Summary of lunch meeting 08/10/2009:

1) Experiences from organizing events, general suggestions for future:

    - Events so far have had 20-40 participants (less during Valencia
      meeting but otherwise attendance has been flat). Everyone has the
      impression that people like to have these events to go to, and they
      should be continued in 2010.

    - Monthly organizers: take the lead (don't wait for someone to push
      you ;) Also, you should feel free to decide on location and what
      kind of event you want to organize. (We used Doodle polls a bit
      in the beginning, but no need to use that if you have your own
      ideas. People usually happily show up wherever whatever is being
      organized for them :) On the plus-side, Doodle poll might give
      you an approximate headcount...)

    - Start planning early (Permits for alcohol and BBQ on site can
      take several weeks!)

    - Update the web-page and inform the community reasonably early
      (some people like to plan their travel to SLAC to overlap with an
      event... let them know).

      + It was suggested that the organizers should also make an entry in
        SLAC Today's events listing.
        http://today.slac.stanford.edu/event-archive.asp
        (You need your windows password to submit an event).

      + Consider also printing out a "poster" to hang at the entrances
        of the ROB (at the minimum), same day or a day ahead of time,
        to remind people of the event.

    - Food: Costco offers good deals on food, and nice party platters.
      Drinks may be better bought elsewhere for a larger variety.
      Safeway and similar stores have simpler party platters, vegetable
      platters etc. Cheese & crackers always popular... but we usually
      buy too much of it (check first what's left over from previous
      event).
      + Costco: you need a membership card to shop there...
      + Safeway: you save lots by having a membership card!

    - Locations:


      + All events so far have been held at SLAC (seems to be the
        general preference among late-working participants, sometimes
        they come later than 5pm too).

      + Locations near SLAC discussed, and still seen as a good
        alternative... (offers more freedom, less hassle with alcohol
        permission, family-friendly, but need more effort by
        late-working participants, be sure to include a map and
        instructions of how to get there!)

      + Sector 6 area (along the linac) has BBQ pits and space for 100
        people! Need car to get there. (And remember permit for BBQ!)
        Probably best in spring (april/may) or fall (october).

    - Topics: No organizers have really tried this option so far. We
      went through and made a list of suggestions, as we think it could
      be nice to have an "event" more than just hanging out with other
      BaBar'ians (see 2).

2) Suggestions for topics (E.g. invite a speaker for a 20-30 minute talk
    in the Redwood rooms (a "fun" / light scientific or non-scientific
    topic), then have a social event at the ROB patio or nearby):

    - Career path / future in physics: How to get to the next step on
      the academic ladder & where is the field headed?

    - LHC startup (and media coverage about it... (see recent NYT
      articles)).

    - One (or more) hot topic(s) from Lepton-Photon.

    - Outreach: (Sept 25th could be a joint event with SLAC
      Communications. Note that there's an outreach event going on
      in Europe that day: "European Researcher's night 2009". Francois
      knows more details).

    - ROB office space re-organization. Group people by institution or
      by AWG or or some other proposition?

3) The next scheduled BABAR social events:

    - August 28th: David L. & Bill W.
      This is the week after Lepton Photon. Perhaps a topic from that
      conference?

    - September 25th: Arafat G.M. and Martin K.
      Consider joint event with SLAC Communications

    - October 23(?): Andy R. and Joel M.
      Consider instead of 4th Friday to do this on the last Friday, the
      30th!  This would be the week of the BABAR Analysis School, as
      well as B-Factory Legacy Book Workshop. Invite all registered
      participants for a big party (joint with the Social Event of the
      School, if any)!!?

    - November 20(?): Ray C. and Nicole A.
      Two weeks after the collaboration meeting. Note that the 4th
      Friday is Thanksgiving weekend.

    - December 18: Owen L. and Ale G.
      Holiday party!!! Note that the 4th Friday is Christmas day. The
      18th would clearly be better.

4) Organization / Coordination

    - For next year, we should make a web-form for people to sign
      themselves up for "shifts". Keep only a few "shifts" open for
      signup at a time.  "Run" coordinator sends out a message (to the
      whole collaboration?) when "shift signup" is ready.

      Ideas for web-page:
      + Find someone with sufficient PHP knowledge to build an interactive
        web-form. Be aware that SCS has issues with web-scripts, we're not
        completely free to do whatever we want.
      + Set up something like the BBR meeting Organizer (only much simpler),
        where anyone with a HN password can enter information (their name)
        in a form?
      + Use off-site solution, e.g. Wiki, Google-pages, Web-events...
      + Ask SLAC's InfoMedia for help:
        http://www-group.slac.stanford.edu/infomedia/

    - Coordinator: Currently Chih-hsiang only. It would be useful with
      one more person. We should announce an "open position" when shifts
      open, or sooner (perhaps one of the experienced organizers is
      interested in this "position"?)

    - Lunch meetings for organizers... perhaps useful to have these lunch
      meetings regularly? Every second month was suggested. A short 1/2 hour
      meeting probably sufficient for brainstorming about upcoming meetings.