My reaction to last night's meeting

[Alberto Begliomini]

Bill,

We thought about "attaching" a short-but-cool or two to the main talk in 
the past. We will re-address the issue at our next board meeting, and 
try to determine again how feasible that is.

I am completely in agreement that the table for the food should be in 
the back, as it has always been. We got caught off guard last night, 
being the first time at the new location. In fact the table belonged to 
Jim Dennis and not our host. Many thanks to Jim for bringing a table 
with him!!! We will be talking to Apple shortly about having a couple of 
tables in back and few other things. Stay tuned!

As far as the restaurant, we are looking at alternatives that can 
accommodate everyone's needs. There are very few restaurants that are 
open late, so the choice is limited. I like the idea of rotating venue, 
so at least we can make happy (or inconvenience, depending upon how you 
want to look at it) at few people every time. Again, discussion material 
for our next board meeting.

Thanks for your feedback!

Alberto Begliomini
BayLISA President


William R Ward wrote:
> I liked the new building.  And I think the "short but cool" format was
> a great idea.  I hope we do that more often.  Perhaps one or two
> "short but cool" talks could be given as "opening acts" to the main
> speaker?
> 
> One nice thing about having several talks on different subjects is
> that you're less likely to drive away people who are not interested in
> the guest speaker's subject matter.
> 
> Given the fact that it's the holiday season and a new location, we had
> a surprisingly good turnout.
> 
> Some minor suggestions for improvement, both food-related:
> 
> 1. Put the snacks in a place that's accessible without disturbing the
>    main stage, so people can discreetly get a bite during a talk.
> 
> 2. Have the restaurant picked out in advance.  Personally I would like
>    to stay with Frankie Johnnie & Luigi Too, but then I live in
>    Mountain View so I'm biased. :-) But really, it's no farther from
>    Apple than it was from the old location.  Perhaps the restaurant
>    could be different from one month to the next, rotating among
>    various local venues, as long as it's decided on in advance.
> 
> --Bill.