[vox] Social gathering tonight! (Tue 3/7)

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Scot A (gvlt55 at gmail.com):

> Rick,
> Thank you for those insights.

You're more than welcome.

> At this time, I think that between the timing of this endeavor and
> some matters I am handling, it will be a few months.  Given that I
> need to return for a follow up surgery, I am pretty sure of that.  I
> just wanted to get the ball rolling.  I will poke a bit more and find
> out just how stringent they are going to be.

Obviously, I don't know what place you're referring to (not a
complaint), so you're in a better position to guess their internal
dynamics than I am.  In my _own_ experience, by the time they've rolled
out the 'Are you a non-profit?' question, even if there's nothing about
their situation restricting them to non-profits, it's already too late
to do things like reassure them about being good guests, benefits
they'll get from hosting you, and mentioning any employee ('sponsor')
connections you might have.

You might find it most expedient (when you have time, again) to just 
switch tactics and scout out more-promising venues.  I list in the User
Group HOWTO:  'ISPs, colleges, pizza parlours, brewpubs, coffeehouses,
computer-training firms, GNU/Linux-oriented companies, hackerspaces, or
other friendly institutions'.

The great thing about pizza parlours is that you're not just
monopolising space but also buying pizzas, so they definitely want you
there and don't give a rat's ass whether you're non-profit, 501(c)(3), 
insured, vouched for by insiders, or a partridge in a pear tree.  ;->
What's a little more complex is _reserving_ a room at a pizza parlour or
similar place (places where there are back or upper rooms).  Typically
that's a matter of signing up before other groups, and believably
promising a minimum crowd size.

Down here in Silicon Valley, we noticed that after 9/11, previously
hospitable corporations (Cisco Systems and many others) started becoming
extremely tough to arrange meeting space in, for outside groups like
LUGs.  They usually cited security as the reason, but this always seemed
a lot more like an excuse than a reason.


> Rick, I think I tend to disarm with charm. (In a nice way mind you.)
> Thus far, the company staff has been civil.  A few of the staff have
> been a bit...suspect but, nothing that I seemingly could not handle.

That's an encouraging start, to be sure.

It _may_ be that the 'Are you a non-profit?' question was merely, as I
was suggesting is often the case, a passive-aggressive way of saying 
'No, because we don't know you and have no reason to do you a favour.'
You might be able to melt the ice:  Worth a try, anyway.

> I will go back to the Linuxmafia site and read some more.
> Also, I sense that the meetings could be scheduled for about 2 to 3 hours.
> They generally have the room open from 10:00 AM PST until 10:00 PM PST.
> The place is open until 11:00 PM PST.

That's promising.  LUGs that do lecture meetings typically start at 7pm
or 7:30pm on a weekday.  (People need to time to get their through
traffic from wherever.)  There's usually a little vamping and brief 
announcements to accomodate late-comers and do essential business, and
then usually a 1-2 hour presentation, because that's the duration crowds
and speakers both usually expect.  Afterwards, usually people want to
hang around and chat, and also you want time for a couple of volunteers
to tidy up if necessary, and be out the door before you annoy the
janitors and site security.