Having turned up last night, and discussed the events leading to the Deva being shut, I have come up with a couple of things which I believe we should act on. I'm putting them here in case anyone feels they want to disagree with them, as they're strictly my own, home-brewed ideas which I think may work. If I get no objections, I'm going to try to put them into action the next monday we actually get a gaming session in (not bitter at all here...)
1st idea: The manager of Deva should have the numbers of everyone on the committee - he should call Ian, then Tess, then the rest if no responce on the above two, but all numbers should be given so that there is a fall back for the fall back (not that I'm paranoid)
2nd Idea: All members of the committee should have (willing) member's of the clubs mobile numbers, so they can get in touch with people in the event of a closure, as while we were standing outside the Deva, calling people to tell them it was closed, we only had abut 5 other people's numbers... (and only 2 people picked up there phones too...) So if the committee (I'm picking on them as they are nominally at least vaguely responsible - anyone else can also fulfil this position, the idea is to spread numbers around) have everyone's numbers we can easily tell everyone. Or we could make a phone tree (although that involves more organisation).
3rd Idea: We give the manager of the Deva the website address of this forum, so he can go online in the event that the Deva is shut and tell everyone easily. It shouldn't be too difficult for him - it's worth suggesting.
4th Idea: We move venue. This is difficult, as we experienced last time we discussed it, but if we can come up with 3 or 4 suggestions of places I am willing to spend a day visiting them all and finding out if any of them would be suitable. This is because not only are there issues with the Deva being closed occaisionally, but also because since we started paying they promised us better service, which I don't think anyone really feels like were getting. The tables aren't even wiped regularly, it's dingy and gross, and while the toilets have (finally) been renovated, it's hardly nice even now. The only benefit it has is the room is big enough. It owuld be nice if we could find somewhere else (in Chester, so transport doesn't become an issue).
What do people think?
Shell
JimZ
I'm for most of that:
Deva having committee numbers just in case some of them are unreachable is good.
I'm happy having the committee having my number, though having said that, my mobile isnt always on so not always useful for getting in touch with me :S - not so sure about the phone tree idea as it sounds unnecessarily complicated. If some members are against giving their phone numbers out, then they should make sure to check the forums, and hopefully in case there are problems with the Deva it can be posted on here in advance of the event if communications are working.
Nothing against the manager having the forum website, but he/she would probs be happier using phones somehow, as theres a lot of stuff on here that would either be a bit odd for "normal" people or just unnecessary for them to see.
As for moving venue... the deva really is an ideal location of venue, though the venue itself is lacking in some areas. If there is a decent alternative I'm all for it, but I dont think we can really abandon the deva until a suitable alternative is found (size/space, location, cleanliness, regular availability of function rooms, possibly prices of drinks even though thats less crucial)
just my 2p anyhow
dedindahed
Having found out that they did try to contact us I'm not as upset as I was yesterday.
I'm in favour of the Deva getting a bigger list of numbers, though it doesn't need to be the whole committee, 2 is probbably fine (as long as one is a non-larper) 3 would be safe, though more would be ok as long as the deva are ok with it. Another possibility is for more members of the club/committee to get a deva management contact number, a few of us thought about trying to contact them to confirm opening, but had no number to call.
A contact list is worth setting up, though i think e-mail should be the priority
(no cost and easier to mass send) with phone numbers for people who can't or don't checkk e-mail regularly, some kind of phone tree may be worth looking at.
I see no advantage to the deva management posting on the forum over them phoning us and one of us posting, If we do use the forums to rant about the deva, or discuss moving venue we don't really want them visiting.
Finding a new venue I'm ok with if someone can find a suitable place,
I was considering this yesterday, but now I know they did try to contact us I'm not blaming them.
There are areas that could improve (clientele, clean tables etc.) but there are some positives that we may not be able to replace (Proximity to train station, cheap room, lots of space and tables, guarranteed monday slot)
I'm happy for people to make enquiries, but bear in mind a 10 minute walk to the train station will cut 30 mins gaming out of many groups sessions.
