Public meeting places

[apawllo]

I'm trying to set up a meeting for unemployed and underemployed workers in my city and it's proving to be more difficult than I had expected. Part of this is probably because I don't have much experience in this area, so I'm coming here for some ideas.

The main roadblock right now is that I can't seem to find a meeting place. I've contacted a couple of colleges in the area and they charge fees; the lowest of which would cost me $200 to rent a room at the community college for a couple hours. I also contacted the convention center and the prices there are absurd as was expected.

Any suggestions on where to go from here?

[Red And Black Sabot]

Have you tried any union halls or progressive churches?
Public libraries also sometimes have rooms you can reserve for free.

[Rooster]

Some bars have free function hire too.

[Quail]

I'd check with pubs or maybe "ethical" cafes. The only issue with pubs is that not all of them are child friendly, which quite often stops me from going to meetings.

[Skammunist]

First of all, good for you for trying to organizing something like this. I'm trying to organize at my high school also. I'm going to be using my teacher's class room for socialist club.

There's an antiwar group around here in Florida that meets at one of the members' houses. They have also met at a local Starbucks. Have you considered meeting at a casual, public restaurant? How about a park? There is no reason you should have to pay money to have a meeting with other people.:D

[Q]

How big do the rooms have to be? Getting a room for up to 30 people for free is doable, if you know the territory. Above that and you'll need to start raising money somehow and rent a room.

In the beginning your group will most likely be small anyway, and while it is you can network as more people will probably know of better locations. Networking also helps in getting bigger rooms for free. For example, college students don't have to pay money if they reserve a room.

[jake williams]

Have you tried any union halls or progressive churches?
Public libraries also sometimes have rooms you can reserve for free.
Unions in particular (and to a lesser extent other organizations) have an advantage in that they might be willing to provide additional financial and organizational support. There could also be a benefit if you can kick them in the ass to do something for unemployed/unorganized workers. I'd strongly recommend you do what you can to get in touch with good/relevant unions.

Do you have any contacts? Are there any very politically active unions in your town?

[apawllo]

Alright, well, a few things:

I don't have any idea about the number of people. I've been thinking about it and don't feel like there's really any way to guess. The labor bureau recognizes close to 50,000 unemployed within the city limits, not including suburbs or underemployed. So, to answer the question, I guess I feel like I need to be prepared for a lot of people just in case...

As far as unions are concerned I do have some contacts with the AFL-CIO which happens to be attempting to organize unemployed workers right now in other states, however I'm not sure what their plans are, and considering the "middle class" rhetoric that they and most other unions use I don't really trust them with issues like this. More than likely they'll just gather the unemployed and march them up and down city streets, put them on the news, and more or less use them as political pawns in an attempt to pass some "job creation" bill. Of course none of this solves our problems.

Ideally, what I'd like to do is gather workers so that we can solve our own problems, rather than have someone tell us how to do so. One thing that I plan to encourage is mutual aid.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming. I will try some more of these places.

The point about the place being child friendly is a good one as well. I'd like to get as many people access as possible. I've been thinking about the location, as well as time, and timing with the bus schedule. Anything else I should consider?

[Q]

I don't have any idea about the number of people. I've been thinking about it and don't feel like there's really any way to guess. The labor bureau recognizes close to 50,000 unemployed within the city limits, not including suburbs or underemployed. So, to answer the question, I guess I feel like I need to be prepared for a lot of people just in case...

If you're really starting from scratch, don't think too big.

My union branch, which has about 800 members, organised an info meeting on pensions, a hot topic here in the Netherlands as I can imagine elsewhere. Every branch member got a personal letter, yet still only 1 signed up for the meeting.

Moral of the story: Don't waste your money booking any big conference room just yet.