[GRLUG] Last Night and Next Week

Ben Rousch brousch at gmail.com
Thu Sep 15 15:03:21 EDT 2011


Unfortunately, a closer to downtown location makes it much harder to
find free, easy parking and a safe neighborhood for 10PM. Call me a
small town boy, but the neighborhood is my major objection to TGGHQ
for night meetings.

I like the M-6 and Byron Center location because it's so close to 131,
which means it's not a bad drive from pretty much anywhere. Also I'm
selfish and like the 3 mile drive from my house. I would not object to
moving it around the GR quadrants on a regular schedule provided
venues can be found. We could also have several socials going at the
same time in different parts of the city. I think you need to be near
the intersection of 2 highways to ensure a non-annoying drive for a
good number of people.

The hardest part of finding a location is that so few non-bars (too
loud) are open until 10PM. Most cafes that I looked at close at 9.
Also 8-10 people fills up a Biggby/Starbucks, so if we get many more
regulars we're going to have problems.

I haven't been in the McDonald's. I assumed it was quite small, but I
could be wrong. I'll check it out.

On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 2:26 PM, Kyle <dontwantspam1 at earthlink.net> wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
>>From: Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com>
>>Sent: Sep 15, 2011 1:51 PM
>>To: "Mailing List for LUG in greater Grand Rapids, MI area." <grlug at grlug.org>
>>Subject: Re: [GRLUG] Last Night and Next Week
>>
>>On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 1:30 PM, Mike Williams <knightperson at zuzax.com> wrote:
>>> So what are the priorities for choosing a meeting place? In No Particular
>>> Order, I can think of...
>>>
>>> 1. location (apparently Southwest quarter for most of us, although I prefer
>>> closer to downtown)
>>>
>>> 2. open late
>>>
>>> 3. wifi
>>>
>>> 4. food
>>>
>>> 5. coffee / tea / latte
>>>
>>> 6. no requirement to buy the above
>>>
>>> 7. available space
>>>
>>> 8. available outlets
>>>
>>> 9. beer (which rules out most places other than The Warehouse)
>>>
>>> -------------
>>>
>>> Geek Group's Leonard Street Labs meets at least 3, 7, 8, probably 2, but not
>>> (?) 1.
>>
>>Tried LStL. Didn't work out, as people just didn't show up. It's in a
>>horrible location; halfway between the freeway and Wilson. I'd rather
>>not go back there, as being there feels like it carries an implicit
>>obligation to assist, and I'm compatible with them in those areas.
>>
>>> The Starbucks seemed to meet 1, 3, 5, and 6, but not so much 2, 7, and 8.
>>
>>Ditto the Biggby's across the street.
>>
>>>
>>> Dennys on 44th and 131 would hit 1-4 and 7, but not so much 6.
>>
>>Once upon a time, I was part of a group of 100 or so people who would
>>descend upon Village Inn on Alpine. Not everyone ordered food. Not
>>everyone ordered drink. We did a $1 cover charge that went as tip to
>>the waitress who got stuck serving all of us.
>>
>>As long as the waiting staff is happy and there's a minimum of orders,
>>I suspect a number of restaurants wouldn't mind a fluctuating group.
>>
>>>
>>> Panera Bread on 44th and 196 would meet most of them but 2, but I think
>>> somebody had a grievance against them.
>>
>>I think that's largely past. It's a nice location, but we might have
>>space issues again.
>>
>>>
>>> What else do we want to suggest?
>>
>>While the food isn't great, just about any McDonalds or Burger King
>>will meet most of the requirements.
>>
>>Thinking back to the Village Inn example, you could reserve some
>>restaurant-that-meets-requirements back room and take a similar tact.
>>(I'd avoid places with Karaoke, though...the owner of the Village Inn
>>we were at liked us, but a manager came in with a vendetta and drove
>>us out with intentional scheduling conflicts and raised volume levels)
>>
>>--
>>:wq
>>
>>--
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>
>
> I'd like to +1 the McDonalds across the street from Starbucks.  The Starbucks location works good for me, we've been getting a very good turnout there, McDonalds is close to Starbucks, has food, drinks, shakes, internet, and space.  And is open late.
>
> - Kyle
>
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-- 
 Ben Rousch
   brousch at gmail.com
   http://clusterbleep.net/

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