At last night's meeting (where we'd filled up every seat in our small reserved room at the Library Coffeehouse) we discussed the need to decide upon a set meeting time and a larger venue.
Location requirements include
- Wireless Internet
- A reservable, preferably private space where we could fit more people (say 20, to leave room for growth)
Not required, but desired
- refreshments a plus
We discussed possible locations. Chris, aka stompeers, will look into possible locations in Eagle (a fairly central location) and report back.
Other options we may follow up on if Eagle doesn't pan out:
- Star?
- Thomas Hammer Coffee Shop in Boise - conf. room
- Ada Co. Library
- Garden City Public Library (I just added this)
- jm9's house
- and kinter may be able to secure a venue as well
I've posted a poll with possible meet times we discussed. Please cast your vote! (You must be logged in and a subscriber to this group to vote.)
I've also sent an email to two of the Web Tech meetup organizers to make sure our meeting times won't step on their toes.
Lastly, we discussed having something of a meeting routine like so:
- introductions
- q & a for 1/2 hr
- presentation(s)
But it's open for growth and suggestions as the group moves along.
So, post your comments, thoughts, follow-ups, suggestions, etc.
We plan to skip December and look at meeting next in January...
Comments
Another possible venue
We can throw out the College of Idaho as a possible location to meet. We would have access to a lab that includes wifi, projector, smart board and enough seats for 20+.
College of Idaho is not so good
That is very far out of the way... especially in the evening time. The traffic can make it a pain for people who have to go west.
I have some contacts at the Univeristy of Phoenix. Eagle Road and the Freeway. I can look there to see if something is available.
All the nights work out well.
Corey Smith
Corey Smith
By "throw out" you mean
By "throw out" you mean "include" rather than "baby with the bathwater," right?
Just want to make sure I've got that straight.
Of course we'd extend invites to anyone on campus who'd be interested...
The wifi, projector and smartboard, methinks, would make it worth the drive to Caldwell for non-Caldwell folks. But let's have people chime in with their thoughts.
Thanks, kinter!
Yes, considering the
Yes, considering the physical impossibility of actually "throwing out" an entire college campus one could infer that I did mean "include". :)
I've corresponded with the
I've corresponded with the Web Technologies meetup organizers and they meet on the 2nd Thursday of every month, so we'd have no conflict with the previously mentioned times. I did find out, however that the Boise Software Developer's Group meets on the 1st Thursday of the month, so perhaps Wednesday might end up being our best time...
Following up here... I've
Following up here... I've been too busy to stir things up for awhile and apologize for that. :)
Let's see about getting things organized for a February meetup. Results of our poll show the 1st Thursday of the month from 6-8pm and the 2nd Wednesday of the Month from 7-9pm as being tied. Because I recall folks saying earlier is better, I'm going to propose that we shoot for the 1st Thursday of the month from 6-8pm as our standard. That would put us at the 7th of February.
Does that work for folks?
Then there's the subject of venue... if Feb. 7th at the College of Idaho is doable (kinter? I'll let you chime in), we'll have that option. Otherwise, I believe we had a few folks who were going to look into more centralized venues. Why don't we give them a week to post a follow up here, and then we can make a decision. (I'm hoping to get us into a place where we don't have to negotiate this for every meeting, but, hey, I guess that's where we're at now.)
And then... anyone want to present?
mlsamuelson
The College of Idaho is
The College of Idaho is available if a centralized venue is not found.
Missed discussion
Dunno why, but I've missed almost all of this discussion. Oh well.
At our earlier meetings the general preference was to look for a more centralized location. If we can get into somewhere in Eagle or G.C., I think that would be better. Nothing against College of Idaho, but I agree with Corey that it is a bit out of the way.
