Re: AT&T Venue (Flemming Island)

Wall of text crits you for over 9000

On Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 12:00 AM, ixcrit <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>
> 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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> --
>
> What do you know for sure…anyway? -- Sheldon Kopp
>
>
>
>
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