Venue for Meetups

[tamouse pontiki]

Hi, all,

I'm in the process of finding us another permanent venue for our monthly meetups. With Google Developer series pulling their sponsorship, causing CoCo to drop free events, there may be a scramble to find spots.

These are the needs, as I conceive them:

* space for about 25 people, along with a place to lay out food and drinks.

* a projector / large screen to give presentations

* a good arrangement of desks for people to work on their projects, sufficient power outlets and such

* an accessible location, no rickety stairs, good parking nearby, convenient to public transit, convenient rest rooms

Here are some possible spots under investigation:

* Sports Ngin -- they have a large auditorium that holds about 300 people, and a lounge area that has been suggested to us for working. Our January 2016 meetup will be at Sports Ngin and we can give it a trial run.

* SmartFactory -- not contacted. They have a training room, but it only seats 16 comfortably, and it's up a steep stairway with one bathroom downstairs.

* Datatrend Technologies -- not seen. They have a large, oval conference table and projectors which would hold 20 to 40. It's located out in Minnetonka/Plymouth which is not so well located. But they're eager to have us.

* Lunds Uptown -- not seen or contacted. They have a community room that can be booked.

* Dayblock -- upstairs is huge, but I hear they want $$$ for it's use. We'd need to acquire sponsorship for that.

* PowerObjects -- not contacted. Their classroom is really *awesome* and would be perfect for us.

* Vidku -- not contacted. Their 5th floor commons is also just *incredible*.

* LeadPages -- not contacted, but I've also heard they are pretty booked up. Really lovely folks.

* Code42 -- not contacted. They hosted a RailsBridge weekend a couple of times. Pretty nice space.

* U of Minnesota -- not contacted. They have some nice spaces, though.

* Target Commons -- not contacted, not sure about the space.

* Prime Digital Academy's "Primatorium" -- it's big, but also spread out. It might be difficult to do a presentation, but their classrooms have generally been open during the evenings I've been there.

* ObjectPartners -- not seen/contacted

* JAMF Software -- not seen/contacted

* Microsoft Store in MoA -- not seen/contacted -- I didn't even know this was a thing

* Twin City Maker (http://www.tcmaker.org) -- not seen or contacted.

Rejected so far:

* Software for Good -- I trip on those stairs above the Bulldog *every* *time*. :(  Really wonderful folks.

* ReachLocal -- too small a space (but fabulous people!)

[tamouse pontiki]

I must express my chagrin to Odell and company: They are *SPORT* Ngin, not "Sports".

On Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 9:39:19 PM UTC-6, tamouse pontiki wrote:

Hi, all,

I'm in the process of finding us another permanent venue for our monthly meetups. With Google Developer series pulling their sponsorship, causing CoCo to drop free events, there may be a scramble to find spots.

These are the needs, as I conceive them:

* space for about 25 people, along with a place to lay out food and drinks.

* a projector / large screen to give presentations

* a good arrangement of desks for people to work on their projects, sufficient power outlets and such

* an accessible location, no rickety stairs, good parking nearby, convenient to public transit, convenient rest rooms

Here are some possible spots under investigation:

* Sports Ngin -- they have a large auditorium that holds about 300 people, and a lounge area that has been suggested to us for working. Our January 2016 meetup will be at Sports Ngin and we can give it a trial run.

Sport Ngin

[tamouse pontiki]

Thanks to Odell Tuttle, VPEng at Sport Ngin -- they have become our new home for our monthly meetups!