February 27, 2015
Dear Everyone:
A few months ago, I got a reply from one of my usual announcement emails
about the upcoming ARMA Dinner Meeting.
“Why only Dinner Meetings?” they asked.
“Why can’t we have some during the day, like at Lunch Time?
Those would be better for us.”
Our previous chapter president, “Callie”, would have shot it down
immediately. After all, the
question has been raised a number of times in the past.
The first problem, of course, is the venue.
As in finding a restaurant that has a separate room that’s
available during the busy lunch period and doesn’t cost anything extra.
And happens to be conveniently located.
Location has always been an important factor.
One reason why we formed a chapter in the “East Bay” (i.e., east
of San Francisco Bay) was because there were so many people who worked
in the City and lived in the East Bay, where it was marginally less
expensive. Staying in
downtown San Francisco until after 9:00 in the evening, for a
traditional Dinner Meeting, and then trudging home got to be a bit much
in a short time.
But meeting in the middle of the day seemed even more difficult.
If you work in
San Francisco, or
Oakland, or
Berkeley, or
Richmond, for that matter, going all the way to
Walnut Creek, or
Concord, or
Dublin, for lunch, then getting back to the office before
closing time turns “lunch” into an
Olympic Event.
Nevertheless, every time we surveyed our members there was always a
percentage who indicated that they would prefer to meet at lunch time.
And now that I’m the chapter president, I decided to give it a
try.
First, the venue. This is
normally the Hospitality Director’s job, to find a location and menu.
But our current Hospitality Director has a long-standing
relationship with the same restaurant in Walnut Creek.
Plus, she works for a living.
In Berkeley.
So I contacted the person who had initially “suggested” a lunch time
meeting. She works at a
facility in Martinez, just where two major freeways intersect.
And they have a large “multi-function room” (MFR), which they
would gladly make available to us.
Also, they frequently arrange for meetings that include food, so
they had a whole list of catering services from which to choose.
So that problem was solved.
We started sending out notices to the “usual suspects” (also known as
“Members and Friends” of the Mt Diablo Chapter) well in advance.
Our scheduled speaker was more than happy to get the whole thing
out of the way before dinner time.
I found a caterer who could put together an “Executive Lunch”
(sandwiches, chips, soft drinks and cookies) for less than $10 per
person and didn’t charge anything extra to deliver.
In fact, they provide food to the facility so often they have a
standing Purchase Order on file.
But I made sure that they would take my credit card so ARMA paid
for the lunches.
In all, about a dozen people came.
Quite honestly, we’ve had dinners with less of a turnout than
that. So we have to consider
the “experiment” a success.
It will be an Agenda Item at the annual Planning Meeting next summer:
Maybe Dinner Meetings half the time and Lunch Meetings the other
half.
After all, a lot of people now live in one suburb and work in another,
all in the East Bay.
Of course, this is assuming that I’ll actually be elected President next
May. Not that I’m expecting
any opposition.
Clearly, the Power is going to my head.
Love, as always,
Pete
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