[wplug-announce] Venue changes

Vance Kochenderfer vkochend at nyx.net
Sat Nov 8 15:45:57 EST 2008


I've gotten a couple of questions now about the location of our next
meeting being at the Wilkins School Community Center, and I guess I
should have made a general announcement sooner.

Our ability to obtain rooms at Carnegie Mellon University hinged on
the position of members on staff there.  WPLUG has no official status
in the eyes of CMU, so we were reliant on these members to request
rooms.  Unfortunately, work and other demands have made it impossible
for them to devote the time necessary to make reservations, show up to
unlock the doors, stick around for the entire meeting, and secure the
room afterward.

Even with the ability to reserve rooms, we were always under the
threat of being bumped by some other event that the university deemed
more important to its mission.  This made it extremely difficult to
plan and announce a schedule in advance, as we were essentially at the
bottom of the totem pole and had to work around everyone else's needs.
Having to deal with the front doors of each building being locked was
also an annoyance, with people having to call during the presentation
in order to be let in.

We are therefore looking for a new venue to serve as our main meeting
location.  For the short term (next 3 months), we have settled on the
Wilkins School Community Center in Swissvale
<http://www.wplug.org/w/index.php/Wilkins_School_Community_Center>.
It is inexpensive compared to other venues we looked into,
conveniently located right off the Parkway East and the 61B bus route,
and presents no hassles in obtaining access to the building and rooms.

For the long term, we are still considering options.  In addition to
the Wilkins School, we've looked into the Union Project in East
Liberty, the Pittsburgh Technology Council's offices on Second Avenue,
and for installfests the Mount Lebanon and Monroeville public
libraries.  The major characteristics we've identified as needs are:
  1. Ability to schedule meetings for an entire year in advance, and
     have those reservations stick.
  2. We can afford a modest charge, but the lower the better.
  3. Reasonable access by car and public transportation.
  4. Opportunity to interact with the local community and have WPLUG
     be valued as a contributor to that community.
  5. Internet access (necessary for installfests, desired for general
     user meetings).

If you have ideas about or contacts in venues that might be suitable
for us, please speak up!  You can discuss this on the wplug mailing
list or contact any of the board members.  Also note that this will be
an item of discussion at our meeting on November 22, and if you show
up early (9:30) to that meeting you can join us as a Wilkins School
volunteer shows us around the building and discusses the activities
taking place there.

While there is a certain amount of disruption that goes along with
change, this is a true opportunity for WPLUG to become stronger and to
engage a broader community than we historically have to spread the use
of Free and Open Source Software in the region.  Ultimately, I think
this will be a positive development and look forward to what the
future brings.

Vance Kochenderfer        |  "Get me out of these ropes and into a
vkochend at nyx.net          |   good belt of Scotch"    -Nick Danger


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