Once upon a time we had two of them. Council was one. Fighting practice was the other; non-combatants used to attend and do stuff on the lawn and hang out while the fighters hit each other with sticks. I'm thinking of warm weather practices; the indoor ones in the winter didn't happen as regularly back then and weren't the same kind of social nexus when they did.
It was easier in the days when we all lived relatively close together; back when I first got involved (1976) just about everybody lived in Boston or Cambridge, and T-friendly locations for things were the norm. Now we have a lot of geographic dispersion, and it's harder to find a single location that is good for everybody.
As somebody who DOES live in the city, I'd like to see Council revive in part because it's something I can actually attend without a great deal of pre-arrangement. Events have gotten more difficult; most of them are now held in places that require a car to get to. Some activities that I used to be active in (archery, for example) are in the same situation. The talk of Council moving scares me because then I might not be able to get there -- but I'm the secretary, I HAVE to!
As for Christopher's, for me as secretary it's a bit problematic - though not because of transportation, that's fine for me, just a few more stops on the Red Line. It's hard to hear what people are saying; I'm likely to have to ask for more repeats and pauses. And there are no convenient electrical outlets in the centrally-located areas, which would be a challenge if we have another of the really long meetings like we did when we were discussing the election for Baron/Baroness. But it IS a friendly place, and if they're happy with having us there I can deal with it. I expect they are; we bought stuff on a slow night, didn't disrupt their other patrons, and didn't make a mess of the space.
Social crossroads, indeed!
It was easier in the days when we all lived relatively close together; back when I first got involved (1976) just about everybody lived in Boston or Cambridge, and T-friendly locations for things were the norm. Now we have a lot of geographic dispersion, and it's harder to find a single location that is good for everybody.
As somebody who DOES live in the city, I'd like to see Council revive in part because it's something I can actually attend without a great deal of pre-arrangement. Events have gotten more difficult; most of them are now held in places that require a car to get to. Some activities that I used to be active in (archery, for example) are in the same situation. The talk of Council moving scares me because then I might not be able to get there -- but I'm the secretary, I HAVE to!
As for Christopher's, for me as secretary it's a bit problematic - though not because of transportation, that's fine for me, just a few more stops on the Red Line. It's hard to hear what people are saying; I'm likely to have to ask for more repeats and pauses. And there are no convenient electrical outlets in the centrally-located areas, which would be a challenge if we have another of the really long meetings like we did when we were discussing the election for Baron/Baroness. But it IS a friendly place, and if they're happy with having us there I can deal with it. I expect they are; we bought stuff on a slow night, didn't disrupt their other patrons, and didn't make a mess of the space.