Hi folks -
We had a lot of great discussion over the past week on what direction this bluegrass meetup would take. Lots of ideas came up and I think a clearer understanding of what it takes to run this meetup was expressed.
If you are interested in the topic and conversations, I would highly recommend reading the discussion thread and all the comments here:
http://www.meetup.com/seattlebluegrass/messages/boards/thread/48784170

We had a group vote on whether to keep the genre as bluegrass only or to open it up to other genres of music. see - http://www.meetup.com/seattlebluegrass/polls/1197673

The results were:
Keep it bluegrass only
16 votes or 2.5% of the members

Open it to other genres
26 votes or 4.1% of the members

I don't care - I just want to play with others
7 votes or 1.1%

Abstained/Didn't vote
591 members or 92.3%

Don't feel bad about this - these are good results, even for a Presidential Election! We had almost 8% of the members actually CARE enough to cast a vote!

Based on the results, I'm going to try some cross-posting from other meetups on our page to see if we get the desired results of more traffic. If it doesn't work out, we can always go back to the way it has always been.

I held off on taking contributions because I wasn't sure if I was going to keep the meetup open, but after getting some feedback from others, I have decided to open the "Chip In" feature to allow those that use and like this meetup to help contribute to keep it open and running.
https://secure.meetup.com/seattlebluegrass/contribute

I also created a 'contributors page' so members can see who has donated what to-date.
http://www.meetup.com/seattlebluegrass/pages/Meetup_Contributors

Finally, I have some GREAT news! I secured a new venue for picking on Tuesday nights! The 192 Brewing Company in Kenmore is open to having a bluegrass jam on Tuesday nights from 7-10pm starting March 24th! They have a large indoor area for picking and a HUGE outdoor beer garden for when the weather is warm. It's also a halfway point between The Eastside and Seattle without having to pay a toll on 520

I was there tonight and there was a line 100 feet long for people waiting to get a beer! I got there at 7pm and the line didn't reach the end (people kept getting in line) until 9:15! It was truly phenomenal, and the inside area was having an open mic tonite which was totally PACKED. 

Thanks again for all the feedback and input for the direction of this group and we'll see y'all 'round the pickin' circle!