Re: AT&T Venue (Flemming Island)

On Jul 22, 2011, at 11:18 PM, Chad Bailey wrote:

> It is not an objective of mine to get the LUG to meet at any specific
> place, so please do not confuse my offer with a beg for the group to
> meet there. If it is necessary for me to try and get agreement from
> AT&T downtown, I will continue to work on securing that as meeting
> place, but it sounds like you guys might already have that one worked
> out.
> 
> While I do appreciate Peak10's offering for us to meet there, and
> meeting at a data center is a really neat option, I think it is clear
> we have outgrown the place. Last meeting, I think we may have had to
> pull in stools from the lobby. If we want participation, we need to
> make the meetings comfortable and inviting and that begins by a place
> large enough to house our audience.
> 
> No matter where we choose, it will be inconvenient for some of our
> attendees. Perhaps a good place to begin is by getting everyone to
> state where they live and finding a good middle ground. Another option
> might be to alternate meeting locations so that it isn't always an
> extra burden on those who are far away and always extra convenient for
> those who happen to live right by... A balance of the two would be
> healthy.
> 
> Living in Orange Park (and it seems I'm not alone), driving to
> downtown and Southside are both difficult for me to do, so I don't
> feel bad asking others to do what I have already been doing. For
> example, It wouldn't make much sense to get a meeting location which
> is convenient for people in North Jacksonville if we have no one in
> that area.
> 
> Back to the basics though, I do believe we're out of space and need to move.
> 
> I believe that wherever we go I believe needs to meet the following criteria:
> 
> Be able to house our current attendance, with a minimum of 20%
> overhead or not worth moving
> Have a projector or screen of some sort for presentation
> Not have any cost involved
> No more than a 30 mile drive for anyone if possible
> 
> I also think our meeting time/schedule will have an impact on distance
> people will travel. For instance, if I were to have to dedicate as
> much time as I did this last LUG for each one, I would not attend. I
> left directly from work, and arrived home at 11pm, later than I
> normally go to bed. If I were to know for sure the presentation were 1
> hour exactly, or 1.5 hours exactly, it would make taking the long
> drive more feasible.
> 
> This also delves into what I was wanting to bring up during our last
> meeting. I believe if we are going to do LUSH directly after, the
> meeting needs to be a predictable concise length such as 1hr or 1.5
> hours. With my drive, if we have exactly a 1.5 hour meeting, and 1
> hour LUSH, that would be a 3.5 hour total time commitment in one night
> for me. That's very much so pushing it on a work night, and I'm sure
> I'm not the only one. I too would really like to attend LUSH, so I
> would prefer doing LUSH on a completely separate night to committing 4
> or more hours on a work night to LUG+LUSH.
> 
> This somewhat delves into a deeper conversation, but I do think it
> needs to be had. It may be time to break off of this and actually come
> to a decision as a group on basic issues such as meeting time, meeting
> duration, meeting place, lush time/duration, etc.
> 
> I'll stop rambling on now, lol
> 
> On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 10:37 PM, Michael Potts <[email protected]> wrote:
>> This is all, unfortunately, very similar to a lengthy discussion
>> that occurred a little while ago. There was much discussion (and arguing)
>> over where. Downtown was considered to be the central location even though
>> it might not have been the most central spot to everyone at that time.
>> 
>> The offer to move to Peak 10 was announced by William on Feb 8, 2010:
>> 
>> *Offer from Peak10 to host JaxLUG meetings*
>>> ------------------------------
>>> *William L. Thomson Jr. <wlt-ePGOBjL8dl1QhTRI1FqSR1aTQe2KTcn/@public.gmane.org>**Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at
>>> 4:05 PM*
>>> To: Jax-LUG <[email protected]>
>>> I just received an offer from Peak10 to host the JaxLUG meetings in
>>> their newly renovated customer lounge and conference rooms.
>>> 
>>> I have long wanted to have our meetings there. We are a tech group, and
>>> Linux is most popular on servers. Therefore having a data center host
>>> our meetings would be very ideal. Might help to create some of the
>>> technology synergy and spark in the area. Could be a good thing for the
>>> LUG.
>>> 
>>> Also we can retain the current format of food/refreshments before
>>> meeting. Or we can look to restore our previous format and the LUSH,
>>> Linux Users Social Hour. Since Peak10 is just down the road from Dave
>>> and Busters.
>>> 
>>> Anyway just wanted to put that out there. This thread is for discussion
>>> on that. I am going to preempt things a bit, and make another post as a
>>> vote to move the meeting location to Peak10.
>>> 
>>> There is no negative motivating factor behind this. Though some have
>>> mentioned the current venue being downtown is a bit far, hard to attend.
>>> It has been a ideal location for over a year. The move would not be
>>> because that venue did not meet our needs for any reason. Just a change,
>>> and hopefully for the better, not worse :)
>>> 
>>> --
>>> William L. Thomson Jr.
>>> Obsidian-Studios, Inc.
>>> http://www.obsidian-studios.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> A followup vote actually initiated the move.
>> 
>> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22792/JaxLUG-P10move-vote.png
>> 
>> While I was never able to attend a meeting downtown at the AT&T building
>> (tried once, got lost and gave up with it being a slightly imposing
>> location), I understand that the Peak 10 location was to be much easier to
>> gain access to and was supposed to lower the barrier for entry to the
>> meetings. (that and the neat location). Peak 10's newly designed (at the
>> time) conference room was also a good fit size wise (also at the time).
>> 
>> Chad, thank you for taking the initiative to seek out an alternative
>> location. We do need to have a healthy conversation about meeting locations
>> and we need options to consider.
