Retrospective of Winter CPQM January 2012 in Santa Rosa [rev 3] from Jim Avera. --- WHAT WORKED --- Started light-duty planning a year in advance. Created clear, written job descriptions, with each job of moderate size (most jobs involved less than 2 hours work. 15+ jobs altogether). Asked for volunteers starting about a month before (RFFM & Appleseed). Made hosting CPQM be a high priority for RFFM Committees were asked to avoid activities which might drain energy away from CPQM. Periodically reported at M4B. Emphasized that we were hosts and had an opportunity to be of service to the wider Quaker community. Also emphasized that we were responsible for physical arrangements, but not any program content (this may have reduced anxiety). Gave a deposit check to the church to unambiguously secure the reservation. Rented chairs & tables and had the vendor deliver and retrieve afterwards. Buying lunch with delivery. We did not make lunch ourselves. Having a dedicated overnight housing coordinator (Harriet Lewis). --- WHAT WE WOULD IMPROVE IF DOING IT AGAIN --- LUNCH VENDOR: Work out in advance exactly how they will be paid and who will deliver payment. Keep better track of exactly how many lunches were delivered. More clearly discuss with the vendor that they should expect a call Saturday morning to increase the count (based on actual registration). Add shredded cheese to burrito "toppings" selection. SNACKS: Get a little more sweet snacks (muffins etc.) and fruit, so the supply lasts through lunch and beyond. Teens typically want to take left-overs for their breakfast Sunday morning at RFFM. COFFEE: Buy *three lbs each* of decaf. & regular fair-trade coffee, either from a Friendly fair-trade vendor such as Lucia Van Diepen or from Pete's. (We bought Costco coffee, unlikely to be fair-traded, and got two 2.5-lb bags each of decaf & regular. We had a full bag of each left over.) FH GUEST ROOMS: Have a clear system in place to collect the fee for staying in FH guest rooms (to be forwarded to the resident who reserved the rooms). COFFEE POTS: Physically check coffee makers in advance to be sure they all have "innards" and can brew coffee, not just hot water. Mark pots borrowed from RFFM so they won't get mixed up with others. RFFM SPACE USE: Consult with Resident Friend about planned uses, especially any overnights (e.g. for teens) before sending info to others; work out time-lines and usage details. CHAIR/TABLE RENTAL: Ensure that rental vendor understands that they must pick up their stuff Saturday at the scheduled time (e.g. 4:30 pm). Get the cell (or home) number of the pick-up driver. W-S groups in apartments: Give count to host or convener, so they can tell if "extras" show up. At least one group did not have enough seats. CPQM'S PA SYSTEM: If using CPQM's system, provide a check-list of all the components in advance to the person bringing it from Grass Valley (mics & cables were left at home this time, but it was not a problem because the Church's PA worked well enough.) TRASH: Bring several large trash bags, and "hoops" or barrels if available. ---------- DETAILS OF WHAT WE DID --------------------------------- Site: Rented Family Bible Church for $500 697 Benicia Dr (across from Friends House). Phone: (707) 539-1958 [forwards to pastor] Pastor Rogers' cell: 291-4399. Wife is named Ruth. [As of Oct 20, 2014 neither number was working] Set up 4-7 PM on Friday. Cleaned up before leaving Saturday. We used the rooms in main building + 2 upstairs rooms in gym building (but not the gym itself). Portables in rear, chidrens playground, and picnic tables (everything behind the 4' fence) were -not- available. PLENARY: Used sanctuary. Clerk's tables set up on floor level. Fluorescent lights buzzed very annoyingly, but were tolerable. Church's PA system worked well (1 wireless + 2 good wired mics). DISPLAY TABLES: In hallway next to sanctuary and in lobby. We moved some lobby furniture to a storage room to make way for tables. The bookstore run by Tom & Sandy Farley was put in FH Lobby (using 3 tables provided by FH). LUNCH: In the church dining room. Max capacity ~100, but it was not a problem even with 140+ registered because people flowed in and out. The Faith Cafe (cap. 20-25) was intended for overflow but not needed. Some outside seating on benches along the back wall outside dining room. Family Bible Church does not have plates & silverware etc. so we used disposables. (more lunch details below) CHILD-CARE: In church child-care room. I think it worked well. MIDDLE-SCHOOL: In "Jr. Church" room, across hall from child-care room. (they could have split into two groups, the older in Faith Cafe, but didn't) TEENS: Used 2 rooms upstairs in gym building (NO elevator!) INTEREST GROUPS: Used Faith Cafe, Sanctuary, and FH Library, plus a walking tour of FH. FH Commons areas & Arts&Crafts rooms were available but not needed. WORSHIP SHARING: In FH private apartments + other spaces. Very nice. Paul Harris contacted every FH resident who is a Quaker to solicit hosts. The count-off procedure was complex because of different capacities of various spaces and that teens wanted to be in groups of 3 in mixed w-s. FRIENDS HOUSE PROMOTION: W-S groups were held in private apartments, and guided tours were offered during lunch and during Interest Groups by Paddy Coreris (FH Development Director). Speaking of Paddy Coreris, she was extremely supportive and helped us recover from a "coffee emergency" by enlisting help from FH kitchen. (pcoreris@friendshouse.org 573-4508) Liability Insurance (evidence of insurance was requested by FBC) CPQM now carries a policy covering all scheduled gatherings. Bob Runyon emailed a PDF with policy docs, one page of which was the 'Declarations' page (we printed that page and gave it to FBC). CHAIR & TABLE RENTAL: We used Santa Rosa Party Rental, but would try another vendor next time because their delivery was early & pick-up was days late. Jim A. priced several vendors and all were similar. In late 2011: $1/chair, $8/table, ~$8.50/tablecloth, ~$50 charge for deliv+pickup. We rented 50 chairs, 3 6' tables, and 3 8' tables, and borrowed 4 more 6' tables (from Jim & Barbara). All were used. Note: We considered borrowing chairs etc. from FH or elsewhere (as had been done before), but transporting back & forth sounded like a difficult job and there were no obvious volunteers to do it. Paying to rent and have the stuff delivered (amounting to $1.20 per person) avoided a potential headache. LUNCH DETAILS: We had Vegan burritos (beans, rice, and vegetables) with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole on the side. Also salad. We ordered 100 regular burritos and 20 gluten-free versions made with rice-paper. Almost everyone seemed to like the food. The vendor was an informal business run by someone Barbara Flynn knows personally through the Graton Day Labor Center. Barbara worked with the vendor to develop the gluten-free rice-paper "burrito". We intended to order 100 servings in advance and call Saturday morning after registration to increase the count if necessary. However due to communication glitches we ended up buying extras from a nearby taqueria which provided very fast service (20 minutes for 20 burritos) at similar cost. In retrospect it might have been easier to order it all from the professional taqueria, but we would not have helped out a family who needed the income and would not have had the gluten-free rice-paper versions. Lunch cost was $7 + cost of drinks (paid by CPQM out of registration fees). (END)