Totally agree. You hear about all these stories where a teenager goes off and meets someone they met online, which can be dangerous. The next minute, some bad news could make the headlines...
Meeting people you've never met before on a first TPM meet could be seen as potentially risky by your parents. And I'm sure they would be disappointed if they found out you lied to them. If you came and then went home and admitted to your parents who you were really with, I would think good on you. To lie from the beginning is a no.
I would take a leaf out ot Matt Creek's book and show him this topic, then your parents might let you go. Then again, it could set alarm bells off in their heads and they'd be very worried.
By the way, Matt Creek, good on you.
Please MarkC, I'm not judging you, and don't take this the wrong way. This is not criticism, we're steering you in the right direction here and protecting you. I've made mistakes similar to these in my life and faced the consequences before kicking my own arse.
I'm not coming anyway - my parents other plans are preventing me.