As to content, well since Drupal is still mostly a side activity for me (although I am starting to do more with it) I'm afraid I can't really offer much. However, if somebody with more experience would like to do a presentation on using the Views or Organic Groups modules, I personally would be very interested in learning more about them.
meeting place
I'm new to the group, but I may have a place to offer, I work in a small office(just 2 rooms) in Meridian, but there is enough space for a handfull of people. we have 6 desks(w/ 3-4 desktops) , 2 tables, wifi on a T1, and no problem with drinks, the only caveat is we don't have too many chairs, just 1 per desk, so it would be BYOC.
Of course if that is not enough space we also have 1/2 the building unoccupied, but it has power, just bare insulation if we need more room.
If you are interested let me know.
Next mtg in April?
jrglasgow,
Welcome to the group! We've been on a bit of a hiatus since the holidays, but I'm hoping to jumpstart things again in upcoming weeks.
Sounds like your offer might provide the "central" location we've been looking for. What do those who are concerned about location think?
What do folks think about shooting for April 3rd (the first Thursday in April)? I'm not considering March because time is tight and I won't be in town, so I'm guessing no one else would want to take the wrangling duties on... I'm going to be at Drupalcon Boston that week, so in April, I can bring current news and stuff I've learned at the conference, so April just seems better!
How's that sound to folks? I'll let it go a week or so and if I haven't heard anything negative, I'll create the event page and folks can sign up and we'll see if the proposed venue will accomodate us. If not, I'll figure something out.
mlsamuelson
April meeting
sounds good to me
How about Rembrandts?
I have sent Rembrandts Coffee House in Eagle a question about how many people they can work with in their gallery room, and should hear back soon. That's a pretty cool place, and has wifi (and GREAT coffee!).
For an Eagle location, I don't think there is a nicer one.
Oh yeah, HI! Pleased to meet you all :)
Pat
edit: http://www.rembrandtscoffeehouse.net/main.cfm
Awesome, Pat! And welcome
Awesome, Pat! And welcome to the group! (I know we've corresponded apart from here, but, might as well make a "formal" welcome as well. :P)
mlsamuelson
Welcome, Pat! Thanks for
Welcome, Pat!
Thanks for checking into Rembrandts, I haven't been inside but it sure looks nice from the exterior. :) I hope they have a good-sized room. I'd like to call around to some other places in Eagle, but don't quite know where to start. I've been really liking the Library Coffee House, but we kind of filled up the room the have last go-around.
I look forward to meeting you (and seeing the rest of y'all again)
Chris
Chris Shattuck
Learn Drupal with over 1700 Drupal video tutorials
I called Rebrandts
I called them, and found out that they can accommodate a group of up to 20 people in the reserved back room, however you can only reserve it by giving them $50. I don't think that gets you anything but the room, so probably we are looking at somewhere else.
Sorry, any other ideas?
Pat
I've been calling around,
I've been calling around, here's the scoop so far:
Rembrandts - They have a room, but they charge $50.
Pamela's Bakery - They close at 7:30, but the owner is a techie guy and he'd stay open later as long as we were buying stuff to eat. If we didn't, he'd have to charge $25-$35 a night.
The Eagle Library - They're booked this next month, but look open the months after that. I'm waiting to hear back from the scheduler.
Blue Moose Cafe - They have a room upstairs for up to 24 people, but it sounds like they'd be expecting us to buy dinners.
Bardenay - No rooms
Moxie Java Eagle - No rooms
I called a couple Starbucks, no luck. I also called a few other places (but forgot to take notes). So far, not having a lot of luck in Eagle for formal meeting areas.
I can start calling around to restaurants, but I think they reason they have the meeting rooms is to get a bunch of people together to buy stuff. Coffee houses seem ideal because there's food, if you want it.
I will be calling the Eagle Chamber of Commerce tomorrow to see if I can get more leads.
BTW, is anyone here receiving notifications about new comments?
Thanks,
Chris
Chris Shattuck
Learn Drupal with over 1700 Drupal video tutorials
My Office is Available
It's a small office, but it can hold a hand full of people, if anyone want to come by and check it out just let me know. e-mail me @ james@jrglasgow.com Here is a link to a map below.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&lr=lang_en&hl=en&msa=0&msid=10919...
