[vox] Being more obvious at Crepeville

[Bill Kendrick]

How can we be more obvious at Crepeville?  Last night I noticed one fellow
(Darren, if I recall) looking around like they were looking for something,
and I was able to flag them down.

Another person emailed me today asking if our "first meeting was cancelled".
(Not sure what they mean by 'first meeting'... maybe because it's early
in the UCD school year, or something?)

They apparently showed up at 6:30pm (our _old_ meeting start time, so no
wonder they didn't find us), and came back at 7:45pm (when about 6 of us
were at a table... most of whom were still there by the time I had to leave
at ~8pm).

When I arrived (at 7 on the dot) Jeff N. was already there, with a laptop
and a plush Tux penguin on the table.  We were not too far from the main
entrance.

Obviously, this was not enough, since at least _one_ person came and went
without noticing us...!

What else can we do, without being obstructive to Crepeville's staff and
other patrons, to be more obvious?!  An easel?


A plush Tux is a good start, obviously.  In the past, I've also scribbled
a little paper sign and put it in one of the 'order number' flag stands,
in the center of the table.  Having laptops out is meaningless, since many
people there are working on schoolwork, so we can't say: "look for the geeks
with laptops."

It seems would-be attendees are too shy to actually go to tables that have
lots of people, and ask "are you LUGOD?"  Though last night, the person in
question _did_ apparently ask the Crepeville staff.  I don't know if this
was at their 6:30 or 7:45 visit, though...  obviously the former would've
been useless.  But it's not like we announce ourselves to the people at the
cash register.  And there are so many waitstaff that even then, it'd be
a hit-or-miss if you went up and asked them: "Is LUGOD here?"... unless they
spent the time to ask every other waiter/waitress there for you.

Sigh.

What do we do? :^/  I can't guarantee to be there myself every time...
or at 7pm on the dot, when I _can_ make it.

Ideas?

-bill!
root at lugod.org
http://www.lugod.org/
Linux Users' Group of Davis