Hummm . . . :-k
OK, lets get this conversation back on track. I started it out in the wrong direction.
I'm not really that concerned about our core group of active members! I know all of you will be there no matter how bad the food and service gets and when it's too much, you'll just stop and get a bag Krystals on the way, or wait and eat when you get home. We can depend on y'all to be there through thick and thin. Since the beginning, y'all have proven that. There are VERY FEW organizations like ours that have held together more than a couple of years, and we are working on 8 years. I have no doubt that we'll still be around in another 8 years. With that said . . .
What I'm really looking for is not what everyone's gripes about the Country Place are . . . I've been there every time. I know.
I know what the gripes were at Shoney's and Wally's before that as well. I will talk with the manager at the Country Place before our next meeting and see if they are willing to work with us to resolve some of our issues.
Like Anthony said, there is no "perfect" meeting place. The gripes and complaints we had with Wally's were basically the same ones we had at Shoney's and now Country Place (although Shoney's was by far the worst of the three) . . . the gripes are mostly based on the quality of the food, the price and the service.
What I really want to know is first and formost . . . is it bad enough that we MUST change locations? If not, fine. If so, let's not rush to go back to a place we've already voted to leave until we've all put our heads together and come up with a "closer to perfect" solution to our problem.
I've worked on a few "Rapid Improvement" teams at work. The team is given a specific area to improve . . . it may be anything from reducing waste or downtime on a particular machine, improving flow of material through a process, or even things like streamlining the process of hiring and training a new teammate. The first step the team does is sit down a group and come up with the "Perfect State." If the time, money, and work needed to get us there didn't matter, what would the perfect state of this process be? Everyone has to voice his or her opinion and everyone's opinion has to be treated with respect. As a TEAM, the team has to write up the Perfect State. Once that's down on paper, they look at the "Current State." While we will probably never achieve the Perfect State, if we know what the Perfect State is and we know where we are today, only then can we begin our journey towards that Perfect State.
So for now, rather than worrying about whether or not we need to move, let's put together a "Perfect State" for our meeting. Whatever that Perfect State turns out to be and whatever direction we take to get there, let's do it as a TEAM. PLEASE!
I'll throw out some questions to get us started . . .
We currently meet on Monday evenings. Is there a better day and time?
Since May of 2000 we have met in a restaurant. Do we have to meet in a restaurant? If we don't meet at a restaurant, does food have to be served?
If you were a first time visitor to one of our meetings, what would you want to get out of it? What would make you want to come back? How can we best address those issues?
As a long time member, what do you really want to get out of the meetings? How can we best address those issues?
8-[ I guess what I'm trying to say is, let's not pull up anchor and run back to the "lesser of the evils" only to be having this same conversation a few months down the road. If we do need to move, let's work as a team and find the time, place, and format that best suits our needs. That may end up being staying where we are . . . it may be moving back to Wally's . . . but I really don't think it'll end up being either one of them!
So there's our challenge. Over the next week, everyone post their idea of a "perfect" meeting (time, place, format etc.). We'll work together from there. :wink:
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