The recent where to meet discussions

[Sean 'Shaleh' Perry]

Recently there has been discussion over where to meet and where to eat.  Let's
look at the issues that must be considered.

1) we have people with dietary requirements.
   
   Some of our group are vegetarian (either by health, religion, or moral
   belief).  Meeting at places that do not cater to these people would be a
   shame.  Tihs immediately rules out places like steak houses, bbq joints, etc.
   When Biella is in town she can not eat anything wheat, I believe there are
   one or two others in a similar boat.  I am not saying we should make special
   care for one person.  I am just saying dietary issues are key.

2) the bay area is a big place

   Not everyone drives.  Not everyone wants to.  Some of our group likes SF and
   just won't leave it.  Same goes for the San Jose crowd.  Forcing a meeting
   to be held in only one locale immediately reduces the number of attendeees. 
   As Rick said, ask the people in San Jose if they want to meet in San Jose and
   you are skewing the statistics.  This is why BAD moves.

3) not all of the people who want to attend BAD are >= 21

   We do have high school students and young college attendees.  Meeting in a
   place that is not youth friendly is thus a bad idea.  Unless of course we
   know that the group will not contain youths that month.

4) this is about fun and the joy of talking to someone else who uses Debian

   Trying to make this into work or routine is against the idea of BAD.  It is
   supposed to be about a few of us chatting about whatever it is we happen to
   care about that month.  If someone wants to setup a speaking arrangement I
   doubt most of us will mind.  However discussion of beginning user topics will
   likely empty the room or more likely just stop people from coming.

Hope that helps give a base to start a conversation.