Re: [UG-ADMINS] Alcohol and meetups [was: Re: Nomad PHP]

It's a sports bar that is more famous for it's wings than it's tacos.  The
Charlotte location has over 300 beers available and the upstairs
accommodations makes for a pretty nice place to host a meetup.  That is,
when they actually mark our reservation on the calendar.

We have had some pretty good success with the place.  Taco Mac lets us use
the space at no charge, and people generally eat off of the menu or order a
few brews while listening to the presentation.

One huge success we have had over the past couple years is turning our
December meetup into a "CLT Tech" Holiday party where the members and
organizers of all the technology user groups are invited to socialize.
Each organizer is given a few minutes during the party to reflect on the
previous year and speak towards the group's goals for the year to come.
Free food and beer in addition to all the different people coming together
makes for pretty good turnouts.  We had ~110 people come last December.


On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 10:15 AM, Patrick Schwisow <
[email protected]> wrote:

> I don't know what Taco Mac is, but with "taco" in the name, I assume I
> would like it.
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 4:55 PM, Ben Ramsey <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Corey, I moved from the Atlanta area to Nashville 3.5 years ago. You make
> > me jealous with your talk of Taco Mac. So jealous. ;-)
> >
> > -Ben
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 4:19 PM, Corey Ballou <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > At Queen City PHP we've been known to host at Taco Mac quite a bit in a
> > > private upstairs room. It's a combination of hanging out, grabbing a
> > beer,
> > > and eating dinner for the first hour followed by the presentation. From
> > > there, it's fair game as to what everyone else is doing.
> > >
> > > Considering meetups tend to take place after work hours in the evening,
> > it
> > > works out well. If we made the effort to line up a sponsor, we go
> > elsewhere
> > > and provide pizza and soda; beer is really at the sponsor's discretion.
> > >
> > > Corey Ballou
> > > http://coreyballou.co
> > > @cballou
> > >
> > >
> > > On 4/10/13 1:01 PM, Joe Ferguson wrote:
> > >
> > >> At MemphisPHP we meet at the Memphis Hacker/Maker space. Alcohol is
> > >> allowed
> > >> there and the general rule is bring your own. I don't think we've ever
> > had
> > >> attendees to the PHP meetup drink, but it wouldn't be a big deal if
> they
> > >> wanted to provided they were of age / responsible.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 11:57 AM, Patrick Schwisow <
> > >> [email protected]> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>  At LKPUG, we've gone through a couple venues.  Most of the meetings
> for
> > >>> the
> > >>> first year were held in a restaurant / bar.  Nothing was provided,
> but
> > >>> many
> > >>> attendees bought food and drink (alcohol or not) during and after the
> > >>> meetings.  Starting in January, my employer has been hosting meetings
> > >>> here
> > >>> at the office, and they provide pizza and drinks (including beer).
> > >>>
> > >>> It's interesting that you mention separate social meetups.  I think
> > that
> > >>> the meetings in the restaurant felt much more relaxed and social.  We
> > >>> generally had a "soft start time", and people would chat until we
> > decided
> > >>> to start the talk.  After the meeting, people tended to linger and
> talk
> > >>> for
> > >>> a while.  Meeting at the office has much more a feel of "show up, eat
> > >>> pizza
> > >>> during talk, and leave".  I'm thinking we might want to attempt
> > something
> > >>> similar to what you're doing to bring back the social aspect of the
> > >>> group.
> > >>>
> > >>> -Patrick
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 10:43 AM, Sandy Smith <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> > >>>
> > >>>  Yes, we generally provide beer. In fact, when we follow WordPress
> DC,
> > we
> > >>>> benefit from any leftovers from their meetup and don't have to buy
> > any.
> > >>>>
> > >>> As
> > >>>
> > >>>> long as we're low-key about it, the host doesn't care. They have
> > wedding
> > >>>> receptions and other functions in that space with alcohol, and their
> > >>>> only
> > >>>> rule is no kegs, because it implies a certain class of alcohol
> > consumer
> > >>>>
> > >>> who
> > >>>
> > >>>> is more likely to do stupid and destructive stuff and get them in
> > >>>> trouble
> > >>>> with local officials and the neighborhood.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> In deference to the beer aficionados in our group, we generally have
> > >>>> microbrews in bottles. However, I usually only have 12-18 of them
> > (i.e.,
> > >>>> slightly less than one per person), and then some of us may go to
> the
> > >>>> bar
> > >>>> next door.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> If I'm presenting, I'm usually drinking a beer, though I don't