Most bars provide a damp cloth on request, and this couls be a neat solution to the tables, actually now wondering why I didn't try this earlier....
Kamikazegerbil
Ideas 1 and 2 seem fine to me. Both work towards avoiding yesterday's events. I can't really see any negatives to these.
The third idea I'm in full agreement with this:
dedindahed wrote:
I see no advantage to the deva management posting on the forum over them phoning us and one of us posting, If we do use the forums to rant about the deva, or discuss moving venue we don't really want them visiting.
I can see how it'd be useful but it has a clear drawback and the cynic in me says they wouldn't bother using it anyway.
As for moving. I'm reluctant seeing as I can't help feeling it will result in endless bickering with nothing achieved other than we spend less time gaming. Yesterday's events are not reason to move as the Deva did what they could. However there are issues.
The lighting is a pain, while we can get around it by moving tables I do feel a bit slighted that we were drawn back with promise of better lighting and if anything it's worse now.
Then there's the tables. To say their a bit sticky is understating it. At the last week of the random shuffle up we had a patch of table so sticky that picking a character sheet of it sounded like peeling apart velcro straps. It also left a horrible brown mark on the paper if I recall correctly. Now were supposed to put our books, card and board games on the same surface. I don't know about anyone else but I'm a little fussy over how well maintained my books are and this possibility bothers me.
Having a cloth to hand is a sort of fix but unless we alsop have a towel it'll leave us with a damp playing surface. And when we're paying for the room having to put that much effort into cleaning the room ourselves seems wrong.
So yeah, the tables. Can we complain about them please. As it is, that aspect is not good enough.
metagaia
I agree mostly with dedindahed. It doesn't need to be the whole commitee, but it is probably best as it almost guarantees that there will be one LARPer and one LARPer on the list.
Giving the manager the forum address is probably unnecessary at best (once one us knows we can post on the forums), destructive at worst (he reads these threads and takes offence to them) and most probably pointless.
With regards to the whole phone numbers issue. While it would be nice to have everyone's number, it strikes me as a little unnecessary. For most people email and the forums will do, as it doesn't make a difference ringing them if they are already on the way. We either have the organisational problem of setting up a phone tree, or we are going to end up with names on our phones that we probably won't recognise. New people turn up at the club semi-regularly, and although I am not the best example, I cannot remember everyone's name off by heart.
As for alternative venue, I'm less keen on it now my anger at the manager has dissipated. There is no harm in looking, but finding a room of the Deva's size, with parking, and close to the centre of Chester for £15 does narrow it down somewhat.
dead
The system as it stands is that the Deva ring me, I then send a text to everyone I have in my phone and post on the forums. The Deva has had 2 issues in the past few months, the break in and yesterday. Both happened to occur on days when I have been on larp events, I have been to two events this year
To fix this we need them to have a phone number for one person who is not away at the time. At the moment this is going to be Tess, providing she agrees.
If you are not willing to give out your number and do not check the forums then you are not going to get the messages. I am not willing or often able to start logging on to the various IM clients that have been suggested to in the club to let people know. I will also be losing internet access in work in the near future so I will not be able to post on here during the day.
As for improvements in the club I can approach the management about lighting but until they are reconnected to the electricity(they are currently using a generator) I doubt we will get anywhere. The table cleaning is a bit easier, just asking for a damp cloth and a clean cloth would work or we could just fork out for a couple of paper table cloths, which will also help if anyone spills a drink on a games table.
If people want to look for a new venue that is fine, it needs:
Free parking
5 minutes walk from public transport, prefarably Chester station
serves drinks
has a room at least as large as the Deva
costs the same or less then the Deva, we might streach to £20 but I wouldnt want to.
