IC: Upcoming Toronto Meet - Page 15

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdunks 

Greyhorse, if you keep it near a subway line (on the ttc website) you should be good for anyone.
 

Subway line works well for those without a car and those bringing very limited if any gear. As long as there is close/connected and secure parking available as generally found

with hotels, condos and the like then we'll be fine.  I'm checking up my way, however, we're not talking Toronto ... Alcona Beach if you can find it on a map.

Come to think of it, community centres around Richmond Hill are reasonably priced.  I recalled booking a room, enough to host about 30+ people, for 4 hours, and it was something like $180.

Problem is that it is not on a subway line, and the only way to get there other than driving/cab is by Viva.

All:

Just an update on this…  So far I have received back replies from exactly 2/3 of the people who expressed an interest in this event to Merkil.  I have summarized the responses so far.

1. Which date?  Except for 3 people, everyone who responded so far is either ok with any of the possible dates, or can at least make the weekend of May 4-5 work, with a preference for April 27-28.  Of the 3 people who cannot make the weekend of May 4-5 work, 2 cannot make any of the dates.   Unless we want to come up with another set of dates again, we are looking at having the meet on the weekend of May 4-5.  Out of all the replies so far, only 1 person replied back with a preference for Sunday.  If I had to decide on a date at this point, I would be making it on May 4^th.
2. Cost…  Of the 24 replies so far, 14 people have replied that they are willing to spend at least up to $20 to attend.  5 have responded with a maximum of $10, and the rest are in between these two.

So here’s the thing with cost.  I have received back most of the quotations from the hotels, and the cheapest quotation I am getting so far is $450 + taxes in downtown TO.  If we use 10 dollars per person to try to cover the room fees, with 30 attendees, we are unable to use a hotel as a venue.  Since you can see a movie for under 20 dollars, I’d hate to force people to pay more than they are willing to pay for an event with essentially 0 production value.

1. Meet time…  Other than 2 people, everyone seems to agree on a time period between noon and 5 or 6PM.  Of those 2 people who didn’t like an afternoon meet, one person wanted it early in the day, and the other wanted us to at least consider later in the day so people could get drunk.  I have removed this latter option from the table since it simply doesn’t look feasible to have the meet take place in a licensed environment (cost-wise).

The only venue I have at the moment that is within budget is the Toronto Public Library.  They charge $20.40/H, with an additional after hours security fee of $25.60/H as well as $30 setup fee.  For a meet that takes place on May 4^th, I would probably book the location from 11:30AM until 7:00PM to leave time to setup and clean up.  This brings the room charge to 264.65 (incl. taxes), which is doable on an entrance fee of $10 per person.

I have contacted the TPL for availability on 3 preliminary downtown locations, and out of them, only 1 is available on May 4^th.  This is the Bloor/Gladstone location.  While I have yet to visit it and confirm it for myself, this venue looks promising for a meet with plenty of windows to keep the environment brightly lit.  The one large issue I can see with the Bloor/Gladstone TPL location is secure offloading of gear.  I am planning on packing all my gear into a suitcase and rolling my gear right in after parking at a nearby green parking location.  My concern is for people like charliex who will be bringing too much gear to comfortably fit into a suitcase.  If need be, we need to find a suitable alternate TPL location that might allow for parking right in the library compounds.  This will allow multiple trips to get gear if necessary.

My request is for everyone to give comments on the proposal so far, and if possible, suggest alternate locations (TPL or otherwise) that might work better.  Thanks.

Oh carp, just realized something...  The TPL rates listed above are only for non-profit organizations (I still need to write a letter proving we are non-profit organization before I can reserve a date).  Once the meet becomes commercial, the hourly fees leap up to $122.40.  To keep things legit, I believe this means we cannot invite any vendors.  Something to keep in mind...  Gotta sleep.  Night everyone.

This locations is good for me, as long the meet occurs on a weekend, i would be able to make it.

sounds good

although why was the cafe not picked again?

x2

Quote:

Originally Posted by meiaen 

Yeah I also think the cafe would be alot better and the fund that we gather will be raffle and vendor are welcome

Quote:

Originally Posted by charliex 

I really hate being the devil's advocate and in no way do I wish to put a damper on things, especially after the considerable time and effort that Merkll has put into

organizing the meet (He should definitely be commended!).

But.... it looks like University Exams are making April 21 unmanageable for some (geez - it has been exactly 40 years since I wrote my last U of W BSc exams).

Joseph has been so kind and accommodating to offer his fine restaurant, however, it would be best suited to a much smaller and intimate crowd.

And then there's coordinating those in the trade, the many tables, receptacles and outlets required, raffles and prizes etc, etc - a big task, but a doable task.

As both Merkll and FallenAngel have pointed out, others need to step up to the plate and a date and location need to be finalized ASAP so that we can go forward.

Truly looking forward to getting together and having a good time with music, headphones and great conversation (hopefully over some good Scotch)

Count me in fer th' meet and what's yer BSC in?

Mine's Electrical Engineering............

Regarding the move away from the cafe...

I started looking for an alternate venue after a number of people expressed concern at the size of the room.  As of today I have recieved back survey replies from 26 people (of 36 interested members), with 3 unable to make any of the proposed dates for sure.  Hopefully I will get back more replies soon so I can get a better handle on the number of actual attendees..  At the moment I am still planning the event for a round number of 30 people.

