Shaphron
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Change of feeDue to having a large amount of money in the kitty, I am going to be lowering the price of membership to 50p a week. This is not likely to be permanent, but having the occaisional free week wont actually make much difference to the amount of money we have, so instead I'm just going to lower the price. That way everyone benefits, and it is likely to last quite a while, but it wont be a shock when it does (probably) go back up to £1.
Hope no-one minds that I'm deciding this without a vote. If anyone feels like we ought to have a vote instead please say so.
Shell
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paz
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I agree that this is the best thing to do.
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Teflon Billy
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Sounds good to me.
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Tess
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I really can't see anyone saying
"ooh! ooh! I want to pay more than necessary!"
When are we starting this?
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Gileh
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Yey!
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Mingan
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Just out of curosity, if the club is sustainably getting a few more quid in than it absolutely needs, would it make sense to change the venue for something a tiny bit nicer?
Yes, I know the Deva will refurbish, but I have been building for many many years, and the money they need to put in to sort themselves out is not inconsiderable. They are simply not generating enough to make it viable. They are either sitting on some capital, or they will only do a token amount of work.
In any case, more pleasant surroundings may be, well, you know, more pleasant 
Just an idea.
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metagaia
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| Mingan wrote: | Just out of curosity, if the club is sustainably getting a few more quid in than it absolutely needs, would it make sense to change the venue for something a tiny bit nicer?
Yes, I know the Deva will refurbish, but I have been building for many many years, and the money they need to put in to sort themselves out is not inconsiderate. They are simply not generating enough to make it viable. They are either sitting on some capital, or they will only do a token amount of work.
In any case, more pleasant surroundings may be, well, you know, more pleasant
Just an idea. |
Mmm, I think we could find somewhere a little pricier, but not too much. 
While we have quite a lot of reserve income now (over £200 I believe, Shaphron will have a more accurate figure), that may fall if we choose a more expensive place. We either then raise the weekly fee, or we are then forced to look to somewhere cheaper, we may find the Deva has then been booked in the interim. I appreciate it is not a likely scenario, but the probability is not exactly zero.
I would estimate that £20 is the upper limit of something we can sustain for the foreseeable future. Anymore than that though, and we may have to tolarate some dilapidation for the moment. 
EDIT: Oh, yes, no problem with the 50p pricing. Does the treasure chest hold enough change for such a transition?
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dead
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| metagaia wrote: | | EDIT: Oh, yes, no problem with the 50p pricing. Does the treasure chest hold enough change for such a transition? |
This has already been considered, yes it will but bring your 50p anyway.
I did consider the potential to move, the club probably averages 20-25 odd members each night with some much better and occasionally somewhat less. However the room we used on Monday is usually £8 an hour so for 6 -11 we would need £40, we could potentially get it for a better deal as we did this week we would have to negotiate seriously with the management.
The Deva has made changes, is continuing to make changes(it will be closed for 2 weeks in the next month or two for rennovation) and from what I can see is slowly improving. The room is also bigger and while we coped this week I think on a busy night it will be somewhat cramped.
Ian
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Mingan
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Fair enough, my suggestion was based on the assumption that the club could sustainably spend a bit more in the long run, not on the concept of frittering away the cash reserves in a few weeks:) Also 40 a pop does sound excessive, I agree.
While I wasn't referring to last Monday's alternative specifically, and it may or may not be suitable, I would be very surprised if any such place was not willing to slash its prices to consistently get 20-30 thirsty people in on what is a very slow day every week without fail. Especially during these times!
Having said that, I am not local to Chester, so have no idea what, if any alternatives exist. Neither do I really know how the club is set cash reserve and income-wise. So my opinions are hugely unqualified:)
As for the Deva, don't hold your breath. If they had the money, they would be running a slicker operation. If they had the will, they would have tried to make our experience more pleasant in many small, practically free, ways while they were waiting to refurbish. They may also have tried to avoid screwing us over as they did this Monday.
If I turn out to be wrong and they actualy do refurbish to an acceptable standard, I give it 2-3 weeks before we hear that the room now costs a bit more:)
In any case, most of these are idle musings, so please take them as such
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HDimagination
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| Mingan wrote: | Just out of curosity, if the club is sustainably getting a few more quid in than it absolutely needs, would it make sense to change the venue for something a tiny bit nicer?
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Is that the sound of a can of worms being opened?
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dead
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Did you think the place on monday was big enough?
It was a quiet night and we struggled with the tables and the noise level was definatly higher. If we had 30 odd in there we would not have enougth tables, the remainder were not big enougth and it would have been too loud.