>> 
>> I am wondering where the input is from the people who live on the north side
>> and at the beaches. If I recall correctly, there was several people who
>> lived out that area who were attending and appreciated it moving to
>> Southpoint, which is an area considered to be the epicenter of much of the
>> business in Jacksonville.
>> 
>> It is also worthy to note that there are several lurkers on the list who
>> live in St. Augustine and even perhaps Orlando (though LEAP-CF is in
>> Orlando) so a Orange Park location might open the doors to them.
>> 
>> This is likely a conversation that needs to be had at an upcoming meeting.
>> 
>> 
>> TL;DR: We moved from AT&T downtown for a reason (with almost no protest),
>> and I think we need to ensure that we think it out before we move again.
>> Having the meeting on the south-tail-end of Jacksonville might alieniate
>> some people who live in north Jax or at the beaches.
>> 
>> Michael Potts
>> (904) 638-2914
>> 
>> 
>> On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 9:29 PM, Bryan Price <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Another Orange Park resident here.
>>> 
>>> Besides which, 17 is now three lanes all the way there, the bridge that
>>> narrowed everything down to two lanes, and then went back to three has been
>>> expanded.  Finally.  Although I've seen rush hour traffic last through 7.
>>> **cough**Blanding**cough**.  Coming from Columbus, OH (and having worked
>>> downtown there for a few years), I've never seen anything like Blanding.
>>> There are roads that are always busy, like I-71, but that's bad at 3AM, let
>>> alone 6PM.  And you are still moving.  Not at 65, but probably 55.  If it's
>>> 45MPH, there's been an accident somewhere.
>>> 
>>> My wife moved here when 17 was only two lanes wide...
>>> 
>>> On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 6:13 PM, Chad Bailey <[email protected]
>>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I would actually disagree with that. Living in Orange Park, I'm pretty
>>>> familiar with the traffic patterns. Traffic is definitely a nightmare
>>>> from around 4:30-5:30, maybe 6ish but at 6:30 it's pretty much gone.
>>>> Blanding is the one with horrible traffic, but most routes to the
>>>> building do not take you on Blanding.
>>>> 
>>>> I did forget to mention another very attractive pro to meeting here is
>>>> that there is absolutely positively no chance of "double booking"
>>>> occurring. The building has 4 large conference rooms with projectors,
>>>> 1 small conference room with a projector (about the same size as
>>>> Peak10), and several smaller conference rooms. Between all of this,
>>>> it's unusual that even half of these conference rooms are occupied and
>>>> even less likely after 5pm (meetings and training are scheduled
>>>> between 1 and 5pm).
>>>> 
>>>> The building does have some pretty impressive networking equipment,
>>>> but a tour of the equipment would be unlikely until a relationship is
>>>> established between the LUG and upper management there. Even then,
>>>> AT&T has certain policies that can not be broken, so it may be against
>>>> some security/proprietary information policy to do tours. I don't know
>>>> that this is the case, but just saying don't get your hopes up but it
>>>> may be a possibility after a few meetings.
>>>> 
>>>> On Fri, Jul 22, 2011 at 12:59 PM, Inkrypto <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>> I live in riverside and although not that far, traffic down 17 at 6:30
>>> is
>>>> a nightmare.
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Jul 22, 2011, at 12:51 PM, Chad Bailey <[email protected]>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> Hey guys, I have worked with upper management here and secured the
>>>>>> ability to meet here at this building. I'm still going to look into
>>>>>> other building choices, but this is what I've accomplished so far.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The building I'm referring to might be far for members. It's in
>>>>>> Flemming island (Orange Park). I'm unsure where members live and what
>>>>>> their travel is like to our current location, so let me know.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> In the event this particular building is of interest, here are the
>>>> details.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Address:
>>>>>> 2000 Town Center Blvd
>>>>>> Orange Park, FL 32003
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Pros:
>>>>>> Totally free for us, free parking included. AT&T has been known to
>>>>>> financially sponsor some special interest groups, so with some effort
>>>>>> may be able to secure them as a food/etc sponsor.
>>>>>> Building houses internet technical support, employees may take
>>>>>> interest in the group increasing attendance and exposure
>>>>>> Large conference room, number of attendees only limited by number of
>>>>>> chairs. Roughly 20 as is, could easily fit more as necessary would
>>>>>> probably need to steal chairs from other common areas.
>>>>>> Open Wifi for members to use
>>>>>> Large break room near by
>>>>>> Conference calling ability
>>>>>> Battery and generater backed up facility, no risk of loss of power
>>>>>> Numerous places to socialize nearby, Mellow Mushroom, Chicago Pizza,
>>>>>> and Chili's to name a few.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Cons:
>>>>>> Distance
>>>>>> Secured location, will have to sign in and get visitor badge
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Stipulations: (some subject to change as familiarity with group
>>>> increases)
>>>>>> Must sign in and wear visitor badge at all times
>>>>>> Can only use the large conference room and restroom areas
>>>>>> Can not park in reserved parking spaces
>>>>>> Prefer I'm in attendance, at least for first meeting.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Please reply to this posting to tell me what you think. Please be
>>>>>> polite as I did have to put a little effort into securing this for you
>>>>>> guys. I suspect the distance may be an issue, but never know until you
>>>>>> check. Otherwise, I think this meets all of the current needs of the
>>>>>> group.
>>>>>> 
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>>>>> 
>>>> 
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>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> What do you know for sure…anyway? -- Sheldon Kopp
>>> 
>> 
> 
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