response 25 of 93:

Sep 28 11:55 UTC 1995

(Though if we could choose tables a *little* farther away from the
vending-machine alcove it would be quieter.  But I too found it a *great*
improvement over Zingermans or whatever.)

response 27 of 93:

Sep 28 14:01 UTC 1995

Hey, at least they have vendafood.  I didn't expect to find any food
available.  I think I saw a message go by, saying that we could meet
there regularly.  Grex is going down in 30 seconds; I'll check later.

response 29 of 93:

Sep 28 23:58 UTC 1995

Re 27: Yup, it was a mail message saying that we can hold Grex board
meetings there regularly if we want.  Shall I go ahead and say yes?

response 31 of 93:

Sep 29 04:25 UTC 1995

Re 28:
             H P   G    M14/
 CITY OF     u k   r \  US23
 ANN ARBOR   r w   e  \____ _________ M14
             o a   e      \|/
             n y   n       |
 Plymouth ____ ___________/|\________ Plymouth Rd.
              |    |      \|/
  Hubbard ____|_*__|       |          * Marks the spot (ITI)
              |            |
   Geddes ____|___________/|\________ Geddes Rd.
              |           \|/
              |            |
Washtenaw ____|___________O|O________ Washtenaw Ave.
                          O|O
                           |
      I94 ________________O|O________ I94
                          O|O
                           |
                          US23        CITY OF YPSILANTI
 
Re 30: I don't normally agree with cats, but I agree with Frostbite.

response 33 of 93:

Sep 29 07:11 UTC 1995

That seemed like a good place to me, too.  I can deal with venda-food,
although it somehow didn't occur to me during the meeting, as I was getting
hungry, that the vending machine noises might mean there was food there.

response 35 of 93:

Sep 29 12:50 UTC 1995

<chuckle>  I didn't realize that those were vending machines, either, until
after the meeting when I went looking to see if there was a bathroom back
there.  (There isn't: it's in the lobby.)

response 37 of 93:

Sep 29 15:44 UTC 1995

   I too found meeting there really wonderful.  Far more so than
I would have thought.

   I haven't talked about it much, but I have something called
"phonic regression", which means that while my hearing is still
pretty good, my abilities to parse out things like a conversation
in a crowded room are diminishing.  I have found that I need a
significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio than I did 15 years
ago.  This translates to me having to ask that things be repeated
at meetings at places like Zingerman's because of all the noise.
Metting at ITI was really different for me.  Other than my not
payting attention at time when someone said something, I don't
think I had to ask people to repeat themselves, something I
find very nice.

   For the food types like me, what would people think of
trying to meet somewhere before the meeting?  We could get
our food fix then, and have something to argue about (where
to meet) around board-meeting time.

response 39 of 93:

Sep 29 21:08 UTC 1995

And when the meeting-before-the-meeting has decided everything, why have the
meeting?
<stupid ascii smiley face>

response 41 of 93:

Sep 30 12:19 UTC 1995

Indeed. It would undercut the philosophy that Board business is to
be conducted publicly. I'm sure we could find plenty else of other
things to talk about.

response 43 of 93:

Oct 1 01:31 UTC 1995

I'm inclined to think that, while anyone is entitled to eat dinner with
anyone else, there should not be any announced pre-board meeting or meal.
No matter how hard the participants tried, they would not be able to avoid
talking about matters that will come before the board. Again, any group of
individuals can do this privately, but once it is announced in connection
with a board meeting, it becomes implicity a forward extension of that
meeting. There would be an element of intimidation to attend six hours of
"board" meetings that day, instead of three (which some think is already
too long). 

response 45 of 93:

Oct 1 06:04 UTC 1995

Exactly - so then, if you want to be a full participant, you just about
*have* to come. That's what I mean by turning a 3 hour board meeting into
a six hour board meeting. 

response 47 of 93:

Oct 1 06:34 UTC 1995

I object to the idea that I can't eat dinner with other Grexers openly.  I
know that there might be a perception of people having to be there to hear
the whole board meeting, but if people percieve that they're welcome to come
eat dinner with us, and see that that doesn't happen.  I think most of the
people who would be interested in going trust us enough to know that we aren't
going to try to do anything sneaky behind their backs.  Then again, if we're
worried about what people would perceive if it was known that a few board
members were eating dinner together, steve and I and whoever else could always
do our planning in mail, and in secret, so that ther would be no public
perception that we were hiding anything.

response 49 of 93:

Oct 1 11:42 UTC 1995

I find the concern over the Board members joining others at an openly
announced dinner quite amusing.  I mean, the Board discusses non-security
issues in baff mail and non-staff Board members participate in the
"private" staff conference, and in these two instances the general
membership can't participate or even observe.  But hey, you gotta draw the
line somewhere.