MadMongers

This month we had a small but interesting meeting. Given the scheduling / email fiasco I am surprised that anyone showed up at all, but we had a cozy group of six. And Frank gave an impromptu talk about debugging complex database / perl problems instead of the one plan. I found it very interesting, and it spurred much discussion.

In June, we're moving venues once more because Altn Bach's is unavailable yet again. We'll be at the Essen Haus (which is at the capitol end of Willy street) in the same building as the Ruby Marie and the Come Back In.  They're providing us with a HUGE room and a screen. There are two wifi hotspots, but unfortunately I don't think they are powerful enough to reach through the thick brick walls into the meeting room. In June Martin will be giving a new talk on Sphinx, and some crazy stuff he's been doing and learned about it in the past six months.

At this point we have to make a bit of a decision about Altn' Bachs. It has been a good home for us in the past, but three out of the past six months they have told us we can't use their back room. Changing the venue every month is not good for anybody. I've been searching but haven't found a good replacement option so far, except possibly Essen Haus.

Essen Haus has ridiculous amounts of free parking. Easy access from the belt line (straight up John Nolan Drive). A tremendous beer selection. Lots of food options especially since we'll also be able to order from the Come Back In's menu too. And a huge room with a screen. The only thing that's iffy is the wifi. I've been thinking about picking up one of the Sprint 4G hotspot devices so that we always have wifi no matter what, but that's $60 per month, so I have to see if there's a business reason to justify it for other uses.

Anyway...I'd like to hear your thoughts about venue for the future. Do you want to keep going to the Altn Bach's despite the scheduling problems? Do you want me to search for another venue? Do you have ideas on another venue? Do you want to see how the Essen Haus goes and make a decision at that meeting? Something else?