[Stargate] populace meetings

[David Whitford]

I'll admit I seldom make a populace meeting, but
consider myself a pretty died hard royalist. That
being said,populace meetings have little to do with
that from my view. Populace meetings are the business
side of what we do not the activity side of what we
do. Should the current demographics show that the
majority of the populace live near X then it would
make sense to meet nearer to those folks to keep them
in the loop and thus encourage them to participate
more(volunteering, signing up for stuff etc etc).
Meeting further from your populace center would be
counter-productive to that and would seem to actively
discourage participation. Should meetings be help
further from the populace center and with current road
construction projects being what they are in Houston I
would suggest better use of a virtual secretary for
populace meetings to relay information to the local
e-list(yes I know not everyone has access but its
better than nothing). That being said I'll probably
still be a rare sight at meetings, but if needed folks
know how to find me...some faster than others.
Robert
(enough babbling for this early)
--- dietrich.strobelbart at yahoo.com wrote:

> HE Gwendolene McIver here, I am using my husbands
> account because I can't seem to get one of my own.  
> 
> I am relatively new here, maybe only two years in
> the Barony, but I don't remember "seeing" some of
> you at a populace meeting.  Now I may just be a
> royalist, but I don't remember the Middle Ages being
> a democracy.   And as we are trying to recreate that
> time period, why should we even be discussing this. 
> But, since we are discussing it, here's my tuppence
> worth.  If you want to vote on this, show up,
> volunteer, BE a part of the Barony.  Otherwise,
> you're just making noise.  For those that don't like
> going to Ryan's, I don't like Ryan's either.  That's
> why I went with my husband to check out the Collier
> Library.  But in that, we discovered the problems
> inherent with using a public library.  We are also
> looking into various churches in the area.  If you
> have other places that should be looked at, research
> them and bring the info to a populace meeting.  
> 
> There has been some discussion at Populace meetings
> that if we moved the meetings to a location closer
> to the geographical center of the Barony, we might
> attract more people from that area.  It seems to me
> that the Beltway 8 -- I10 area is more into the
> Westgate area than Stargate anyway.  I would be
> happy to move the meetings out of Ryan's, but moving
> them clear over into Westgate would defeat the
> purpose of centralizing them in Stargate.
> 
> Again, I'm a Royalist; I don't believe the populace
> should be voting on this at all.  That is why we
> have officers, and a Baron and Baroness.  Besides if
> the populace does vote on this, it would be at a
> "populace meeting" at Ryan's.  So it seems to me
> this is much ado about nothing.
>  
> HE Gwendolene McIver,
> gwendolene at iwon.com
> Proudly living my 25th year in service to the dream
> that is the SCA.
> 
> PS:  This is MY opinion only, NOT that of my
> husband. We may be joined at the hip, but, I've got
> my own mouth and I've been known to use it!
> 
> "A tame and toothless Tabby can't produce an Lions
> Roar"
> 
> (H. Chapin)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Charlene Charette <clclists1 at earthlink.net>
> To: Barony of Stargate
> <stargate at lists.ansteorra.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 3, 2007 1:23:17 AM
> Subject: Re: [Stargate] populace meetings
> 
> Some comments on the proposed changing of locations
> for populace 
> meetings....
> 
> It sounds as though there is a general agreement
> that populace needs to 
> be moved because Ryan's is no longer working for
> everyone.  I think the 
> first question is:  what is the goal in moving
> populace?  Are you only 
> trying to accommodate those currently coming to the
> meetings or are you 
> trying to attract new attendees?  Are more people
> not coming because of 
> the location, because the meetings are not perceived
> to be a valuable 
> use of their time, because it's a bad night, some
> combination of 
> factors, etc., etc.?  Do you even want or need more
> people to attend? 
> Personally, I don't go to Ryan's because it takes
> 1.5 hours for me to 
> get there and what I get out of the meetings just
> isn't worth the trip.
> 
> Once you know the goal, the next question is:  what
> part of town do you 
> want to move to?  In 1997 François did a population
> map of the barony 
> and at that time the population center of the group
> was at I-10 and BW8. 
>   I asked him to update the map and we discovered
> that the population 
> center has shifted to I-10 and Hwy 6.  The 290 area
> is at the extreme 
> northern boundary of the barony and isn't a
> convenient travel for the 
> majority of members.  (These numbers include all
> classes of paid 
> members; we don't have the data to account for those
> who play, but 
> aren't paid members.)
> 
> That said, there is a feeling among some that a more
> 
> geographically-centered, as opposed to a
> population-centered, location 
> might be desirable.  Over the last few years I've
> proposed several 
> possible locations for populace, but the suggestions
> were never received 
> favorably.  I agree with Annes that we don't
> necessarily need to find a 
> free site, if we have the money we should use it;
> however, each of these 
> suggestions is free.
> 
> St. Luke's United Methodist - Westheimer @ Edloe
> Yes, I know...the Galleria area.  The Embroiders'
> Guild of America 
> chapter I belong to has meetings here once a month
> and it really isn't 
> that bad to get there.  I can take one of two
> different routes and be 
> there in about 40 mins.  You can get there easily
> from Westheimer, 59, 
> 610, and the Westpark Tollway.  They have lots of
> rooms available for 
> free to non-profits.  Plenty of parking.  The rooms
> are nice and have 
> plenty of lighting.  Food can be brought in.  I
> don't know if the rules 
> have changed, but when the EGA moved here the church
> required a 3-month 
> probation period after which the group could set up
> in advance to meet 
> every month.  They are not subject to closing on
> Federal holidays. 
> Meetings can go to 9pm, but they don't seem to mind
> when we go a little 
> later.
> 
> Central Market - Westheimer @ Wesleyan
> Same location issue as above.  The EGA chapter has a
> monthly stitch-in 
> here.  They have a large, well-lit community room
> upstairs.  Plenty of 
> parking.  Not subject to Federal holiday closings. 
> For the benefit of 
> those not familiar with the store -- they have a
> variety of ready-to-eat 
> items you can purchase from restaurant quality
> dishes to sandwiches. 
> The have microwaves for heating things up with
> tables downstairs for 
> eating on site.  You could also bring it upstairs to
> the meeting.  I 
> don't know how they work the scheduling.  The person
> in charge of the 
> stitch-ins announced at our November meeting that we
> were all set for 
> every month in 2007, so it appears you can guarantee
> the room consistently.
> 
> Tracy Gee - Richmond & BW8
> This is a community center.  The site is free, but
> they require a $100 
> damage deposit to be on file.  François and I used
> to go to balloon club 
> meetings there.  They close at 9pm.  Food can be
> brought in.  I don't 
> know if they have any availability; they did several
> months ago when I 
> last checked.  The only bug-a-boo is you can't
> exchange funds on site. 
> I believe this is so groups don't do fund raisers or
> sell t-shirts and 
> such on site.  I don't know if this applies to
> giving checks to members 
> for expense reimbursement.  Easy enough to check and
> if that is the 
> case, it's just a matter of walking out the door and
> handing the checks 
> over off-site.  If they have the availability, you
> can set up on their 
> calendar for the year.  We would still have the
> Federal holiday problem 
> here.
> 
> There are a variety of restaurants near each of
> these sites should be 
> decide to go out for dinner after the meeting.
> 
> And a quick response to a comment from (I believe)
> Vasilisa:
> 
> > The only library that is open late 
> > is the Collier on Pinemont.
> 
> 
=== message truncated ===


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