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Grex > Coop7 > #45: New (quieter!) location for board meetings? | |
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popcorn
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New (quieter!) location for board meetings?
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May 13 23:02 UTC 1995 |
:) Here we go again.... After last month's board meeting, complete with
screaming little children at the next table, and an extremely loud birthday
party on the other side of the room, I'd REALLY like to find someplace
quieter than Zingerman's for the next board meeting (May 24).
I'd like to know if other people would also like to move the board meetings.
And, if so, I'm looking for ideas about where to hold the meeting. One
possibility may be the "clubhouse" of the apartment complex Rob and I live
in, if it doesn't cost anything to meet there.
Any thoughts?
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| 37 responses total. |
steve
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response 1 of 37:
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May 14 19:29 UTC 1995 |
It would be nice to find someplace that has food. Unforunately,
food molecules seem to attract noise ions, which is of course the
source of the problem.
Perhaps we can find some "reduced-noise food" to try?
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adbarr
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response 2 of 37:
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May 14 21:10 UTC 1995 |
Would you like me to see if the Annex (Washtenaw County) might be
available? I can't make promises, but it is a possibility. Food
would have to be brought or ordered in. But I do not think ther
e is any reason why it could not be consumed there. It would require
someone to agree to be responsible for the key, and the clean-up
after the meeting. Anyway, let me know if you have any interest,
and I will see what can be done. The price is right. srw has been there
he can tell you what the possibilities are. There is also a meeting
room donwstairs the HVCN used that is a little more "cozy". With a
all the help from Grex for HVCN, I would think the County would be
willing to help you as a way to support HVCN. You might want to
e-mail me at k12_barr@emuvax.emich.edu. Hope this helps.
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ajax
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response 3 of 37:
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May 14 22:34 UTC 1995 |
If a non-food place is used, perhaps people could place joint orders
through Takeout Taxi or Meals To You...they have a $10 minimum, charge
$3 per delivery ($2 for each additional restaurant), and suggest a 15%
gratuity. Restaurants covered: Applebee's, Beijing, Shehan Shah, Thano's
Lamplighter, Sweet Lorraine's, Rendezvous Cafe, Oasis Deli, Schlotzsky's
Deli, Argiero's, Ashley's, Achilles, Shahrayar, Pizzeria Uno, Heidelberg
Restaurant, Weber's, Emerald City, Sze-Chuan West, Chi-Chi's, Don Carlos,
Jonathon B. Pub, and Old Fashioned Soup Kitchen. Of course there's
always pizza, with a built-in "free" delivery cost.
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rcurl
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response 4 of 37:
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May 15 07:05 UTC 1995 |
Another possibility, though really radical, is to eat first, and then
have a meeting without food service. Lots more places are available
then.
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srw
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response 5 of 37:
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May 15 07:30 UTC 1995 |
HVCN-tech has met in the Wastenaw County Annex, and it is fine if you
don't need food. Very quiet. I am sure there are other places, that
would work well also.
I do not need food service, as I usually eat first anyway.
therefore I don't perceive #4 as radical at all, though others might.
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curby
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response 6 of 37:
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May 15 11:22 UTC 1995 |
When time is precious, you must try to parallel process as much as
possible! What better way then to have the meeting at a food joint?
(Of course, there are always those of us that just need to eat when
talking about computer things. Why else is it almost mandatory to have
peanut butter on your keyboard? <grin>)
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chi1taxi
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response 7 of 37:
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May 15 13:28 UTC 1995 |
I'll mention the Village Kitch, on Maple b. Jackson d.
b. Jackson Rd. & Dexter Rd. I realize that this is not too convenient to
walkers, but we could have a ride exchange on every board meeting announcement
Item.. The advantage is that it's a relatively quiet place, not a big social-
izing or bring the kids place.
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popcorn
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response 8 of 37:
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May 15 14:30 UTC 1995 |
There's also the possibility of the Michigan Union food court.
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rcurl
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response 9 of 37:
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May 15 16:32 UTC 1995 |
Contrary to #6, I found the roar of chewing, mine and others, causes
garbled communication, as well as indigestion. Steve, notice how
radical the idea is? It seems to be rejected without consideration.
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robh
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response 10 of 37:
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May 15 23:22 UTC 1995 |
Re 8 - That might work for the summer months, but when school is
in session the MUG is considerably louder than Zingerman's could
ever hope to be. The place is so crowded, nobody goes there
any more. >8)
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scg
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response 11 of 37:
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May 16 01:36 UTC 1995 |
I find that I think a lot better when I'm eating. I'll also point out
that the period of really loud noise at Zingerman's didn't last all that
long, and that we did manage to work through it. I think I'd prefer to
have it a bit quieter than that, but there was some entertainment value to
the noise. After all, it it wasn't noisy, we couldn't have had a vote
that came out with zero yesses, zero nos, and six whats.
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davel
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response 12 of 37:
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May 16 11:27 UTC 1995 |
I'd say the serious noise went on fairly long, Steve. Though I have some
hearing loss that makes it hard to pick things out of background noise, so
I'm not typical. I've also seen it be much worse at Zingerman's with just
one other table of about 3 adults talking fairly loudly.
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popcorn
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response 13 of 37:
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May 16 13:51 UTC 1995 |
Ja, you're also not the only one who has trouble picking out voices from
background noise. I think John Remmers has said he does; I know I do.
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steve
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response 14 of 37:
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May 16 17:21 UTC 1995 |
I've been diagnosed with "phonic regression". This is the condition
when your brain starts losing the ability to parse out individual
noises in a crowd. It's hit me earlier than most people who get
it, it seems, but it's there. So I too would rather find a quieter
place to meet. I love Zingerman's however. It's a quandary. Perhaps
we could post guards at the base of the stairs.
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adbarr
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response 15 of 37:
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May 16 22:44 UTC 1995 |
Perhaps a call to Zingerman's management to see if they might
have some ideas to keep the business and avoid the wrath of
hungry Grexers?
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selena
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response 16 of 37:
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May 17 00:48 UTC 1995 |
Yeah- I'm sure they'd love to keep your meetings there..
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mdw
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response 17 of 37:
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May 17 02:25 UTC 1995 |
I'm sure Grex is just a drop in the bucket to them. It might help more
to suggest something like wall hangings, carpeting, acoutistic tiling,
or something to cut down on the worst of the noise.
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selena
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response 18 of 37:
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May 17 03:45 UTC 1995 |
Yeah, but it's called repeat business.. they may want to accomodate..
what does it hurt to ask?
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steve
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response 19 of 37:
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May 17 03:55 UTC 1995 |
I think someone did, a while ago. Unforunatly, I don't think
they really noticed. There may even be a distinct reason to keep
things the way they are, which would be the fact that the extra
noise encouages others to move on after a short while.
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chi1taxi
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response 20 of 37:
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May 17 04:34 UTC 1995 |
Now that it's warm out, we can have them outside in "the back yard." Should
be quieter. Zingermans does have the advantage of good location, by foot or
car. car. There's going to be some noise anywhere.
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scg
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response 21 of 37:
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May 17 05:17 UTC 1995 |
Our board meetings sometimes go kind of late, and it's kind of hard to
have a board meeting in the dark. Also, it doesn't work very well if we
have to keep moving our meetings at the last minute due to Michigan weather.
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popcorn
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response 22 of 37:
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May 17 13:45 UTC 1995 |
It was me who talked to Zingermans about reserving the room for Grex
meetings. They said that if we're not going to pay them to rent the
room, well, we're welcome to use it, but we'll have to take our chances
on whether or not it's available. If someone wants to call them to
ask about how to make the upstairs room quieter , they're welcome to do so,
but my guess is that Zings will politely tell us they can't do anything
about it.
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steve
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response 23 of 37:
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May 17 15:11 UTC 1995 |
Sound baffling is the only solution for that room. ...Not that it
would be reasonable to do so, but how much would it cost to rent that
room?
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remmers
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response 24 of 37:
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May 17 20:33 UTC 1995 |
I can understand Zingermans reluctance to make special concessions for
us. Unlike most customers, we tend to stay long after we've finished
eating. And, not everybody who's occupying a seat even orders food at
all. Even our best-attended meetings don't half-fill that room, and
they want to use it for overflow when the downstairs fills up.
A while back, we looked into the cost of renting the room. It was more
than we'd want to pay -- I seem to recall a figure like $50. I don't
know if that's for the whole evening, or for a limited time period like
two hours.
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