So, with 12-15 people interested I was thinking that Robot Speaks might not be the ideal venue given the small size and other factors (I don't think that he had a very good relationship with the Elektron distributor...). I know two other people who don't read/post here regularly who would probably come too.
Anyway, one possibility is that the Guitar Center in Emeryville has rehearsal rooms and they're not very expensive, like large rooms start at $36 for a 2 hour rental, and they have a PA as well as drum kits, amps, mics and so on (sampling session anyone?!), as well as free room recording for any jam sessions. So if a bunch of us threw in $5 each, we could have the place for a long afternoon, and after that there's bars and places to eat within walking distance.
There's also plenty of parking around there, and for those who take public transport there's a free shuttle buss that runs from the Macarthur BART station about every 15 minutes and takes only about 10 minutes. So I'm going to go check it out tomorrow and if they're not lying about the room being a decent size I could just book it with my credit card during the week. My only sticking point (and it's not a very big one) is that I don't think the rooms come with a table so it might mean balancing your box in your lap or setting up on the floor. I think it's OK to bring in bottled water or whatever as long as the room doesn't get trashed, I'll check.
Does this sound like a good idea? I'm not the biggest fan of Guitar Center but this seems like an easy way for people to do some performance/ show'n'tell/ jam sessions without technical hassles or pissing off other customers in a social setting like a coffee shop.
I'm definitely open to other suggestions, as I'm not an expert organizer and I hadn't anticipated so many people to respond. When I first suggested it I was thinking of just having a barbecue party followed by a synth jam in my backyard while my wife went to visit a friend or something