Town Crier
Pros
Drinks
Food
Cheap room (as cheap as the Deva anyway)
Close to the station (closer than the Deva)
Cons
Room far too small
Noise
St Werburgh's Parish Centre
Pros
Clean Tables
Better customers
Nicer Beer
Cons
More expensive
No parking
Small tables
Smaller
Harder to find/access for new members (I found it harder anyway!)
Deva
Pros
Big Tables
Big room
Cheap
We have history/the managers ear
Easy to find for new people
Close to train station
Cons
Dirty tables
"Interesting Customers"
Lighting(although that appears to have been fixed)
Substandard toilets (e.g. still no hand driers)
Despite complaints the drinks were the same/similar price at both venues. If anyone can find somewhere as big as the Deva with parking, proximity to the train station with big tables etc etc then let me know, I have looked and the only place that ever comes up is the Churchy place.
The Deva have improved since 12 months ago, the last manager left them in debt with no cash reserves and the place in a shambles. They cant do everything over night as they have to build cash reserves, we have seen improvements in the toilets and now the lighting, they are closing for refurbishment for 2 weeks. The manager has been very open with me about what is going on and he was not happy at all with the situation last monday. He was also extremly P****d at the drinks situation last week, that will have cost him a lot of money.
Ian
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paz
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I hope you don't mind Ian, I edited the place names in your post for clarity...
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dead
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Thats fine, I couldnt look them up as Im in work
Ian
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paz
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Some to add:
Town Crier
Pros
Cheap room (as cheap as the Deva anyway)
Close to the station (closer than the Deva)
St Werburgh's Parish Centre
Cons
Harder to find/access for new members (I found it harder anyway!)
Deva
Cons
Substandard toilets (e.g. still no hand driers)
I think either the Town Crier or the SWPC make adequate substitutes for the Deva for the odd week, but the Deva still has compelling advantages.
I think we're best off going to the Deva manager with a clear, short list of what we want putting right as a matter of urgency (if we haven't already), e.g. tables cleaned routinely, towels available, adequate lighting in the room (and access corridor).
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Haskeer
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im not sure about changing the fee. Can we have a meeting to discuss it. I vote for the meeting to be held in three weeks time. If you want we could have a meeting on monday to discuss when the proper meeting should be held. Agreed?
deva
Pro
Its home!
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Kamikazegerbil
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| Haskeer wrote: | im not sure about changing the fee. Can we have a meeting to discuss it. I vote for the meeting to be held in three weeks time. If you want we could have a meeting on monday to discuss when the proper meeting should be held. Agreed?
deva
Pro
Its home! |
In that case you need to fill out form 27x. To get form 27x you need to fill out forms 48b, 38i and 17g as well as present 2 valid forms of id. Once you've provided a completed copy of 27x, form 56h will be sent to you in the post with further instructions that must be destroyed once read.
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paz
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You mean a 17(G), not a 17g.
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Haskeer
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that made me laugh that did!
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dedindahed
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Just last week, I changed a drawing for a part that had been sitting on a shelf since February, because it said 16H instead of 16h....
And I'm for staying at the deva.
Last time i was there (3 weeks ago) they were wiping down the tables at 6 ish
I wouldn't be opposed to the werbergh club, but the size of venue and tables at the deva takes it, and to move we'd need to be assured of a long term reduced rate and a guaranteed slot every monday.
We definately can't make any decision until AFTER the upcoming deva refurb.
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metagaia
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| dedindahed wrote: | Just last week, I changed a drawing for a part that had been sitting on a shelf since February, because it said 16H instead of 16h....
And I'm for staying at the deva.
Last time i was there (3 weeks ago) they were wiping down the tables at 6 ish
I wouldn't be opposed to the werbergh club, but the size of venue and tables at the deva takes it, and to move we'd need to be assured of a long term reduced rate and a guaranteed slot every monday.
We definately can't make any decision until AFTER the upcoming deva refurb. |
I agree that it would be better to hold the meeting about where to hold the club on a long term basis after the refubishment. Since then we can see if what we were promised has actually been delivered. However, formally or informally, we do need to decide where we are going to hold the club during the refurbishment. I am more than ready to get my minuting pen out for the first time if we need a meeting for this. 
Would the saint's club do the same price for a 'two-off'? If not I feel we would be forced to take the crier unless someone has a flash of genius.
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dead
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We cant decide where to hold the club until we know the dates when we need to move it. The manager wasnt sure of them last week, best he could give me was next month or two.
Ian
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