[Lnc-business] Meeting costs

[Wes Benedict]

I used to get free space for LP Texas board meetings that were as big as 
the LNC meetings.  One space we used multiple times was La Palapa 
<http://www.lapalapaaustin.com/pages/index.php> Mexican restaurant in 
Austin, Texas. However, the restaurant did not open until 11:00 on 
Saturday, and it was not close to the airport. That didn't matter 
because most attendees drove from all over Texas. The servers 
interrupted the meeting quite a bit but it was manageable. I scouted out 
the restaurants in advance to make sure we would not be too disturbed by 
the rest of the restaurant patrons. We did have some problems with 
scheduling if I remember correctly.

Had this been a two-day meeting like for the LNC, it would have been a 
pain traveling to and from a hotel in the mornings and evenings, and in 
the middle of the day when necessary.

Many of the things that keep the cost of meetings low, also create 
inconveniences for LNC members flying in and out of town. In any case, a 
few things that help keep the cost of NC meetings low.

* Locate it in the DC area so staff costs are almost zero.
* You could have it at a cheap hotel with meeting space, like a Days Inn 
or Rodeway Inn or some similar low cost hotel, preferably next door to a 
restaurant like Denny's or McDonald's.
* You could hold a meeting at a restaurant that provides free space, but 
you'll probably have to order breakfast, lunch and dinner there, and 
local people would need to do a lot of driving people around.
* Locate the meeting near major airports.

It's safest picking a location that you've had meetings at before. So, 
any LP member could scout their local areas and make specific 
recommendations.

I'm pretty sure I could find a dive motel and restaurant close to the DC 
area if that's what people want. Also, we could hold a cramped meeting 
at LPHQ, but you would probably need to not have any tables in the 
meeting area. You'd need to hold your binders and paperwork in your lap. 
We'll be next door to LPHQ for the next meeting, and can set up the room 
for a trial LNC meeting if you'd like. Maybe at our building grand 
opening we could have a few 5 minute speeches in the basement, have 
everyone sit down there, and see what it's like.


Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc.
*New address: 1444 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314*
(202) 333-0008 ext. 232, wes.benedict at lp.org
facebook.com/libertarians @LPNational
Join the Libertarian Party at: http://lp.org/membership

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://hq.lp.org/pipermail/lnc-business/attachments/20140804/a71dea0f/attachment-0002.html>