“On Your Mark, Make Reservations, Go!”
By Georgia I. Hesse
Most organizations have to struggle to lure members to monthly meetings. That’s not been true for BATW; especially not during the past couple of years. We’ve met at such exciting places as the new Inn at the Presidio, the Aquarium of the Bay, the Robert Mondavi Institute on the UC Davis campus; we’ve learned from presentations such as that by architect Donald MacDonald on the Bay Bridge and by member Lee Foster on entrepreneurial publishing, and we’ve drunk wine while cruising under the Golden Gate Bridge to toast its 100th birthday. Who could ask for anything more?
Our hosts have been generous with meeting space and often with catering. We have been offered new places to see and news to write tomes about. No wonder the call for meeting reservations was sounded by the Board this year! Yet sometimes members attend without notice, making it awkward for the planners as well as for the venues.
As I write this, the shindig arranged at Jack London State Park and the Benziger Winery hasn’t been staged yet and already there are whispers that the demand for seats is threatening the supply.
Would you turn up at the theater without a ticket? Would you crash a wedding without an invitation? Would you wear shorts to the San Francisco Opera? (Wait! That’s not a good question; I’ve seen men there in limp, junky jeans. Women, too.)
When in doubt, think it out and communicate. That’s the business we’re in, and while our busyness is usually short, our entertainments are long.
Please, s’il vous plaît, por favor, per favore, bitteschön: 1) Make reservations when meeting announcements appear on the BATW website update (batw.org) at the beginning of each month and print them out as instructed; 2) Cancel reservations if you can’t attend; 3) Reconfirm when/if asked.
Above all, be glad you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s August and France is closed.
[Note: Photo of Georgia Hesse with Mark Twain at UC Berkeley by Sandy Sims.]