J_B wrote:We have a hold on May 6th, which means rights of first refusal. If someone comes up with a deposit for that day we'll have to decide quickly if we want to keep it or not.
Given that you're booking in wedding/grad <aka Big Days> season, probably not bad to have a plan for how to handle it if someone else is prepared to put a deposit down for that date.
I think that - however slowly - we should start thinking/mulling about the mechanics of getting a deposit in at Wherever, since venues can fill up, especially at popular places like Berghoff's and Millennial Grille (the private rooms, I mean) - though I agree we don't have to decide this week.
I guess I can foresee a slump - reasonable, to be sure - of a few months when many people continue not to know if they are possibles or probables or sures.
If the deposit for where we decide to alight turns out to be $500, and we have eight people to fork over slightly over $60. each to hold it, that's pretty high. If we get up to 14 people that are as sure as they can be, it's more like $35. each, which is what we'd be paying for a meal anyway, and the place would be secured.
One of the virtues of the Millennium Grill is that they can vary where we are situated based on numbers as they change from, say, January to April - whereas a more confined sort of restaurant might have room limitations.
osso, Good point. No need to rush, but hurry up!
Several comments: I think I see a consensus for a brunch/lunch at the Millenium Grill on Saturday, May 6th. I must admit that I only skimmed through how the menus work. I gather we would each be able to choose from a short list. That is fine. The cost per person would be around $35 which seems to work for everyone here, but I would like to be sure that that number is double-checked. I would imagine that, in a couple of months, we will be promoting this event to the rest of A2K. We don't want to surprise anyone with the fine print (plus tax and gratuity, for example). I think this has been taken into account already.
Predicting the numbers of participants is too complex for me. What % of definites and what % of probables will actually show up? And how many more might we get once we start plugging this? I gather from a recent comment from Osso that an advantage of Millenium Park is some flexibility in accomodating a larger number. Did I read that that correctly?
I don't quite see how they can offer that. If we say 20 one day and 100 the next day, for example. But again, I didn't read all of the details that closely.
As for the $$. I doubt, Timber, that Craven would agree to having this be an officially sponsored and administered A2K event. Not his style, but I reckon we could ask him. Johnboy would be happy to front the deposit money if yall think this event is going to indeed happen. Johnboy has an MBA, was a CPA and has 30 years in business. For an example of his attention to detail, check out the NFL thread on A2K (under Sports or look at Johnboy's recent posts). He volunteers to be the bookkeeper and, unless someone else wants to to it, the receiver/disburser of funds. He would want to report to an oversight committee of a couple of people.
And Johnboy promises to stop writing in the 3rd person.
realjohnboy wrote: I would imagine that, in a couple of months, we will be promoting this event to the rest of A2K.
As far as I am aware, every A2K member could take notice of this thread/date if she/he wanted?!
Heh!
I think the oversight committee stuff gets way too complicated and possibly hairy for A2K. I'm not sure what I think the best idea IS, though.
I agree with everyone that sooner is better as a general concept, but I am wary of rushing in where money is involved. As J_B has pointed out, we DO currently have it reserved until someone else asks for it, and then if that happens (someone else wants it) presumably we have some time to figure out whether we want to jump on things or not.
I'd like to get more feedback about what people think of this venue, for one thing. (Thanks to everyone who has spoken up so far.)
Then we can figure out how to work the money situation. It is one of those things that seems simple but has a lot of elements to it. As others have said, I really don't think A2K wants to get involved in that part in any official way. Too many complications and possibilities for things to go wrong. Who's liable? Etc.
J_B, I wonder if you can contact the Millennium Park Grille person for ideas from her? I can do that, too. Perhaps they have some mechanism in place. Something like checks going directly to them until the total is $500, and them keeping track of it.
Point noted, Walter. But how many threads have you never visited? For many folks, this could be one of them. I have many A2K friends, some from the mid-west, who only visit to look at a few of the topics or threads they follow. They never venture out into other places beyond. Nice people; fascinating people to chat with; the kind of people I would enjoy meeting at an event in Chicago. All I was trying to say was that, once we this thing gets organized, we would, I think, want to promote it a bit.
The reason they can do that, RealJohn, is that they have a lot of space options because of the restaurant's rather unique site. Can't remember what page it is on, but when J_B first heard back from them her post on that explained it all. (Heh, it's after page 14 and before page 39...)
I mean, if it is really a question of getting these $500 NOW (or within a shortest time), I would send that sum by Paypal if there's no other way ... (I've my hotel vouchers and flight tickets since week :wink: )
"Oversight" simply means, Soz, that every once in a while, a one page report gets mailed or faxed or emailed to someone else. Nothing more complicated than that. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. I would just be more comfortable knowing, since money is involved, that someone else was also in the loop.
That's kinda the point, though. Why is someone else in the loop?
Money automatically makes things more complicated.
I'd be interested to see if Millenium Park Grille has any suggestions, any way to keep A2K or any single or group of A2K'ers from being responsible.
Meanwhile, I don't think I got in yet that that weekend is Cinco de Mayo -- tons of cool celebrations in Chicago.
In going right to "Who pays for what how", I prolly jumped the gun ... before that becomes an actual factor, we've gotta determine just what it is we're gonna do, and how we're gonna go about promoting it and executing the plan. There's plenty to be nailed down before we get to checkbook time; not much point naming a designated driver and establishing a tour itinerary if neither the car nor the destination have been settled on :wink:
I see some back-peddling going on. Not a good sign for positive thinking.
I dunno as I'd characterize it so much as backpedaling, more like analysis in greater depth. One thing we shouldn't overlook is CdK's take on things - ultimately, this is his football, and how we play with it is pretty much up to him.
e-mail sent with questions I've seen so far:
Quote:Thank you for getting back to me so promptly on our questions. The 'hold' we have on May 6th gives us the right of first refusal prior to having a deposit of $500 to lock the date and time. What turnaround time do you require on a decision if someone else requests the date? At the moment it looks like the group is leaning toward the lunch/brunch time slot but if someone else were to offer a deposit for that date, how fast would you need an answer back from us? Is the two-hour time slot we discussed the minimum amount of time the group would be able to use the space at the prices quoted?
Also, since this is an international group meeting in Chicago, we currently do not have a designated sponsor that is covering the costs. In your e-mail below you mention 'We will charge the card of your choice at the completion of your event.' I read this to be a single card. Do you have events where the cost is split by the participants or do you require a credit card from a single source for the deposit and then one for the balance?
Stay tuned...
Thanks Soz.
ci - I did not ignore your question about acoustics but I thought I could check it out myself by going there for lunch next month (with Soz perhaps) rather than ask the person whose job it is to sell the space. I'm thinking it's going to be fine, but I agree it should be checked out.
realjohn, hidden costs would include beverages as we did not include a beverage package in the estimate.
J-B, You're the best. Some of us old fogies have a hard time hearing in a room full of chatter, and all considerations will be appreciated.
realjohnboy wrote:All I was trying to say was that, once we this thing gets organized, we would, I think, want to promote it a bit.
I like
Walter's solution: add a reference to the get-together in your signature line.
I'm doing that right now. Good promo idea.