Attendance by members of the trade would be great, both to possibly offset room fees, but more importantly to bring more gear to the meet.  Does anyone know of any people I should be contacting?  I have pretty much locked-in the date of the meet for May 04, so please keep this in mind.  If no members of the trade can make this date, then the TPL might still work, but I have tentatively removed the TPL from my radar.  The TPL seems to be very popular for group meetings, with the best locations already booked solid, so we will need to act fast if we are to keep this option open should no MOT be able to attend.

Since setting this meeting up is becoming rather prolonged, I am currently thinking of just booking a suitable hotel and charging a minimal entry fee of $10.  I would then place an empty flower vase in an inconspicuous location and hope that there is money inside once the meet ends.  Any lack of funds at that point I would pay for myself.

If anyone has any ideas for an alternate location that meets the following requirements, please let me know, as I am still open to suggestions.

1. Large enough to handle 30 attendees and 20 or so stations containing desktop rigs.

2. Open to members of the trade.

3. Location easily accessible by TTC, with on-site parking as a preference.

4. Cost within $300 including setup fees, taxes and service charges.

As we get closer to the actual meet date, I might ask for some volunteers depending on how this meet shapes up.  My work hours are excessive to the point that I was recently brought under MOL scrutiny, so I do not have much free time to devote to setting up the meet.  Thanks for all the prompt replies by the way.  Fast attendee response is critical in being able to reserve a venue this close to the meet date.

-Jeff

i think although cafe space may be on the small side, it should be sufficient as i dont think everyone will be attending at the same time for the whole duration

also, although the proposed fee is feasible, it may scare off head fiers who are curious about meets and it may their first time

so my vote goes for the cafe, but thank you for all the work you put in so far jeff

I hope you get in touch with HFmember jrprana to see if his cafe is still available and the MOT that can attend will be Charles of Headfoneshop but he will be only available on Sunday i think he will be a great addition on our meet since he has one of the best store in Toronto for Mid-High End Gear 

Would prefer the April date, my birthday is may 4th and mass drinking must occur.

Keeping an eye on this thread :D

All:

I'm only going to write this one more time...  The Saturday May 04 date was chosen based on the survey results of our core meet members.  These are people who have already expressed prior interest, and who have gear to bring to the meet. My first priority has to be in accomodating as many of these members as possible.  Members of the trade are nice to have, but this is not who I am catering this event to.  While it is unfortunate that this date prevents attendance by the Headfoneshop, I am as of this moment locking in the meet date for Saturday May 04, 2013.

Location:  I re-checked the pictures of jrprana's cafe, and I have to agree that it is too small for the meet, espcially with all the chairs taking up space.  While we could probably somehow stuff everyone and all the gear into the cafe, my primary concern was with gear getting inadvertantly damaged.  With 30 excited attendees all moving around trying out gear with headphone cables snaking all around, I kept having visions of gear getting toppled over, or headphones getting snagged and dropping to the floor.  Even a single incident like that could completely put a damper on the whole event.  While I appreciate jrprana's gracious offer, I had to remove the cafe as an option for the meet.  I hope everyone understands.  After mulling this over a bit, and considering everything (subway access, floor space, and secure parking), the location has been finalized at the Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre.  With 104 square meters of floor space, 6 crescent round tables and seating, this location offers enough space to safely fit everyone and all the gear.   The room has 5 outlets.  Subway access is close-by with College Station around three blocks west of the hotel, and I have walked this distance to go to the Magic Lantern Theatre before, so I know it's not too far away.  For those of you driving to the meet, on-site parking is $15 for the duration of the meet, so this is cheaper than green parking, which works out great.

Cost:  Ok, so $10 is too much for some members.  You asked for it, you got it.  Entry is now free.  This does not mean we can have people randomly showing up and leaving.  To keep the location somewhat secure, we will need to have all attendees register beforehand.  Application for bouncers are open starting now.  If anyone has input on how best to do the registration of members as well as gear, I would appreciate a PM with this info.  The only headphone meet I have been to had no real registration from what I remember.

Time: Based off of the survey results, I have set the time for 12:00PM-6:00PM.  People are welcome to show up early to setup and stay late to clean up with no extra charges added by the hotel.

Food and Drink: It comes as no surprise to anyone, but outside food and drink are unfortunately not allowed.  Something likely will have to be setup so we can get refreshments as needed.

This sudden decision to finalize the venue might have come as a surprise for everyone, but due to issues at work, I will no longer be able to put much time into organizing this meet.  I didn't want to be the second one to bail on organizing this meet, so I decided to simply foot the bill for the event myself (not sure what I am thinking since I just totalled my car and have little ready cash in the bank).  This way at least, we can all start planning around the meet, so hopefully most of the initial interested members can attend. 

Regarding registration: Just to make things easier for me, could everyone who can confirm attendance please PM me with this information as well as with their final equipment details?  Also, if anyone can bring large gauge, large length extension cords, please let me know.  Thanks.

-Jeff Trainwreck

Thank you so much Jeff for putting this together!!! PM Sent. My stuff is in my signature and I'll bring 2 heavy duty extension cords and a couple of power bars.

I do not think it's fair for you to foot the bill so I suggest a donation box.  People should donate what they can. I'm in for that. Looking forward to meeting/seeing everyone again on May 4.

Until then, Happy Listening!

M