[PLUG] Potential meeting places for PLUG North

[Walt Mankowski via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

Hi all,

At PLUG North last week we discussed when we might be able to meet in person again. Aside from the continuing risk of COVID, our biggest issue is where to meet. We had met for many years at Cordial, but they're still mostly working from home, so it doesn't seem like that's going to be an option any time soon.

We came up with three potential meeting places: Radnor Memorial Library in Wayne, Ludington Library in Bryn Mawr, and Conshohocken Brewing in King of Prussia. I stopped by each of these places over the weekend, and here's my report.

Radnor Memorial Library

I live in Radnor Township so this was my first stop. The library is near the intersection of Lancaster Ave. and Wayne Ave in Wayne, and is about a 5-10 minute walk from the Wayne Station on Septa's Paoli-Thorndale train line.

The library has a large auditorium that can seat over 100 people and has AV equipment available. It's all free to use, but there's one big caveat — the room can only be reserved groups whose membership consists of at least 50% Radnor Township residents! The librarian told me that was a condition in the will for the person who donated the money for the room. They have some smaller meeting rooms, but they don't have AV equipment, making them less than ideal for PLUG.

Ludington Library

Radnor Township only has a single library with eccentric rules on using their meeting spaces. Lower Merion, the township next door, has a bunch of libraries, many of which have large meeting rooms. Ludington is across from the Bryn Mawr train station, and is also accessible via the NHLS and a bus from 69th St. They've got a great meeting space there. However, the space can only be reserved by a Lower Merion resident. I live right across the border in Radnor, so that rules me out.

Conshohocken Brewing

This is located in an industrial area of King of Prussia, not too far from Bridgeport and the 202 corridor. There doesn't seem to be any public transit there, but there's a large parking lot. They've got a nice meeting space that can hold about 100 people. However, the bartender I spoke to told me she thinks there's a charge to use it. She gave me the email of someone to contact.

Another potential problem with Conshy is that they didn't have any public wifi there.

Conclusions

Radnor isn't going to work at all. We don't have a budget, so if Conshy's going to charge us then they're out too. Ludington or one of the other Lower Merion libraries might work, but need someone who lives in the township to volunteer to reserve the room for us.

Walt

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug