Re: [PLUG] PLUG should own a projector...

[Fred Stluka <fred@bristle.com>]

Eric,

> If we have our own projector I expect we could use the back room at
> Baxter's, just across Rt. 29 from FIS. Not sure how busy they are a 7:00 PM,
> but by 9:00 PM on a Monday it is usually pretty quiet, and they already know
> us.

True, but at John's Pizza we'd have an entire room to ourselves,
with tables/chairs for 30+ people, a closed door to isolate us
from the rest of the restaurant, and Chris (the owner) will turn off
the music in that one room, so it will be plenty quiet.  I haven't
seen the back room of Baxters.  Same deal?  Better?  Worse?

Also, I've know Chris for 20 years.  He will work with us, chipping
in some money, or giving us a deal in some form, especially since
I may be able to steer some other small user groups to him.

He's willing to consider options like:

- Chipping in $20/month towards the projector for the next few
   monthly meetings, subtracting it from our food bill, if the bill is
   $200 or more.

- If we're going to eat/spend less than $200 per meeting, he
   probably won't chip in, but he'll reserve the room for us every
   month.  He'll expect us to eat/spend at least $100 total per
   meeting, and will round our bill up to $100 if needed to
   justify turning away other business.

- If we don't want to eat/spend even $100 for food/drinks, he'll
   rent us the room for $200/meeting, like he does with other
   groups that rent it but don't order food at all.

Keep in mind:

- Chris probably makes $20 or less profit on the sale of $100
   in food and drink.

- We already spend over $100 every time we go out to Baxter's
  after a meeting, for beer, appetizers, sandwiches, etc.

- John's Pizza is BYOB, so we can bring in our own beer/drinks
   if we like and save costs.  (However, we should buy our non-
   alcoholic drinks from the restaurant.)  So that will reduce our
   costs.

I'm working with John Voris to steer some other user groups to
John's Pizza, so we may be able to get those groups to chip in
towards a shared projector that we'd store there and all use.
Also, if it brings him enough new business, Chris may chip in
more for the projector.

Besides, I think their food is REALLY good!

So, who would be willing to contribute towards a projector?

I priced them at MicroCenter, where I can get a "friends and
family" holiday discount until Dec 16.  They run about $500.
For that price, you can get a super-compact one, easy to carry
in a briefcase or backpack (approx 1"x4"x6", weighing 1.4 lbs)
that's great for small groups, up to 10-20, but perhaps not
bright enough and not a large enough projected display for
larger groups.  Or, for the same price, you can get one 10
times as bright (3000 lumens vs 300 lumens) but not so
compact (about 2-5 times the size and weight).

--Fred
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred Stluka -- mailto:fred@bristle.com -- http://bristle.com/~fred/
Bristle Software, Inc -- http://bristle.com -- Glad to be of service!
Open Source: Without walls and fences, we need no Windows or Gates.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

On 12/3/12 9:15 AM, Eric H. Johnson wrote:
> Fred,
>
> If we have our own projector I expect we could use the back room at
> Baxter's, just across Rt. 29 from FIS. Not sure how busy they are a 7:00 PM,
> but by 9:00 PM on a Monday it is usually pretty quiet, and they already know
> us.
>
> Regards,
> Eric
>
>
> PLUG folks,
>
> We've been talking about meeting locations for PLUG West, and one problem is
> lack of a projector.
>
> I say PLUG should buy a projector.  They only cost a couple hundred dollars
> these days.
>
> Option 1:
> If the PLUG West folks all chipped in to buy one and stored it at John's
> Pizza or some other restaurant to be used as a meeting place, perhaps the
> restaurant would chip in too, especially if we allowed them to offer it to
> other groups who use their meeting room.
>
> Option 2:
> We could buy one without help from a restaurant, and just bring it to all
> meetings, wherever we hold them.  Could maybe share it (and the cost) with
> PLUG Central and PLUG North.  Do enough people attend all 3 meetings that
> shuttling it to each meeting would be convenient?
>
> Option 3:
> I may buy one myself, for my use at various clients.  If so, I'd be glad to
> bring it to the PLUG West meetings that I attend.
>
> Option 4:
> We could rent a projector for a day, for each meeting.  I haven't looked
> into prices or logistics, and I doubt it would be cheap enough to justify
> not buying, but it's a possibility...
>
> Thoughts?
> --Fred
>
>
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