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Knox, TN Everyone Read: Celebration Station

Discussion in 'SouthEast Regional Discussion' started by Jar Jar, Sep 21, 2002.

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  1. Jar Jar

    Jar Jar Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 1998
    Knoxville, we have a problem.

    Celebration Station is now under new management and this is not a change that is to our advantage. Apperantly the situation as it stands is that there is absolutely no way the manager will book us a room unless we are going to buy a party plan each time. While I understand fully the motivation for this on weekends, I see really no way they could book all of the party spaces on a Tuesday evening. I have yet to hear back from her on her absolute final verdict for weekday bookings, but it seems to me as though we are going to get screwed.

    Already, the TSWCG is having to change locations to Shoney's for Sunday and it's really up in the air as to where they will meet from time to time. This kind of stuff can kill a group, so I think we need to figure out a place to meet from now on that is stable.

    Let me say this right now.. I will not meet our FF chapter at Shoney's, period. For one, you have to buy food. For two, they kick you out after an hour or two and while understandable, is simply unacceptable to do for us. Thirdly, you don't have much space to show stuff in. I just don't like it and I refuse to do it or anything like it.

    You guys seem non-responsive to the idea of using a recreation center for space in the past, so what I would like to know is where you would like to meet given the current situation. I have an idea for a place, but I would like to hear some suggestions first. Thanks a lot!


    Edit: Locking at the request of the author. :)
     
  2. Southernjedi

    Southernjedi Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 1, 2002
    Jar Jar:

    I'm not a member, but I'd like to help if I can. Your meetings are on Tuesday nights, right? How about a room at the University Center at UT, or a room at another building there. It's been a while since I was a student, but I don't think there's a charge for using a room, just the need to book in advance. You can call the UC office for more info.
     
  3. Jar Jar

    Jar Jar Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 1998
    Campus is one way to go about it, but there are a few problems to deal with. For one, in order to book space as a club, you have to become a club. University Clubs require the endorsement of one teacher and that one student or teacher be the club president. This is probematic because I am not a university student so as a CR, I could actually do nothing for the club regarding booking meetings but I could be a non-student member of it.

    Secondly, parking on campus can be a royal pain. Even if you have a permit, it can be hard to find a spot, and if you don't you run the risk of being ticketed or towed if you park somewhere that you shouldn't. It's a big hassle and I wouldn't want to put members at risk of it if at all possible.

    Thirdly, there is basketball season. Not only does having basketball games eat up what few non-staff/student spaces there are, but the crowds get everywhere before and after games and it becomes hard to get in and out of campus.

    In other words, it's great if you are a student in a on-campus dorm, but doesn't work for most other people. I'd like to find something else if possible.

    Any other ideas?
     
  4. Padawan519

    Padawan519 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
    Campus would be fine for me since, you know, I'm a student :) Problem is, I don't live on campus. I can't really think of anywhere other than the rec centers you mentioned or the library, like Rod mentioned. I'll see what I can find about anywhere that would have us, us being both Fan Force and TSWCG.....EDIT-Would people be diametrically opposed to meeting at a restaurant? I'm asking my parents where we could meet, and they suggested a few places, but most were restaurants, and they'd want us to eat there. Not that it would be a problem-I think in between several of us (I won't give names ;)), we could eat 'em out of house and home. So that's a possibility.
     
  5. Southernjedi

    Southernjedi Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 1, 2002
    parking in the evenings on campus isn't much of a problem, other than bb game nights. however, the teacher/student requirements are.

    other options might be a recreation center (though you've metioned it's not been well-received) or a meeting room at the public library. i'll keep trying to think of some ideas for y'all.
     
  6. cutiger

    cutiger Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Sep 4, 2002
    I don't think meeting at a restaurant is such as a bad idea. No one says that every single person has to order food. As long as some of the group is, I don't think it would be a problem. Heck, if it is, several can go together and order a cheap apetizer and a Coke. Also, Tuesday nights are no where near as bad as trying to meet on a Sunday at a restaurant like the TSWCG. I would think you would be able to find a quiet corner to meet in on a weeknight.

    Still, if there are people who are un-comfortable with a restaurant, the best bet may be to meet at someone's house. No worries about paying for a room and people can eat before coming.
     
  7. Jar Jar

    Jar Jar Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 1998
    Well, please bear in mind that the Celebration Station problem is still not 100% confirmed. What I am trying to do here is come up with a plan B and do it quickly so that we have a place go in case we cannot use Celebration Station. I do not like the idea of being unable to hold space there, but the manager has not told me one way or the other about it yet.

    I personally think she is shooting herself in the foot if she decides not to allow us to hold a space because we always buy at least some food and drinks on a day when the place doesn't make much money, but that is her decision to make. I will try to contact her again tommorrow about it so hopefully things will turn out well for us. It looks unlikely, but nothing is impossible.

