To Whomever This Can Concern, 

This is to request some kind of fee waiver, co-sponsorship or some other solution to the increasing cost of our meeting once-a-month at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Village at Ed Gould Plaza. 

In May ’94, the Center’s Community Outreach & Education Department (COED) invited lesbian, gay and bisexual Mac users to meet at the Center (then on Schrader), and that was the beginning of QMUG/LA. 

Under COED, we had full and free access to the copy machine for our meeting handouts, and in return our meeting attendees filled out the Center’s sign-in sheet and donated a dollar or two to the Center. 

While at Schrader we dealt with a number of different people, first Robb Ottenhoff, then Francesca Miller, then Tony Bongiovanni, and finally Jerry Rodriguez. 

Also at Schrader, we were eventually told that we were not “Center sponsored,” but we still collected attendee statistics and donations for the Center—no formal room or equipment rental fees were in place. 

Our collections for each month were ~$20-$30, and at least once we were told that our collections for the year were the most of any other group that met at the Center. 

In addition to our monthly general meeting, for our first few years we also had a monthly planning meeting at the Center, and there was no charge or collection for these meetings at all. 

In July ’98, the Center moved all meetings to the McCadden address, and shortly thereafter a formal room rental fee structure was put into place, $15/medium room/hour=$30/meeting for us, which was doable. 

Shortly thereafter, Jackie Downs called a meeting with us and some other groups (like C.O.O.L., Lesbian Moms, Maybe Baby, etc.) to under- stand the Center’s relationship with and financial responsibility to us. 

Our first two years at McCadden have been fine—our room has always been reserved, our equipment has always been ready, and our rental fee has been ~$30-$50/meeting (equipment being ~$15-$20/meeting). 

Our past two meetings at McCadden though have not begun as smoothly, give us concern for our future with the Center, and are the reason we’re writing you now. 

Because we were able to set our calendar of meeting dates and topics in July 2000 through June 2001, we met with Richard and gave him hardcopy of this information with when we would need equipment. 

For our August 2000 meeting, our room did not appear to be reserved, nor was our equipment reserved, and when we went to pay the equipment rental fee, we were told it was $20/hour. 

Because of this unpleasant episode, we met with Jerry, reviewed QMUG/LA’s long history with the Center and requested written/printed confirmation of the Center’s rental charges. 

We didn’t get that confirmation, and for our Sept 2000 meeting, our room was reserved, but again our equipment was not, and again the confusion and uncertainty about what the charge was suppose to be. 

We didn’t meet at McCadden for our Oct 2000 meeting, but we will need to do so for our Nov 2000 through June 2001 meetings, and we really need to resolve this. 

The bottom line is:  we began because of the Center, we’ve been meeting at the Center for over six years, and we’d like to continue to do so, but we cannot afford $70/meeting.  ~$30-$45/meeting, yes.  $70/meeting, no. 

The Center and QMUG/LA have a long history of helping each other.  The Center didn’t charge QMUG/LA for photocopying or our planning meetings, and paid for three of our four major mailings. 

In return, QMUG/LA has participated in the Center’s “Country Fair” and “Grand Opening of the Village” and regularly lists Center events on our website and announces them at our meetings. 

QMUG/LA is unique and special in that we are only one of two officially Apple registered and recognized gay Macintosh user groups in the world (and we don’t know of any gay PC user groups anywhere). 

After over six years, QMUG/LA still does not charge a membership fee or dues—our meetings remain completely free of charge to attend.  We still operate under the model: 

“If you liked the meeting, if you enjoyed yourself, if you learned something, then feel free to donate a dollar or two which will go to the Center to pay their room and equipment rental fee.” 

QMUG/LA brings people to the Center who otherwise wouldn’t come, and we regularly list other Center events so our attendees know what else is happening and will come back for them. 

We think QMUG/LA is important, important to the Center and important to the Community, and we would hate to have to stop meeting at the Center and have to find somewhere else to meet because of this. 

We hope this letter helps explain our situation and allows the Center to grant some kind of fee waiver, co-sponsorship or some other solution to the increasing cost of our meeting once-a-month at the Center. 

 
Sincerely,

Doan Thiel Stafford Co-Chair—QMUG/LA

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www.qmug.org QMUGLA@aol.com

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(323) 222-QMUG  (323) 860-7340 fax