Newsletter of the East Bay Chapter of STC
March/April 2004

Chapter Activities: Meeting Location Update

by Hillary Russak
EBSTC V.P. of Arrangements

Mission

The mission of the East Bay Chapter is to provide a forum for members to network, build professional skills, and stay current in the field of technical communication.

Meeting Location Update

You may recall that our chapter has been seeking a less expensive location than Crow Canyon Country Club (CCCC) for our monthly program meetings. This article updates you on our progress.

We had a few suggestions from our online contest; however, none of the suggested locations met our requirements, so we continue to meet at CCCC for now (and we’ve developed a new appreciation of CCCC’s flexibility, cost, and other fine offerings).

In general, we need a quiet, private room located in the San Ramon/Pleasanton area and suitable for socializing, eating, and hosting presentations. The room must seat at least 30 for dinner with coffee, tea, and dessert for about $16 to $20 per person (this is the amount most people said they would prefer to pay in our member survey). If you have suggestions, please contact me.

This table presents the options we investigated and the results:

Option	Result and Details
Tony Roma's, Danville	Many negative comments about this place, although it was submitted by two people who love it
Brass Door, San Ramon	Conference room holds only 20; dinner/drinks are a la carte from the menu (cost is $8 to $25+)
Max's, San Ramon	Must have 25 minimum guaranteed attendees; cost is $29 per person
Mudd's, San Ramon	Lovely looking web site, but cost is $35 per person
PG&E, San Ramon	Cost is $29 to $37 and requires a minimum guarantee of 25 people. (Does not allow room rental and bringing in catered food.)
Marriott, San Ramon	Cost is $26.95 to $32.95 per person, plus a room rate of $175 (if we guarantee 15 meals; if we guarantee more meals, the room rate could go down); meeting would have to start at 6:00 or 6:30 (instead of 5:30). Pros: Can contract for individual meetings, good location, bar service
Marriott Courtyard, San Ramon	Does not offer meal service
Hilton Hotel, Pleasanton	Cost is about $20 if we guarantee 20 meals; rises to $29.95 otherwise; must sign a contract for 10 meetings. Pros: Can start meetings at 5:30, good location, bar service
University of San Francisco, San Ramon	Rent classrooms during the daytime only
O'Kane's Irish Pub and Grill, San Ramon	Late entry; not fully investigated yet. Much more casual, noisy atmosphere than CCCC. No projection screen.

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