On Fri, May 07, 2004 at 05:57:30AM +0100, Syd Hancock wrote:

On Thursday 06 May 2004 9:41 pm, Jonathan McDowell wrote: [...]

...

FWIW it's now the Reindeer again and I was there for a couple of drinks with some friends this evening. Seem pleasant enough. Music level was low, it wasn't busy (possibly as it's only just opened) and there were 7 of us there and I think double that could have fitted, which doesn't seem any less than we normally have at the Thursday meets. Atmosphere seemed better than the City Gate has been recently, especially allowing for the fact it wasn't that busy.

Might be worth a try again at some point (but not this month, as I won't be around for the Thursday meet). June 18th perhaps?

Just curious, what is the problem with the City Gate atmosphere? Has it changed recently? Seems OK for what we want. The space and ease of movement around the tables, quietness and lack of smoke are all plus points to me.

I'm not that bothered by it, but thought I'd heard a few comments of dissent about it not being as nice a venue as it could be.

'Atmosphere' in a pub often meets crowded and smoky which is fine for a drinking session but maybe not the best for our purposes.

The Reindeer wasn't smoky or crowded last night, however that may change over time I guess.

I don't personally care one way or the other where people meet but I'd be wary of changing venue yet again so soon especially if the Reindeer could well start getting busier and too full.

You're probably right; I'd just remembered the Reindeer being discounted as an option and felt I should right the balance as it seems to have got better. We can keep it as a spare in case the City Gate is ever closed, seeing as it's just across the road. ;)

J.

On Fri, May 07, 2004 at 01:45:12PM +0100, Kirsten Naylor wrote:

On Fri, 2004-05-07 at 05:57, Syd Hancock wrote:

...

Just curious, what is the problem with the City Gate atmosphere? Has it changed recently?

At the meeting of the evening of Thursday the 8th of April (3rd City Gate meeting) it was not very nice at all. It was packed with drunk people, very smoky, very busy, no room. Luckily only 4 or 5 Aluggers turned up as we were all crowded round one tiny table standing up. They had stopped serving food at 8pm because the kitchen could not keep up with the orders so we didn't stay very long as we had planned to eat there.

FWICR that was a Bank Holiday weekend, no one had to go to work on the Friday. A little while after you and Adam left the place calmed down quite a lot, and thingummy turned up to join me an paul for a bit. (sorry thingummy, your name entirely escapes me ;)

The answer to this problem is not to move venue, but not to hold meetings on Thursdays when there's a bank holiday friday ;)

I'm up for trying the Reindeer again, but ISTR the prices are not as nice as the CG and the range of drinks is somewhat more limited.

Cheers,

On Fri, May 07, 2004 at 02:18:23PM +0100, adam@thebowery.co.uk wrote:

On Fri, May 07, 2004 at 02:09:25PM +0100, Brett Parker wrote:

...

I'm up for trying the Reindeer again, but ISTR the prices are not as nice as the CG and the range of drinks is somewhat more limited.

I know! lets have 2 (or more) meetings a month in Norwich, one in the City Gate and one in the Reindeer :D

and one in the Fat Cat?

:D

On Friday 07 May 2004 3:56 pm, IanBell wrote:

I turned up late to this meeting after Kirsten had left and it was still very noisy mainly due to what looked like a skinheads stag night. There were just three ALUGers within a foot of eachother and it was hard to hear what eachother was saying. Maybe we need to frequent an 'old farts' pub?

Maybe last month was just a one-off problem night? The other meetings have been OK, I thought.

We can by all means try a meeting or meetings in the Reindeer. My concerns though are these: should we leave what has been a pretty good venue after one bad experience? What happens if we find that the Reindeer becomes smoky and crowded every time, being relatively small place - then we have to move again.

Now it can be argued that it really doesn't matter how often we move venues. I guess that what I am hoping for is that we can find a suitable long-term venue so that we can say to anyone who is interested 'we meet every month at .....' but maybe that isn't what is wanted or needed? I don't know, I'm just asking.

One alternative would be Adam's idea of more than one meeting each month and why not, there seem to be plenty of ALUG people in the area.

We could keep the regular 2nd thursday meet as already arranged and have other ones organised at shorter notice on varying dates and venues.

All it needs is for someone to pick a time and place and post it on the list. And that is a solution to the problem that no one regular day or date suits every one. Best of both worlds maybe?

Syd

On Fri, May 07, 2004 at 07:49:13PM +0100, Ted Harding wrote:

[Maybe this might be a new thread]

It strikes me that over the months/years the venue issue never quite gels. (Which is not to deny that happy meetings occur here and there from time to time, indeed more and more frequently).

Well we do have Syleham quite often, UEA hasn't happened for a while but may be coming back again and being more regular soon... we also have Vet Systems on the norfolk/suffolk border. The problems with the City Gate isn't a real problem, just the night it was unpleasant it was really not nice. (When one guy was telling another why he had stiches in his eye I didn't feel all that comfortable....

By the way -- to anyhone who knows -- how many subscribers to the ALUG list?

There is exactly 264 individual mail addresses subscribed to the list.

Thanks Adam