Hey all,

Our little group is outgrowing it's locations and as the weather cools off outdoor gatherings are going to become less appealing! Any ideas about how to solve this? We can schedule meetups more often to spread it out (need more volunteer hosts for this), we can find some bigger locations (any ideas are welcome), or I can start capping the number of RSVPs (which I kind of hate to do).

I'll set up a poll to find out what people want to do. So vote! :)

Pauline

Maybe if there are members who live in subdivisions or apartment complexes that have clubhouses? I know thats what the Boise Active Singles group often does.

Also, when I was running the backgammon club we met on tuesday nights at a local restaurant. Most of us would purchase dinner and it was a slow night so the restaurant was happy to have us. But I'm not sure that would work for a weekend night.

I haven't been able to attend in quite a while but I'd be willing to host out in Nampa if there's enough folks out this way or some who want to make the journey.

How great it is to have this problem! This shows how "needed" this group is to our community. I would hate to deter other people from joining since one of the reasons I joined was to expand my circle of friends.

If people bring chairs and tables, there's really no limit in my house when the weather is nice. But, when it gets cold, I'd want no more than about 20 in my house at any one time. So we might have to have a limit on each setting depending on the size of the home. Clubhouses would be great if they are free and can be reserved in advance.

Thinking outside the box: I wonder if the Majestic Theater would let us use their "Party Room" once a month if we bought a few tubs of popcorn? Anyone know of a business with a large conference room we could use? How about using a couple of classrooms at one of the colleges like Stevens-Henegar or University of Phoenix or even BSU? Anyone affiliated with a grange or a church? Would St Lukes let us use a meeting room? Just throwing stuff out there...

We could also try specific games at more smaller meetups. For example, a meetup just for playing "Bang" or just for playing "Spades" etc. If that isn't "your cup of tea" then you probably wouldn't go to it.

If we have more meetings, I could commit to once a month. If there were at least three others who could also commit (Robin & Ken, Kathy, Pauline?) and we could have one venue just in case one of the primary hosts is out of town (say, Christine?), then we could have a once a week get-together on rotating Fri/Sat nights. I know that the Sunday afternoon at Kathy's house was very well attended too. Perhaps we can recruit a handful of other people to offer their homes as venues and have two meetings per week (one on a Fri/Sat and one on a Sunday afternoon) and people can gravitate toward the ones they like most.

Okay, so those are all the suggestions I can come up with. What do you think?

I haven't been able to attend in quite a while but I'd be willing to host out in Nampa if there's enough folks out this way or some who want to make the journey.

I'd go to Nampa...we have a buncha folks in my area and we could carpool.

So far it looks like most people (the 5 who have voted :) would like more meetups scheduled. Beverly suggested once a week which I'm happy to setup up, we just need to have enough hosts. So if you are interested in hosting let me know! If I can't do it or there is no volunteer host, I'll setup the default location as Buzz Coffee/Wine Cafe. There's also been a request for the Idaho Pizza Company on Broadway to be a location, so that is an option as well.

Keep posting ideas if you have any, it's all flexible!

...We could also try specific games at more smaller meetups. For example, a meetup just for playing "Bang" or just for playing "Spades" etc. ...

That's what I was going to suggest, but just one card game is a bit narrow. Perhaps "card games" or "board games" or "verbal games" (the latter including the verbal-charades game we did recently, even though it uses cards and/or other props to guide it).

Thinking outside the box: I wonder if the Majestic Theater would let us use their "Party Room" once a month if we bought a few tubs of popcorn? Anyone know of a business with a large conference room we could use? How about using a couple of classrooms at one of the colleges like Stevens-Henegar or University of Phoenix or even BSU? Anyone affiliated with a grange or a church? Would St Lukes let us use a meeting room? Just throwing stuff out there...

Excellent idea Beverly! We could probably use the student union building at BSU. The food court area is available (and empty) evenings and weekends. I have been at the SUB to attend a weekend performance, and there have been tables of students playing Board games, we could go to another corner and play our games. We would want to be careful not to schedule when there is a football or basketball game though, as the parking is TERRIBLE if there is a huge event going on.

Thomas Hammer coffee (8th street) has a conference room you can reserve, the table seats 10 - 12 so the RSVPs would have to be limited. The conference room is free to reserve, all they ask is that people buy a drink or snack. They also have tables in the coffee shop itself if you want smaller tables or smaller games. They close at 8 PM Monday - Saturday and 6 PM on Sunday.

I'd go to Nampa...we have a buncha folks in my area and we could carpool.

I would carpool to Nampa too!