anyone from SE usa?

[allthatwhichis]

If the Maitland Center is the building I am thinking of; it was recently remodeled... but I am not certain it is the same place.

[buffo]

Don't know if it's the same building you're thinking of or not, Aaron. Here's a link to the website though, if you want to have a look. The "Germaine M. Marvel" building is the one we're looking at. It's supposed to be 2500 square feet. Roughly 35 by 70, they said.

Gary: Yeah, the ceilings are low. That's pretty typical of the venue's we've been able to find in Florida. I think the one in Orlando that we used to use had 9 ft ceilings. However, since we're completely private, the CDRH rules do not apply. It's up to us to keep things safe. Having said that, I will say that I've put a lens on my projector at FLEM's in the past to widen the beam a bit so it's not quite so dangerous.

Anyway, bit of an update on the venue in Maitland...

I called Ana at the art center this morning and got some bad news. They want to charge us extra because we'll be in the building all day. (It seems the $100 price quote from last week was just for the first 4 hours.) She said it would cost a total of $450 to rent it from 9 AM until 10 PM! I was more than a little taken aback at this, and told her so. I explained that we rent out an entire 500 seat auditorium (complete with all amenities and 3 phase power) for a whole weekend when we do SELEM, and that only costs $500! (Granted, this year the price is scheduled to increase, but I didn't tell Ana that...)

I explained to her that at this current price it would actually be cheaper for us to rent a conference room at a regular hotel for the day (and night). She said she would talk to some of the board members and see if they would reduce the rental rate. However, there is still the issue of the fire alarm system to deal with.

The art center board of directors is going to have a meeting tonight, and this will be one of the topics that they will be discussing. If they are willing to rent us the building for a reasonable rate *and* if they will allow fog machines (either by disabling the phone system on the alarm, or by calling ahead to the monitoring company), then we can pursue this venue as an option for FLEM on March 21st.

But I have to be honest: at this point I don't have high hopes that this venue is going to pan out. If they want to charge us more than $200, I think we'd be better off with something else. And if they place undue restrictions on our fog machines, then the gig is off no matter what the price.

Aaron, you said that you had a pal that might have access to a vacant shopping plaza in Eustis... Would you mind checking with him and seeing what that would cost - if anything? Bear in mind that the lights would be off most of the time, so our power usage will be minimal. The only real power we'd be using would be the projectors. (Figure each one is roughly equivalent to a television; not a lot of power draw there.) OK - and the computers, but again, not a big power drain there either.

Main problem with the shopping plaza is the lack of tables and chairs. But we can work around that I think... We'd also need some way to block off the glass windows in the front - both to keep the light level low inside and to prevent stray beams from exiting the building.

If anyone else has ideas for a venue in or near Orlando, please speak up!

Adam

Edit: For what it's worth, there is a Holiday Inn Express in Tavares that will rent us a 24ft x 31 ft conference room for the entire day (9 AM 'till Midnight) for just $125. They are also cool with us covering the smoke detectors in the room with wet towels so the fog machines won't trip the fire alarm. But that's a pretty small room to set up a bunch of projectors in... Still, it's an option.

[daedal]

Don't know if it's the same building you're thinking of or not, Aaron. Here's a link to the website though, if you want to have a look. The "Germaine M. Marvel" building is the one we're looking at. It's supposed to be 2500 square feet. Roughly 35 by 70, they said.

Gary: Yeah, the ceilings are low. That's pretty typical of the venue's we've been able to find in Florida. I think the one in Orlando that we used to use had 9 ft ceilings. However, since we're completely private, the CDRH rules do not apply. It's up to us to keep things safe. Having said that, I will say that I've put a lens on my projector at FLEM's in the past to widen the beam a bit so it's not quite so dangerous.

Anyway, bit of an update on the venue in Maitland...

I called Ana at the art center this morning and got some bad news. They want to charge us extra because we'll be in the building all day. (It seems the $100 price quote from last week was just for the first 4 hours.) She said it would cost a total of $450 to rent it from 9 AM until 10 PM! I was more than a little taken aback at this, and told her so. I explained that we rent out an entire 500 seat auditorium (complete with all amenities and 3 phase power) for a whole weekend when we do SELEM, and that only costs $500! (Granted, this year the price is scheduled to increase, but I didn't tell Ana that...)

I explained to her that at this current price it would actually be cheaper for us to rent a conference room at a regular hotel for the day (and night). She said she would talk to some of the board members and see if they would reduce the rental rate. However, there is still the issue of the fire alarm system to deal with.

The art center board of directors is going to have a meeting tonight, and this will be one of the topics that they will be discussing. If they are willing to rent us the building for a reasonable rate *and* if they will allow fog machines (either by disabling the phone system on the alarm, or by calling ahead to the monitoring company), then we can pursue this venue as an option for FLEM on March 21st.

But I have to be honest: at this point I don't have high hopes that this venue is going to pan out. If they want to charge us more than $200, I think we'd be better off with something else. And if they place undue restrictions on our fog machines, then the gig is off no matter what the price.

Aaron, you said that you had a pal that might have access to a vacant shopping plaza in Eustis... Would you mind checking with him and seeing what that would cost - if anything? Bear in mind that the lights would be off most of the time, so our power usage will be minimal. The only real power we'd be using would be the projectors. (Figure each one is roughly equivalent to a television; not a lot of power draw there.) OK - and the computers, but again, not a big power drain there either.

Main problem with the shopping plaza is the lack of tables and chairs. But we can work around that I think... We'd also need some way to block off the glass windows in the front - both to keep the light level low inside and to prevent stray beams from exiting the building.

If anyone else has ideas for a venue in or near Orlando, please speak up!

Adam

Edit: For what it's worth, there is a Holiday Inn Express in Tavares that will rent us a 24ft x 31 ft conference room for the entire day (9 AM 'till Midnight) for just $125. They are also cool with us covering the smoke detectors in the room with wet towels so the fog machines won't trip the fire alarm. But that's a pretty small room to set up a bunch of projectors in... Still, it's an option.

Adam, again, thank you very much for your effort. It is a true shame that we can't find a place. I had looked at 2 different places so far (restaurants in the area), and both were out of the question.

1) One wanted to cater the 'event' regardless of how much I explained it's probably 10-15 people... obviously catering means enough $$$ to pay for the kitchen to be operational and the staff.

2) The second place wanted to charge $1000 - $1500 depending on how long we use it and how early the next day we return it. (Time you keep it for = time we're not making money)... This is all I could find. Both have reasonable space (comparable to the old FLEM venue) but the prices were outrageous!

Apparently restaurants are frequently converted to parties in O-town... and the going rate takes into account 1000+ paying visitors or so...

I hope this pans out soon... and if there's anything I can help with please let me know.

Regards;
DDL

[buffo]

Thanks for the help Mo!

We're still looking into other ideas. Worst case, there's that hotel conference room in Tavares for $125. But I'd like something larger if possible. (And free would be even better!)

Adam