[Phoenix-pm] Meeting room possibilities...

Mon Oct 24 22:43:02 PDT 2005

"Location is just off I-10 & Ray Rd. so a bit South for
some of you" is like saying "Phoenix is a little warm in
the summer."  Though I do support the idea of multiple meeting
locations.  The valley is just so _big_, I think we have
to face the fact that not everyone is going to be able to
come to every meeting.  However, if overall attendance goes
up, IMHO it's worth it to get more people involved. 

Perhaps instead of a normal podcast or video we should look
into "enhanced podcasts" for the meetings.  These are audio
tracks with slides/screenshots attached.  I'm not clear
on the format specifics yet.  Worst case scenario, we could
just post an MP3 w/a slideshow in an appropriate format
(PDF?).  It would require a relatively quiet meeting place,
though. 

[aj]

"Metz, Bobby W, WCS" <bwmetz at att.com> wrote:
__________
>I'll ask my employer as well.  Security is a bit of a hassle
and of 
>course the bathrooms are behind locked doors, so you'll
have to hold it, 
>but I'll ask anyway.  Location is just off I-10 & Ray Rd.
so a bit South 
>for some of you.
>
>Bobby
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: phoenix-pm-bounces at pm.org [mailto:phoenix-pm-bounces at pm.or
]On 
>Behalf Of Scott Walters
>Sent: Friday, October 21, 2005 12:00 PM
>To: John Zugel
>Cc: phoenix-pm at pm.org
>Subject: Re: [Phoenix-pm] Meeting room possibilities...
>
>
>Hi John,
>
>There are a lot of good ideas in here. Many of them have already
>been pointed out at one time or another, or are actively being
>considered, or have recently been done. 
>
>I think Brock might just be holding out, trying to get proper
>meeting space at ASU, or something else we've been talking about
>doing for a while. And Phoenix.PM tends to organize meetings at
>a leisurely pace.
>
>We certainly have meeting spaces we can use (see the Website at
>phoenix.pm.org for a list of past locations), but we're
trying to 
>circulate to more parts of the Valley to give more first-timers
>an excuse to make a meeting, and we're looking for professional
>digs to contrast the pizza joints, libraries, and coffee shops 
>we've been winding up at. 
>
>Also, it's easier to consider specific options -- like the 
>George and Dragon pub in downtown Phoenix, or the Nello's in
>downtown Scottsdale ;)
>
>Still, this is a good starting point for summerizing options.
>
>8. I'm pretty sure I can get some space (and a sponser)
at Scottsdale 
>Community College, but I keep forgetting to ask.
>
>9. http://www.azontherocks.com -- how does Phoenix.PM feel about
>having a rock-climbing social meeting? $20 gets you a gear
rental 
>and a day pass, and they show you the ropes (har har har) too. 
>If we get about 8 people or so who want to do this, we can book
>it as a party and save even more money. 
>
>> 1. Most public libraries have meeting rooms, but they
apparently 
>> charge for use, so depending on how flush we're feeling,
this is 
>> a possibility.
>
>They did downtown Scottsdale's library recently, I think.
I missed that 
>one.
>
>> 3. ASU's library has study rooms, but I don't know how
large they are. 
>The library has never asked me for ID, but that may just be my
>professorial (ie. unkempt) appearance.
>
>They're pretty small for our requirements. A coffee shop
near campus, or 
>
>the student union, might be options.
>
>> 4. When I lived in an apartment, the apartment complex
had a common 
>room available at no charge, large enough for a good-size
gathering, 
>with some restrictions. But after 7 PM, the gate was closed
and you had 
>to buzz for admittance, a minor annoyance.
>
>Too unprofessional, IMO. I'd sooner have everyone to the
house ;) 
>
>> 5. When I lived in Silicon Valley, one of the Carls Jrs
had a meeting 
>room that they regularly made available to groups for meetings.
Perhaps 
>one or more fast food/restaurants would help out on their
slow nights, 
>if approached properly.
>
>We recently did Nello's Pizza in North Scottsdale. The
turn-out was 
>great,
>but Nellos had a few other large parties the same night
at the same 
>time, 
>so we wound up waiting to be seated for a long time. That
was just 
>rotten
>timing. And they don't take reservations, either.
>
>There's a downtown Scottsdale Nello's now too, by the way.
>
>One of the reasons I suggested Nello's before was their
good beer 
>selection,
>with local micros on tap and about 20 beers in the cooler,
but there are 
>apparently surprisingly few beer drinkers in Phoenix.PM.
>
>> 6. I have no idea about how or how well the technology
works, but 
>would NetMeeting or something like it allow us to hold
a virtual meeting 
>? If not, is there an entrepreneurial^H^H...^H^H, money-making
>possibility here, or an open source solution waiting for
>completion/contributions ?
>
>We're dabbling with doing audio recordings (should set
up proper podcast 
>feeds eventually) and I'm talking about doing video as
well. There are a 
>lot of Linux users in the group (looks pretty fifty-fifty
between Linux 
>and Windows), so if you say NetMeeting, you should probably say
>NetMeeting/
>GnomeMeeting ;)
>
>We did have an IRC "virtual" meeting once, and turn-out
was poor.  
>
>> 7. If we were in some way allied with some other group,
perhaps we 
>could piggyback on their already-reserved space. Broadening
the charter 
>to combine with the PHP group that meets at Walt's TV (already
a sizable 
>group) might cross-pollinate both groups, altho that may
have already 
>happened. There was a Python group, but they seem to have
>disbanded/died. Perhaps they could be included. And maybe
start a Ruby 
>group, just for the extra weight on the letterhead.
>
>I don't want to redefine the group as being a splinter
of another group 
>(PLUG had also
>been suggested in the past), but I've been advocating coinciding
>meetings with other
>groups for just this effect -- cross-pollination. 
>> 
>> So, that's my thoughts. I've got emails out to Phx Public
Library and 
>Scottsdale Public Library for rates/availability/etc. I'll
post more 
>when/if I know more.
>
>-scott
>
>> 
>> HTH,
>> 
>> jrz
>> 
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