Is willing to try and contact me at 8am on a bank holiday
There are issues with the Deva, they are being dealt with albeit quite slowly. The primary issues for a club like this is accessability, people need to be able to get there. The Deva is perfect for this.
Ian
HDimagination
There is no harm in keeping an eye out for an alternative venue, after all, if we can find one that suits the above criteria and provides better lighting and clean tables, then all the better. If not, then no biggie, we keep an eye out for other venues.
The issue that I have is that if they were going to be closed on the bank holiday, then surely they should have known about it in advance? If they had said to us last Monday that they would be closed, then I don’t think any-one would have had a problem with it. That’s by the by though.
I don’t think that the addition of a wet cloth will be sufficient to make the tables clean, as layers of spilt booze are not that easily taken care of and I’m with Kamikazegerbil, in that it should not be our responsibility.
Just my few thoughts. Like I said, I’m not rabidly anti-Deva, but I don’t exactly enjoy it as a venue either.
Tess
The deva is Cold, Dark and Dirty - and is not cheap to make up for these issues.
However it is very convenient in many many ways.
I have spoken with a great place just up the road from the Deva (probably about 5 minutes walk further from the train station) which is 'nice', happy for us to be there for £15 and has the space, I will need to re-check it again for the convenient parking though, as it may turn into parking in the same place and walking up.
There are lots of good aspects of the Deva and I think they do try thier best to keep us happy, they just fail sometimes. This current issue however should not be held against them as they did do everything in thier power (as far as we can tell) to avoid us being disappointed.
I have never been a Deva su8pporter but I am also not gung-ho about telling them we're going elsewhere without it being thought about and worked out properly.
**I am very happy for them to have my number, and I think I have the number for around a third of the members in my phone, all of which I can text for them to text on about any issues, plus writing on the forums.**
The problem with texting everyone is credit but as this kinda thing only happens rarely I don't think it will be much of a problem.
Anyway that was a big rant about how good I am at sitting on the fence.
sorry!
Tess
ian jones
dead wrote:
If people want to look for a new venue that is fine, it needs:
Free parking
5 minutes walk from public transport, prefarably Chester station
serves drinks
has a room at least as large as the Deva
costs the same or less then the Deva, we might streach to £20 but I wouldnt want to.
Is willing to try and contact me at 8am on a bank holiday
Ian
free parking yes.
drinks -yes and snacks!
deva is huge if you include the dance floor and stage probobly get away with half to three quarter size.
costs i agree
"The deva is Cold, Dark and Dirty - and is not cheap to make up for these issues." tess.
i sympathise a bit with the owners as they only took over at christmas and have spent a large percentage of income in an attempt to tidy the place up and get in new customers, they advertise using our room as a party venue and also for caberet so they are aware that it needs more work yet.
the drinks are not really that expensive when you concider a pub prices?
don't forget the club has to be profitable and is not just there as a charity!
i say lets stick where we are , make a list of what is needed and address.
of all the suggestions on here my only bug bear is sticky tables and wonky chairs- 2 very easily fixed problems.
dead
The Deva is huge but it is what we are used to. The town crier was a fair sized room but we were far to close to each other. We need the space to spread out so we are not interupting each others games.
Ian
Tess
Looks like people are generally happy to stay at the Deva then - anyone completely against would have mentioned it on here by now I assume.
Anyone I've not got mobile numbers for please PM me with them (thanks for those who already have)
dead
Include me in the pm as well if I dont have yours.
Ian
metagaia
Right, as Shaphron kindly pointed out on Monday, the responibility for collecting people's numbers probably falls on my shoulders. The idea of implementing idea 2 (gathering everybody's number for contact purposes) seemed to have met no serious opposition; therefore I will be round on Monday gathering up every willing number there is. I am not entirely sure there was concenus past this point, but my instinct would be to PM that list to El Presidente and EL Vico Presidente.
Please let me know if someone serious opposition to this, either on the forums or in person on Monday.