Receiving notification
@stompeers - Yes I am receiving e-mail notifications of new comments.
Okay, I think we found a
Okay, I think we found a winner!
The Eagle Public library has a meeting room that will fit up to 90 people (so we'd have room to grow!). They have a projector, so we can hook up for presentations, and best of all - it's free (minus the $25 deposit that covers damages should we get too crazy). I will go ahead and put down the deposit and fill out the insurance form they require.
Next month, no Thursdays are available, so I booked Wednesday the 23rd, which was one of the earliest dates available. I have also booked May 1st and June 5th (the first Thursdays). This means there is only a week between the March and May meetings, but I wouldn't mind two meetings so much just this once to get things going, and we can always cancel if no one is interested but me.
Some things to note:
- We need to be out by 8pm sharp, or we need to pay $25 to keep the staff on for some extra time.
- We can bring food and stuff, they have a kitchen (It would be nice to possibly make up a volunteer schedule for bringing drinks / snacks to the meeting, if people feel so inclined they can sign up?)
- They have a projector, so bring your laptops if you have something to share.
- We can book up to 3 months in advance. I will do my best to keep on top of reserving the room and posting when the next slot has been reserved.
I will go ahead and add another thread for the ongoing schedule, unless there's some calendar functionality for the group I don't know about.
Sweetness!
Chris
Chris Shattuck
Learn Drupal with over 1700 Drupal video tutorials
Sounds like a plan. I don't
Sounds like a plan. I don't have a problem with the schedule changes this month. After that, then, we can stick to the schedule and not have to renegotiate it every month and actually put the emphasis on the content of the meetups.
I'm leaving it in your able hands, stompeers.
And thanks a ton!
mlsamuelson
One downside, they don't
One downside, they don't have wireless, but we can hook in via eithernet, so bring your cords and maybe a router if you have one.
Chris Shattuck
Learn Drupal with over 1700 Drupal video tutorials
I have a spare wireless
I can bring a wireless router that we can use.
After thinking about this a
After thinking about this a little, I was thinking maybe we should schedule the first official meeting for May 1st, and if people want to get together the week before, they can let me know and we can do an informal kind of thing, without an official schdule. If there's no interest, I'll go ahead and cancel it in a couple weeks.
Sorry for the waffling, folks. ;)
Chris
Chris Shattuck
Learn Drupal with over 1700 Drupal video tutorials
I'd be cool with this,
I'd be cool with this, too.
Why don't we do an informal meetup somewhere (a coffee shop - pick something in Eagle someone who knows what's there) on the 3rd of April (as I've already told a few folks about that day), and not worry about presentations, wi-fi, projectors, etc. That would be a great opportunity for folks who went to Drupalcon to recap that for the others.
Then, as of May 1st we can start using the Eagle Public venue and take it from there.
mlsamuelson
Sounds good, it would be
Sounds good, it would be better to space out the meetings a bit. What about Rembrandts? If their room isn't booked, we can use it without charge when we get there (they say), otherwise we can put a couple tables together.
Would you mind putting up an event?
Thanks!
Chris
Chris Shattuck
Learn Drupal with over 1700 Drupal video tutorials
You got it. Rembrandts on
You got it. Rembrandts on April 3rd from 6-8pm.
That won't work, but...
Thursday is live music night, the 2nd would be a better choice if we could swing it.
I'll change the date to the
I'll change the date to the 2nd of April. Still at Rembrandts.
Man, I'm so glad we'll have a regular venue and time of month after this.
mlsamuelson
I am planning on it
I figured that once you came up with a date, I'd plan on coming... this looks like it is set, so it is on my calendar.
See you then!
Corey Smith
Corey Smith
The 2nd works for me, thanks
The 2nd works for me, thanks for the tip, Pat!
Michael, how does the second work?
Chris Shattuck
Learn Drupal with over 1700 Drupal video tutorials
April 2nd would work for me.
April 2nd would work for me.
Sounds good to me.
I will be there!