D_sensitized wrote: The first meeting of 2014 is coming up this weekend, saturday the 11th. Usual time and place: 6:00 pm

No offence to whomever posted http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/cto/4278842745.html - the ad in Craigslist (it's a good idea), but the time is wrong and the date is confusing.

West Coast Fieros of British Columbia monthly meeting is Saturday January 11/14 at Rickys Restaurant at 88th and 204th in Walnut Grove (Langley B.C.) at 7pm. Come one, Come all. Even if you just want to find out. For further info check out out website at http://www.westcoastfieros.com - www.westcoastfieros.com

Fieroman88 wrote: The date? Don't understanding why that would be confusing. Jan 11/14 is a normal way to put it.

I guarantee that some people will confuse the "14" as January 14th (as Harrison alluded to in his last post). I'm aware that you're referring to 2014, but it's probably unnecessary to mention the year.

Fieroman88 wrote: ...but at least someone is doing it, as I too, have many things to do.

Glenn, I give you and Harrison full credit for taking the club under your wings in an effort to revitalize it.

Fieroman88 wrote: Hope to see you at the meeting tonight, it been a long time since you've been there, and it members attendance and participation that drives the club.

Well, several years ago I stepped up to the plate to help out (when Dave first wanted to step back), and I got a ton of flack from certain members for my efforts. Seemed there was a number of the "old guard" who couldn't handle a change. Did they volunteer to help out? Of course not. So, there's a reason why enthusiastic members such as myself and Tristan (and perhaps several others) stopped coming to meetings. However, it appears as though the particular members who did their best to suck the fun out of the club are no longer involved. Therefore, I'm now re-considering my decision to avoid club meetings. Johnny has been trying for ages to get me to come out again, so we'll see.

IMO, the club should discuss how the $6 bridge toll (round trip) affects members (and potential members) who live west of the Port Mann. If the meetings are to remain where they currently are (in Langley), it's now $72 a year to attend all meetings... not even including fuel costs. Living in Vancouver, it would be at least $5 in gas (probably more) to get out to Langley and back. In total it costs someone in Vancouver/Burnaby/New West a minimum $162 a year (including the $30 membership fee) to attend the meetings, plus the cost of the meals of course. It all adds up, and it might be enough to keep people away. Just something to consider.

Fieroman88 wrote: ...the benefit of a fixed location is that people always know where it is.

Well, the other option is to perhaps have a variable membership fee... possibly depending on where a person has to travel from, and/or whether they wish to partake in the draws at each meeting. A lower membership fee for those who don't need more "stuff" and have no interest in the draws may be one way to possibly attract more members who might not wish to pay $30 to join the club. It may seem like a silly suggestion, but there's obviously a reason why membership and attendance at club functions has drastically diminished.

Anyway, we can talk about it tonight. Johnny has convinced me to attend the meeting.

Capt Fiero wrote: So a laptop with a good Webcam like Glens would be all you need. We talked about doing this in the past, but could not decide on how to do it.

I suspect that relying on a laptop's built-in camera and mic would result in less than desirable audio and video quality. The wide-angle lens would make everything more than a few feet away tiny, and I believe the mic would have a problem picking up sound clearly from any distance more than a couple of feet as well. However, we won't know for sure until we try.

If someone (Glenn perhaps) has a large room at home, maybe he could set up his laptop at one end, stand at the other, and we could do a dry run to see how well it works. That would take some of the pressure off from trying to do the first "broadcast" in the midst of a meeting.

ARTIC-1 wrote: I have everything Mac/HD/FW cams ect! an its just sitting here doing nothing,I could put together G4/Laptop,built to stream, with a FW/HD cam-not a built in one,on a tripod with a cable,portable. that would stream Video and record in DV for up/load after the meeting. might as well use it.This is a trial run so there will prob,be changes to smooth everything out.

Joe, I'm guessing you were referring to a firewire hi-def camcorder... is that right?

One thing to keep in mind is that we don't want a situation where someone at the meeting is required to be the "camera man". It needs to be set up in such a manner that the camera is located on a tripod and aimed at a "sweet spot" that's the best place for someone to stand who's addressing the members in attendance. This would help ensure that the person talking could be seen and heard properly on the streaming connection. Harrison will need to learn to project his voice.

Another thing I think would be cool, would be to have the S-video output (or HDMI if available) from a second laptop computer connected to the large flat panel TV on the wall in the room that we use at the restaurant. That way all of us in attendance at the meeting could see exactly what is being streamed online.

Anyway, something for us to ponder...