I vote we change the name of the meetup to "Skeptics in the {any available venue that serves alchohol}"

How about just Auckland Skeptics?

Let's just drink somem ore to become the Auckland slightly pissed skeptics in the pub

ASPs!

If they are not happy with my $30 (2 beers and some food) then they can get stuffed. What does it really cost them for the staff member on the till?? Definately not eh $500 they are going to charge.

Up theirs, and we head off to another venue that is either owned by a Skeptic for Skeptic friendly, or keen to have a bunch of people hang out and drink/eat at their place.

Coffee would be good, but would definately lead to a really late night, at least on my part.

See you on the 6th!

I vote we change the name of the meetup to "Skeptics in the {any available venue that serves alchohol}"

somewhere in CBD or Krd would be great

Except for parking...

Hmmmm. I wonder how much they make from that room on a normal Thursday night?... would another night in the week be more acceptable to them for a lower cost (if any)?

Would they not let us use the room in May to discuss our options, perhaps for a lower charge. ($500 seems o.t.t to me.

Most RSA premises have lots of space, serve meals and drinks and are usually very welcoming. Some might have a corner room suitable for a meeting.

If they are not happy with my $30 (2 beers and some food) then they can get stuffed. What does it really cost them for the staff member on the till?? Definately not eh $500 they are going to charge.

Up theirs,

With all due respect, responding that they can "get stuffed" and "up theirs" to a business that has hosted you is not setting a good example of civilized intelligence and open mindedness which as an atheist/agnostic we pride ourselves on.

It's not just about covering the cost of one person on the till. There are a mulitude of other costs in running a business including the product one is selling, electricity, phone bills, the chef's wage, bouncers' wages health & safety, advertising, accounting fees, public liability insurance, staff holiday pay, lawyer's fees for drawing up contracts etc.

Anyway, hoping we find somewhere...

Just out of interest, I asked the proprietor of KiLaLa in Mission Bay, and found that they do not charge for private functions and it is available. I know that the location isn't central, but at least that indicates that there are likely to be more outfits that would also be happy to host us.

Perhaps we could actually ask a few more proprietors and get a list of possible venues. As I said before, I can organize AV stuff like projectors etc.

I also agree with Madeleine's sentiments, lets cut the 'stuff them', or even the 'skeptic freindly/unfriendly' sentiments. I know that it's disappointing to lose a venue, but I don't think it has anything to do with who we are as such, my geuss is that the business decided that it wasn't worth the effort after we stopped buying the food as part of the deal.

John

With all due respect, responding that they can "get stuffed" and "up theirs" to a business that has hosted you is not setting a good example of civilized intelligence and open mindedness which as an atheist/agnostic we pride ourselves on.

It's not just about covering the cost of one person on the till. There are a mulitude of other costs in running a business including the product one is selling, electricity, phone bills, the chef's wage, bouncers' wages health & safety, advertising, accounting fees, public liability insurance, staff holiday pay, lawyer's fees for drawing up contracts etc.

Anyway, hoping we find somewhere...

I agree. We should be grateful that they did host us, and I agree we didn't spend much at the bar and that there are lots of costs associated beyond just having somebody serving.

We do now have a potential venue for May which I'm going to check out early this week.

However, I think it would be a good idea to have a list of potential venues which are free and prepared to host us. Can we distribute this task amongst us?