Event:2015/07/18 Commons Working Group

Omni Commons Working Group July 18, 2015

Attendees

• Ben, Barret, Sarah P, Laura, Julio (remote) & Jenny (remote)

Agenda

• Commons working group check-in
• Follow up of last week's discussion
• Going over this week's events
• train event volunteers in crowd management for fire safety/evacuation

Follow-up of last week's Discussion

• Ben's reserach on other venues:
  • Humanist Hall - 300-900/event, half the size of the ballroom
  • Vessel - $2400/4hours weekend and $1700/4 hours weekday

Discussion

• Proposal regarding alcohol at events:
  • Unless it's a completely private event with no alcohol sales, alcohol will not be allowed at future events until we decide to reevaluate this policy.
  • A private event is defined as any event that is by invitation only (no one off the street is allowed).

• how to regulate the volume of events every month?
  • Sarah: tension between hosting events that are cool and we want to support and making money off of events. Our own desire to support events must be balanced with self-care. Otherwise, it's easy for miscommunication to occur because we're overloaded.
  • sarah: idea to have 1 day per month at which we evaluate all the events we will have for the next month and that will be the deadline for event requests.
  • ben: what about events requested for 3 months in advance? I think people need to take on load of PP that they are comfortable with, a number that is different for each person, and limit themselves from doing too much. Don't feel obligated to cover all the event requests we get. We can let the community know that events won't happen if we don't have more participation from other members of the community
  • Barrett: all requested events could be discussed but that date would be the deadline for the following month.
  • HOw would this make things easier?
  • Sarah: Reduced number of events per month would allow point people to be more intentional and clear with the people who are hosting events at the Omni about what to expect. It could result in fewer unmet expectations and more intentional relationship-building with groups who host events in the space. Also, reduced burnout and resentment among members of the commons working group.
  • Sarah: Also, events are a great opportunity to build relatioships with community and other groups. We've missed that opportunity becasue people are overloaded and they aren't able to be as intentional towards this. MIght be better to be more purposeful about this rather than foucsing on money, although i think we should make money.
  • easier for pp to keep track of how many events they are takng on each month
  • LAura - maybe fewer commons mtgs needed
  • waht could be more difficult or what probs might we anticiapte?
  • Barrett: more controvery over choosing which events to host
  • Laura: Disappointment from community members who aren't able to host events at the Omni. It will take a while to get used to this change of prcedure.
  • Ben: I want to see events make more money but we aren't successfull either at making moeny or building relationships.
  • Laura: We could come up with a set of criteria for considering each event - including if the event will help us build a relationship with an ally organization, whether it will have a significant impact on our monthly finances, and the labor required to host the event. If the commons WG limits what we are covering, collectives may step up. Suggested limits
  • Laura: How do we deal wiith last minute "emergency" requests for space? Be very strict about criteria esp workload assessment
  • Laura: Monthly check-ins with point people to see where they're at and how much they can realistically take on.
  • How to implement: announce this for September with a deadline of 8/8; discuss, new language on /occupy and wiki, and on calendar heading
    • Count events for each pp in Sept already scheduled
    • Sarah: Intentionally seek out and invite groups that we want to build relationships with, both groups that we are politically aligned with and individuals and organizations that can bring in the $$.
• Laura: Criteria for deciding which events to host:
  • Suggested limit of no more than 4 events per person per month (i.e., each point person can only sign up for max 4 events per month)
  • Financial considerations: $/general size of room, amount of labor involved, impact on monthly income,
  • Labor: Size and complexity of the event, time occuping space including set-up
  • Relationships: Is the event organizer and/or group one that the Omni wants to build a long-term relationship with?
  • Political alignment: Are they in line with OMNI mission?
    • Barrett & Laura: We Treescould develop a 1 - 10 scale (or something like that) for each criteria that each member of the commons working group could vote on in our meeting. This would decrease the potential for conflicts over which events to host. Each event would have a rank for its financial contribution, labor required, and potential for relationship building.

Tasks

• Laura: change website, wiki, etc
• Sarah: write and send announcement
• Ben: make list of who is pp for event in sept
• BArret: draft criteria scale and form, review next week

Pending events

• Heart of Community Dinner - monthly dinner in La Commune, Sarah has spoken to them, willing to pp, will connect to FNB and Phat Beets. Needs work before publishing
• Feminist Brunch -Yar pp, not happening
• Restorative yoga with props and massage - Jenny emailed, no response
• Solidarity cafe for Malcolm -7/26 Yar pp
• Hosting Dr. Shaker - SP to follow up
• DxE Meetup - Matt Senate
• Youth Pickle - Julio - (can't) need sonmeone else to take over? -Jenny: Max is down to pp his own event, will ask what help he needs from us
• Mindfulness and social change - Ben
• Ligure Club meeting - Laura
• Benefit for the Free Speech Stage in People's Park - update from Noemie? Laura is concerned about whether this event will be wrothwhile in terms of actually raisng money. Will it be well organized? Will FNB provide all the labor?
• HOward Zinn pre event concert 11/14
• vegan party fundrasier 2/6 - laura will get more information
• ? follow-up with Dragon on doing massage here - jenny has, he's added omni and john givens to his insurance. need to follow up about waiver of subrogation
• Takun Takun - noemie pp

Other events

• Bicycle Music Festival- Jake will pp. Ben will email him and ask for updates