Subject:
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Re: First BayLUG meeting deemed "a success"!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.us.ca.sf
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Date:
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Tue, 25 May 1999 17:39:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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760 times
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In lugnet.loc.us.ca.sf, Tom McDonald writes:
> --- David Zonker Harris <frenezulo@esperanto.org> wrote:
> > We met at the Fremont main public library in the Fukaya Room. This room
> > was large, seats 96 folks, and we had (14) 2.5'x 5' tables set out for
> > our use, whith lots of chairs. We had a bunch of power outlets on the
> > walls, as well as in pockets in the floor. (A liaison for the library
> > had dropped in to monitor the event, and was happy to see that we were
> > welcoming walk-in folks, and we have been invited to return again!
>
> This was a very good sized room especially if we want to separate club
> and visitor activities - for now, not too small, not too big. I'm glad
> we were favorably received. We could line up the tables so half the
> room is for visitor interaction stuff, and the other half for the train
> and display only stuff.
It was a very nice place. Plenty of space. Its a good idea to separate
interective from noninteractive. It was nice that we were well received.
> > We had about 15 LUGNET/RTL folks there, plus 6 more family members.
> > We actually figured that the walk-in folks probably numbered closer
> > to 100 folks, based on a few counts during the day.
>
> Maybe a couple more black & white signs up inside the library itself to
> attract more visitors? I had one guy come up and ask me (the wrong
> person) about Mindstorms, but I was happy to tell him what I could.
It seemed that we had a constant flow of people, as many as 30 at a time. Signs
inside the library might be pushing it, unless they totally agree.
> > This begs the question about where we should meet next. If the Fremont site
> > is good, we can try to set up another get-together in a few months.
> > Otherwise, who want's to take on the next gathering, and where should it be.
>
> There seems to be a greater concentration of people from the southbay
> than from any other area, or so I think. So ATM Fremont seems
> comfortable to me. But if folks wanted something a bit more northerly,
> I could try to see there's someplace in Castro Valley or close by
> that's sort of halfway up the bay. Did we get the Fukaya Room for free?
> I'm assuming so.
I think that since the welcome was warm, we should go back. It seems fairly
centralized for members.
> > We also 'officially' kicked off BayLUG, signing up our first couple
> > of free members, and first paid member!
> > (http://baylug.org/membership.html)
>
> It was good to meet Joe "Everything's Negotiable" Greene.
What a guy! We received 2 paid and 2 free members on Saturday that were
confirmed.
> > We had two tables pulled together for two train loops, and we rotated
> > engines from Tom McDonald, Mark Bens, Russell Clark, and myself. We
> > had an assortment of cars to run, including some that were built on-site by
> > a couple of the kids (Ross Benz and ???). There were a few accidents,
> > but no real casualties that couldn't be rebuilt. (At least, I didn't
> > hear about any...but my UP engine, and Tom's black/yellow deisel both
> > took some damage, and need to be strengthened...)
>
> Z is being very kind - structurally my diesel engine sucks and must be
> improved, but I've never run it under heavy use before, only at
> Christmas.
It annoyed me a little to see the parents showing the children how to run the
trains at fuul speed. If we allow the kids to run them, we need to post some
strict rules. Fortunatly, my engine is in one piece.
> > Mark offered some good suggestions:
> >
> > Joe Greene had spread his big tub-o-LEGO out on the floor, so we • <snip>
> >
> > We probably should have a building area, even if it's just bricks,
> > if we have the room open to drop-ins. (Or, we all tell the kids "No
> > building today, just show & tell".)
>
> For all the negative things that happened, I like the idea of having a
> play area. I think this will do more long-term encouragement than
> anything else. But maybe we can split the room in half by separting the
> room with the tables? I didn't realize we were going to be open to the
> public (no biggie though) or else I would have bought some rope/yellow
> tape to corden off the trading zone.
I think a building area is a good idea. It will keep the kids occupied, and
show the joy of building. I think we would need both regular bricks and Duplo
bricks. Keep touch and no touch displays separate.
> > The Fukaya Room has whiteboards along one long wall, and push-pin
> > bulletin boards on the other long wall. We would use these for
> > posting signage, (rules?), other information above the tables, so folks know
> > what they can touch, and what they cannot.
>
> While that's good, I think even a bit more must be done to make it
> obvious to kids that "You are to stay behind this line" sort of thing.
> Joe was very kind to let everyone in on his collection, but I can see
> that kind of thing getting old.
I think cordoned off areas is a better idea that signs.
> > As I was putting the trains away, I noticed a few small parts missing
> > from a few cars, but nothing drastic. We *did* have a few problems
> > with folks that thought they could take whatever they liked. One group
> > took a few of the color signs, and one persons building plans (we got
> > those back, thankfully).
>
> *whew*
>
> If we do have a play area, I'd like to suggest that we keep it a fair
> distance from the door but still fairly close to us to keep the madness
> under control.
>
> The window signs were well intended and drew people in, but we should
> have taped/secured the signs to the windows and whiteboards somehow on
> the walls.
We will triumph from our errors. This is of course the first meet, and things
were a little rusty, but it went well.
> > I shot a short bit of video. The day was pretty busy,and I forgot to
> > roll the camera more often.
>
> If you have outlet access and a long tape, do some specific shooting,
> and then maybe just let it roll by itself on a tripod. As a side
> benefit that might also might deter any sticky fingers. Poor Russell..
> down one Ambassador keychain :(
I took seven pictures. I just hope the Ambassador was taken by someone who
cares.
> > I have a few photos as well, and I'll post
> > them when I get the film developed.
> >
> > Thanks to Raymond F. for the grab bags, and to Mark Benz for
> > getting the room reserved for us at no cost!
>
> Thanks Raymond! Thanks Mark!
Great job guys!
> > Thanks also to the BayLUG folks helping to set up the website.
>
> No problem. It's a kind of labor of love.
Thanks to everyone!
> > What did everyone else think? What things should we do next time?
>
> Setup a club donation box made of lego bricks! :) Also, I'll try and
> draw up some sort of floor plan for the room if we use it again, so
> that things might be more organized. Maybe we should have an official
> trading time first, before we open the door to let people in? That also
> might be good to discuss club business. I noticed that we were really
> distracted whenever someone opened up a box: "Hey! What is that?"
Donations aren't really a bad idea. Help promote the hobby sort of thing. I
think the first hour or so should be a closed door meeting, then open up to the
public. That way we can get business done with everyone present. It gets hard
sometimes over e-mail.
> > What should we avoid doing?
>
> If we don't have a designated trading time, then no trading while
> sitting on the floor. While it was great to scour that huge pile, it
> took our eyes off our stuff. Perhaps we should try and locate a couple
> of old table cloths, sheets or blankets on which to spread things on
> tables so that pieces are higher up. I had no idea so many people came
> through that door.
Put tables together to dump parts. Floors attract little fingers.
Russell
http://baylug.org/russellc
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: First BayLUG meeting deemed "a success"!
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| (...) This was a very good sized room especially if we want to separate club and visitor activities - for now, not too small, not too big. I'm glad we were favorably received. We could line up the tables so half the room is for visitor interaction (...) (26 years ago, 25-May-99, to lugnet.loc.us.ca.sf)
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