> consume
> > >>>> much of it until the Q&A.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> But as I've said, some people react negatively to beer, as if it's a
> > >>>> sign
> > >>>> that it's a social and not a serious meeting. We also have two
> > >>>> additional
> > >>>> meetups each month that are specifically social, and held in bars
> > >>>> (though
> > >>>> that serve good food, so there's no requirement to drink alcohol).
> I'm
> > >>>> debating about removing those from Meetup and simply mentioning them
> > >>>> through the list, as people seem to think that we're mostly about
> > those
> > >>>>
> > >>> and
> > >>>
> > >>>> don't realize the main meeting has presentations. Then again, I see
> > some
> > >>>> people at those meetings (which are more geographically distributed)
> > who
> > >>>> rarely/never show at the main meeting.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> On Apr 9, 2013, at 7:30 PM, John Congdon <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >>>>
> > >>>>  Interesting... do you provide beer?  Or are people allowed to
> bring?
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>   So
> > >>>
> > >>>> far, the places I have hosted have been worried about having it on
> > >>>>
> > >>> premise.
> > >>>
> > >>>> --
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> John Congdon
> > >>>>> e: [email protected]
> > >>>>> t: @sdphp
> > >>>>> f: https://www.facebook.com/**groups/SanDiegoPUG/<
> > https://www.facebook.com/groups/SanDiegoPUG/>
> > >>>>> i: irc://irc.freenode.net/sdphp
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> For meetup information: http://www.meetup.com/**SanDiegoPHP<
> > http://www.meetup.com/SanDiegoPHP>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> The information contained in this email communication may be
> > >>>>>
> > >>>> confidential and legally privileged. This email is for the sole use
> of
> > >>>>
> > >>> the
> > >>>
> > >>>> intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient please
> do
> > >>>>
> > >>> not
> > >>>
> > >>>> read the information contained herein. If you have received this
> email
> > >>>> in
> > >>>> error, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all
> copies
> > >>>> of
> > >>>> the original message.
> > >>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> On Apr 9, 2013, at 1:44 PM, Sandy Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>  It's tough to break past the 30-per-meetup number. We have close
> to
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>> 900
> > >>>
> > >>>> on Meetup, but our actual meetings are anywhere from 4-60 people,
> > >>>>
> > >>> averaging
> > >>>
> > >>>> in the teens and twenties. DC also has the large-area problem, plus
> we
> > >>>> often tie for the nation's worst traffic, and there are a LOT of
> other
> > >>>> technology meetups.
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> While we always have beer, that's proven to be less of a draw,
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>> especially for new members. I'm going to be trying for a food
> sponsor
> > >>>> so
> > >>>>
> > >>> we
> > >>>
> > >>>> can have pizza, which I hope will draw more people reliably.
> > >>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>> On Apr 9, 2013, at 10:55 AM, Tim Lytle <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>  Our local group is pretty small (we have ~60 meembers, with a
> > handful
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>> at
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> each meetup). If I weren't organizing and trying to grow it,
> > >>>>>>> I'd definitely be joining in Nomad PHP (I still probably will).
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>> Like Adam, I'm wondering if there's any way for this to help
> > smaller
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>> groups
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> (but hey, I'd be thrilled with an average of 30 members) - as
> after a
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>> while
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> hearing from the same local people is a bit much for both the
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>> speakers
> > >>>
> > >>>> and
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> the listeners.
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>>> Tim
> > >>>>>>>
> > >>>>>> --
> > >>>>>> Sandy Smith - http://musketeers.me/
> > >>>>>> php[architect] magazine: http://phparch.com/
> > >>>>>> Sign up for php[tek] '13: http://tek.phparch.com/
> > >>>>>> @SandyS1
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>  --
> > >>>> Sandy Smith - http://musketeers.me/
> > >>>> php[architect] magazine: http://phparch.com/
> > >>>> Sign up for php[tek] '13: http://tek.phparch.com/
> > >>>> @SandyS1
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > > --
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> > > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
> > >
> > >
> >
>