming

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People

Hearing Dogs - providing the assistance and company so many people with hearing difficulties face.

The ticket price goes to cover the costs of hosting the event - and every penny over and above the costs is split equally between the chosen charities. Occasionally, as a result of a generous donation of equipment we add a third to these two main charities - as we did in memory of Paul Vernon in 2024.