    Don't get me wrong about restaurants. I like them and I would like to use one, but we have to be able to make arrangements to use one (preferably one with a semi-private area) without being forced to buy food or leave early. I myself work for a restaurant that would probably allow us, but the tables are small and there is no private room or anything like it, so it's not a great set up. Campus, while great if you can find a place to park, is now totally ruled out after what I learned tonight.

    I did not realize this, but Dave was telling me that campus clubs have to have the meetings scheduled by the teacher and a student can't do it even if they are the club's president. What if you have to make a last minute change to your meeting date or time? Well, if the teacher doesn't call it in, you could potentially be arrested for trespassing! I'm sorry but this is completely unacceptable, so I am going to have to rule it out entirely.

    Anyway, keep the ideas flowing folks. If anyone can think of any specific places, I will try to contact them and see what they can do for us. Thanks!

     
  8. Minacia_Brightstar

    Minacia_Brightstar Jedi Youngling star 5

    Registered:
    May 23, 2001
    I'm just chiming in with my two credits...

    The main thing that everyone in this group needs to remember is to be flexible. We in Atlanta rarely have meetings in the same place every month. For one thing, we try to change locations around so that everyone has an equal chance to get stuck in traffic. ( :p ), and also, we find that while some locations work great for some types of meetings, they don't work well for all of them.

    We usually meet at restaurants, because they are the only places we can get into for free. One Italian restaurant in the Atlanta area is nice enough to give us a semi-private area to meet, as long as most of us order food. Don't throw out the idea of meeting in a restaurant altogether. At least you can make do with it until something better comes along.

    Has anyone thought about contacting local libraries? Sometime, libraries have private rooms that groups can use for free. The only reason we in Atlanta have not done this is because we have grown too large, but this might be something to look into until this group is too large for a library to be a feasible meeting place.

    Again, these are just my humble suggestions. I hope y'all find a suitable meeting place, if Celebration Station no longer allows the group to meet there free of charge.

     
  9. TheRealFennShysa

    TheRealFennShysa TFN FanFilms Staff star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Oct 7, 2000
    What about one of the Mr Gatti's? There's one on Kingston Pike, and the one out in Farragut... they usually have meeting rooms, and I believe the one on Kingston Pike has video screens in the private room as well...

    Fenn
     
  10. Jar Jar

    Jar Jar Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 1998
    Okay, well here is what I have heard today:

    Celebration Station will not hold a space for us under any circumstances unless we do a party plan and have at least fifteen people involved with it. According to the general manager if there is space available when we show up we can use it but they will not hold anything for us. In other words, if they book up we will not know it and it will be tough luck.

    Mr. Gatti's on Kingston Pike will hold space for us and requires nothing in the way of food purchases although she did encourage at least 5 people to get something. A $25 deposit is required in order to hold the private room, but is returned when we come in to meet. They will not kick us out, but we have to make the deposit in order to make a reservation.

    Personally I have no problem with this arrangement. It is a no-risk situation for us and all we have to do is pony up the same $25 each time and we're set. I have the $25 required in order to hold the room, so I am going to head down there and try to make the revervation for our October meeting tonight.

    I'll let you guys know how it turns out.
     
  11. BushiFox

    BushiFox Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 16, 2002
    What was the problem with someone's house again? I think I missed that. I don't know if I'm ready to volunteer my house to all you crazy people that I haven't met...but, if there are only like, 10 people, I think everyone would be able to meet at someone's house? Just a thought.
     
  12. Jar Jar

    Jar Jar Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 1998
    You're right, I didn't cover why I didn't just use a house for meetings. As I see it the problems with it are quite a few, at least for now.

    One problem as I see it with meeting at someone's house unlike a business is that no one knows where it is so everyone has to get directions and that's a pain. People also tend to not want to meet someone at their residence unless they know them, and that would rule out a lot of new folks who might want to join.

    Another problem is that you really can't do an advertising flyer for a group that meets at a house because it would have to give often convoluted directions to somebody's place. Folks who were interested would probably tear down the flyer to get the directions so you would have to have to leave tons of copies of them at the places you put them up and that gets expensive.

    The bottom line was that I didn't want to get into doing stuff like that for a while either. We haven't met but three times and we are hardly in a regular pattern yet. House get-togethers is something I would like to do, but we need to get in a regular schedule first and stabalize our numbers before we start that up IMHO.

    Anyway, we don't have to worry about using anyone's house for now, because I got us the room for October 1st at Mr. Gatti's. It will be nice and I hope everyone will enjoy it. I am going to start up a new thread with the announcement in it, so this topic is no longer needed and I will have it locked by a friendly neighborhood mod.

    Thanks for all your help guys!
     
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