The last meet I attended at someone's home was at
@lord_tris's place ages ago (and I can never say "thank you" enough for all of the fun times that were had at his place). That was around the time the Blue Mo-Fi came out. After that, there was a meet or two at a community library that I attended. Not sure about anything that occurred in Columbus after that, but since I live in Detroit now it's not as quick a drive to Columbus as it was from Cincinnati, so I don't get the chance to make meets in the area as often.
As for what to consider for a meet, the important things are space, furniture, power and cost. Parking yes, but often times less important. You need enough space for those attending, but you don't want it too big or too small. Too small and people feel cramped, too big and you're probably paying too much for the space. There needs to be ample power connections for desktop gear, laptops, chargers, etc. And of course you need table space and chairs for people to sit and demo the larger stuff. Some meets have an admission cost to cover the room, some do auctions and sell off gear donated by attendees and sometimes the organizer just covers the costs out of pocket. When lord_tris had meets at his place some guys would bring food and drinks (that pizza...) and we'd make an entire day of it, but that's not as easy to pull off at public venues.
