Hi All,
Hope we are talking abut Cybelle's Pizza on 1385 9th Ave for next Saturday, not Milano's (where there is indeed a separate room with a door) on 1330 9th Ave. Anyway I will show up at Cybelle's and see what happens! As an aside, even though I had cough attacks trying to speak over the din, spent at least half hour looking for parking, I had fun in that place. You can get a huge pitcher of beer, and all your troubles will be gone. The pizza can be veggi or carnivore.
See you on Saturday.
Marcy
Phil,
Sometimes meeting space *is* free. Certainly we should not pay for it unless we have to, since the less we spend on such overhead expenses, the more money we have left to spend on spreading the libertarian message. There's no rule that says businesses have to charge us for meeting space, or that not paying for it somehow makes us freeloaders or something. Remember, we're not only bringing them more publicity and regular (even if light-ordering) customers, but volunteering our time for a good cause which restaurants and others would be wise to support as well; I don't think you're giving us enough credit.
The idea that more people would come to our meetings at Cybelle's than would come to our meetings at the library, or that they would be happier, seems like pure speculation at this point. I agree that availability of food and drink is a good thing, but so is a central meeting location and one where we can easily hear each other.
FYI, the San Bernardino slogan is Alive Free Happy.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Phil,
Your faint suspicion is unfounded, and I'm not sure why you would suspect me of saying this just to be contrary. I honestly believe Cybelle's is a less attractive option than where we're meeting now, and given that I'm not the only one to think so, my sincerity on that point really shouldn't be so difficult to believe.
All other factors being equal, I would also prefer to meet at a restaurant. If we do find a centrally located place that has food and drink available and doesn't charge us or expect us to purchase a minimum amount of food, great! If such a space comes to my attention I'll certainly let the group know.
Before the library, we were meeting in Rob's apartment building for free, another location with no food/drinks for sale. I personally did not notice any drop-off in meeting attendance there as opposed to the pizza places we'd been meeting at previously. If you know of other LP chapters that have chosen to meet at a non-centrally located restaurant with noise issues where a certain amount of purchases are expected, over a free, centrally-located public space and have had good experiences with that choice, I'd be interested in hearing about it. Short of such examples, I'm not sure how the fact that many of them meet at restaurants is relevant.
Basic business principles tell me that we shouldn't pay for a meeting space, either directly or indirectly, when we can meet for free, unless there are clear indications that it would be sufficiently to our advantage to justify the cost. No offense intended -- I'm simply not persuaded yet. I'm open to being persuaded, but insulting me, implying I'm trying to be a freeloader, etc., isn't persuasive!
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Where we can eat for free???