[kw-pm] meatspace locations

Wed Feb 26 16:59:12 CST 2003

I don't like downtown Kitchener, just my two cents worth.
Waterloo is in fact the centre of the universe.

On Wed, 26 Feb 2003, Daniel R. Allen wrote:

> Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 12:23:21 -0500 (EST)
> From: Daniel R. Allen <da at coder.com>
> To: kw-pm at mail.pm.org
> Subject: [kw-pm] meatspace locations
>
> A question about our meeting location for technical meetings.
>
> If you aren't particularly concerned about meatspace locations, feel free
> to advance to [1] below for the geek content of this post.
>
> --
>
> Chris said last Thursday it would be nice to not have to host every
> meeting.  Which I can understand; it's work to set up/stay-till-the-end.
> He suggested we rotate locations among two places, to distribute the
> responsibility.  I want to go easy on our hosts; it's great that Chris has
> been point-person for this and I don't want to wear him out.
>
> A few locations were suggested, including the Working Centre, Open Text,
> and a University of Waterloo lecture hall.
>
> Charu said he likes the Working Centre, where the Linux Users Group meets;
> downtown Kitchener seems central, there is free parking at night, and it's
> a "neutral space" so people don't feel they're being prosletized by a
> company.
>
> Simon said that meeting at or close to the Universities would mean more
> students would show up; getting to downtown Kitchener can be a bit long by
> bus.
>
> I noted that rotating meetings means everyone needs to actually think
> before heading out the door, so fewer people might show up; and being
> affiliated with a company rather than non-profit can be nice because it
> adds a professional air.  At boston.pm, we met at the boston.com building;
> they were really nice and gave us free food. (this was after 3 years
> meeting in someone's attic, then 2 years off in the suburbs).
>
> Arguile agreed with this merit, coming from vancouver.pm which meets at
> ActiveState.
>
> Previously, someone has said meeting at the University detracts from
> business people showing up because it would feel like a student group and
> it's tougher to find parking.
>
> If you drew a vector along the axes of physical location, ease for hosts,
> parking, cost, and town-gown relations, I think so far everything nearly
> cancels and we find ourselves very close to the origin.  (help?)
>
> It was agreed that we should definitely meet at a student-friendly
> location once a term, before homework sets in.  This makes sense.
>
> Invitations on offer:
> Quarry every couple of months (comes with parking, data-projector, and
> uptown location);
>
> Open Text (Rick Price has said he could ask; they have parking, a
> board-room with data-projector, a location very close to the U of W);
>
> The U of W has spaces that are generally available; or we might be able
> to use the lab we met in the first time once every few months;
>
> My office at my house.  Small table, cozy, street parking, no projector.
> Puppy.
>
> --
>
> Although having only one location would make it easier for attenders, that
> puts a burden on the host. And I don't want to impose every month on Rick,
> who hasn't even asked his boss yet. :->
>
> I don't know if the Working Centre will offer to host us, since neither
> Bill or Paul are perl programmers and although I volunteer there, I don't
> have a key.  I will ask this afternoon.
>
> In the interests of a "good enough fit", first, should we consider sharing
> the wealth with two locations; and second, should Rick ask his boss so we
> have more options to chose between?
>
> --
>
> [1] And now for a bit of geek history, courtesy Dave Cross, the current
> Benevolant Dictator of the Perlmongers organization.
>
>
> a geek history
>
> First there was God. He was quite lonely so he created Dennis.
>
> Dennis was unimpressed with God.
>
> So, God created Brian.
>
> But, Brian got bored with God.
>
> So Brian and Dennis started playing, and they created C. God saw C, and
> saw that it was good. So he decided to let Brian and Dennis play some
> more.
>
> Then Brian and Dennis created Unix. God saw Unix, and he was jealous. So
> he created Bill to torment Brian and Dennis and obscure their creation
> (for God could not destroy Unix, for he secretly admired its perfection).
>
> So Bill created Microsoft. And Microsoft created Windows. And God saw that
> it was bad, but it had market share, so he was happy. Then Bill got cocky,
> and his ego got bigger than God's. So to knock Bill down a couple of pegs,
> God put into effect a wondrous plan.
>
> First God created Tim. And Tim created the World Wide Web (using Unix, of
> course). This was good, but not THAT good. So God created Marc. Marc
> created Mosaic (using Unix, of course). Mosaic created a huge feeding
> frenzy that has got a lot of people who are reading this their jobs.
>
> But that's a different story. Mosaic was good, and God saw it was good, so
> he allowed Marc to start Netscape. Back to this later.
>
> But all this time Brian and Dennis started to make something better than
> Unix called Plan 9. (Great legends say that God crushed Plans 1-7. There
> was no Plan 8 because Brian and Dennis pulled the wool over God's eyes and
> just jumped to Plan 9, which was too bright a move for even God to figure
> out.)
>
> Eventually, God figured out how to create Larry.
>
> No one knows how or why he created Larry, except perhaps to reduce
> productivity at the Jet Propulsion Labs at NASA. Rumors are that God
> created Larry because he secretly liked what Dennis and Brian had done
> with C, but didn't think C and Unix was enough -- this probably isn't true
> because God believed he had destroyed Brian and Dennis's plans by
> destroying Plans 1-7, and by creating Microsoft to slay their beloved
> Unix.
>
> Anyhow, Larry created Perl (using Unix and C, of course), and God saw it
> was good, so he made Randal. Larry and Randal wrote books about Perl. And
> everyone saw that this was good, except snobs who were too much into C,
> Windows, and Intel.
>
> [...]
>
> Continues at http://www.dave.org.uk/geekhist.shtml ...
>
>
> -Daniel
>
> http://coder.com/ - Prescient Code Solutions - (519) 575-3733 da at coder.com
>
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dcarr at sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org