[kw-pm] meatspace locations

Christopher Calzonetti elbie at trig.net
Thu Feb 27 09:33:45 CST 2003


Personally, while uptown Waterloo or the University is relatively
convenient, Charu did bring up a point that a place such as the Working
Centre would be an unbiased location for meetings.  This seems like a
reasonably good point, and I doubt very much that since I am the only one
from Quarry who seems to attend the meetings it is highly unlikely that we
are going to get any swag, graft, whathaveyou from my gracious benefactors
save from the use of their space (for which I am grateful).

The University is a nice space, if we can get room there on a regular
basis, as is the Working Centre.  Is the working centre so far out
of the way that people find it hard to get there?  There are several
bus routes that go more or less directly from UW to the bus terminal,
a scant block from the Working Centre.

I think that Daniel would be the one responsible for closing shop after
every meeting though, if we were at the Working Centre (or if we got his
friend's lab at UW like we were doing initially) which pretty much puts him
in the same spot as I am in when we host the meetings at Quarry.

If we were rotating between locations on a regular basis, the problem of
having to check where to go all the time might be less of a problem.

What do people think of something along the lines of:

First meeting of every term (January, May and September meetings) at UW.

Second and third meetings at offsite locations.  (Say Quarry for 2nd month,
Working Centre for 3rd month, or similar.)

Fourth meeting of the term (April, August and December) is pub night.

On Wed, Feb 26, 2003 at 12:23:21PM -0500, Daniel R. Allen wrote:
> 
> 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?



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