No, this wasn't the meetup I attended today. If I had bothered to do so, I would have cancelled my RSVP, and stayed home. Instead, I decided to go at the last minute (as Marian), and had a nice time....
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I hadn't been to a meetup of this group in a while, where I would meet the sponsor of the group. So, cancellation would not be an option for me at the last moment. Instead, I decided to get there a few minutes late, and was glad I did so.
One of the problems with many meetup groups is that people say that they will be going to dinner with the group, and then cancel without enough time for the sponsor to adjust the restaurant reservation. Some meetup group sponsors handle this by giving approximate counts to a restaurant, and then adjust it at the last minute. They will account for the regulars who can be counted on, and for the snowflakes that melt away with no notice. Others will charge a nominal attendance fee which goes into subsidizing the fee that the sponsor pays meetup.com to run the group. Given the headaches many meetup group sponsors deal with, I never felt it was in my interest to run a meetup group. Yet, I leave this option option open for the future, as I wouldn't mind having a regular night out with familiar people. But I digress....
Arriving at the restaurant at 5:50, I found half as many people as expected at our table. I decided to order two very filling dishes: a bowl of New England Clam Chowder, and a place of Fettuccine Alfredo topped with Shrimp and Sliced Portobello Mushrooms. Yum! Even though we were in a small chain restaurant, the food was worth the drive.
All too soon, the meal ended and we had to leave. Hopefully, they will have more weeknight dinner meetups in the future....
