Tuesday 1st July Harrisons 1854

Kes wrote:I got Anuerin's email. Did anyone else get it?

Yep I got that one

As for games, it's been a while since I've played it so I'm planning on bringing Letters from Whitechapel along.

Not sure what other stuff I'll bring yet but shall chuck a couple of other games in the bag

My wife and another friend are hoping to come along tomorrow as well

I'm hoping to bring Nothing Personal if I can find time to read through the rules tonight. If not, I'll bring something else.

ch1ma3ra wrote:

Kes wrote:I got Anuerin's email. Did anyone else get it?

Yep I got that one

Aneurin hates me.

CocoaCocoabo wrote:

ch1ma3ra wrote:

Kes wrote:I got Anuerin's email. Did anyone else get it?

Yep I got that one

Aneurin hates me.

The only possible explanation

Just found out I need to go to London tomorrow for work. So looks like I won't make it after all (unless we get finished early). Expect more mournful train tweets from me tomorrow evening as I miss out on all the fun...

Ah, that's a pity. You'll miss the venue trial

I hate everyone - so don't feel victimised

90% sure I'll be there and I'll have Le Havre, a new 9 piece version of Gesitesblitze and probably TTR: Europe, with the expansions (which I need to read the rules of).

Hope the new venue goes well tonight - good luck all !

I just checked the rules online for Sail to India.... It looks to me that we were playing it correctly!   

So my thoughts on Harrisons...

I don't think we gained any extra space (if anything I think we were a bit more constrained that we were at the Redhouse) and (for me at least) it's less convenient to get to.

Other than those two points I thought it had a lot to offer over the Redhouse - its a nicer pub in general, the furniture is better and the lighting and noise levels are *much* improved to my mind.

If there was a bit more room I'd be strongly in favour of moving the club there but as it is? I'm not sure...

Yeah, I'm going to talk to Toby tomorrow. Tom, the other bar man said that they got more money from us than from the quiz. He said it doesn't always happen and has moved days before. Certainly seemed like we might be able to use the whole place in future.
I don't think they really have enough chairs or tables for us at the moment though. Essentially, I am going to ask for them to consider:
Getting some new furniture to fit us
Allowing us full use of the bar instead of the quiz
Sorting us some deals on soft drinks at least

I personally think, if they are ok to approach these 3 areas then it would be a worthwhile move. Otherwise, I don't think we gain enough for it to be worth doing though I do think we still need to look for somewhere in the long term.

Kes wrote:I personally think, if they are ok to approach these 3 areas then it would be a worthwhile move. Otherwise, I don't think we gain enough for it to be worth doing though I do think we still need to look for somewhere in the long term.

I liked the atmosphere in Harrisons. The bar staff were friendly and I thought the drink prices were much more reasonable than at the Red House, and there was a nice selection of drinks too. Space is the issue, it was really only slightly larger than the Red House. We filled the room that was available to us last night. But are we going to find anywhere else central that has a larger function room that we can use for free? If we find a larger free space out of the town centre will less people come?

So atmosphere/drinks/centralness wise I'm happy to change venues.... space wise - not so sure...   

I’m in two minds about it, some things were better, some worse. The beer’s better kept, but there’s still not a lot of choice. The toilets were nicer and it was generally cleaner, but one of the tables we were using was one of the most disgusting attempts at furniture I’ve ever seen. It’s nearer to where we eat dinner, but it’s still a walk to the tram (it’s awkwardly between Uni and West St stops), so not really that much more convenient. The lighting was better in places, but some of the spot lights were out so if you were under that it was stupidly dark. I found it pretty noisy, I was raising my voice a bit, and I hate having to shout. I also missed having the ledge to keep drinks off the tables. Pricing was a bit cheaper, but I don’t tend to drink much so that doesn’t bother me.

The room we were in was smaller than all of the Red House, but if we can have the main bar as well then it would be more space. Not sure how convenient the main bar is for gaming though. We were rather crammed into the one room, it felt a bit constrained, with not much room to walk around tables if we’re playing something big. We were also not near our maximum numbers last night and we ran out of chairs.

If they sorted us out some better furniture, gave us some more space and some deals on drinks, then maybe that would tip it to being preferable to the Red House. I think we should have a think about whether there are any other options though; I’m not convinced it would be a long term move.

evan wrote:I just checked the rules online for Sail to India.... It looks to me that we were playing it correctly!   

Good to know!

In line with the other comments I liked the place, though parting wasn't as good (I didn't use the university car park having fallen for an "oh, you can path in there" ruse when we played at the scholar)
My biggest concern is that we weren't gaining much more room and if we moved we may well find ourselves outgrowing the place in a couple of months. Taking over the whole place may be an answer, but how would they react when we have one of our quiet evenings?
If we did move there, I'd still come, but I'm also open to the idea of looking at other locations. Though I am personally not averse to moving outside of the city centre, I think many people would be.

I'll start a separate post about this.... But in short I thought it was a lot more noisy - having a quiz and no door is a real downside. I can ask Danny to turn down the music... I can't do the same with a pub quiz. I played on the table closest to the bar. Would a curtain help? I would also be concerned about how busy the place can get when the students are back in town... It was quiet last night... But then the whole of sheffield will be until October! I noticed a bill board on west street advertising Harrison's so they are obviously after increased passing trade.

If the move is just about space then there is no advantage and the point is mute. However  it seems to me this whole thing is about more than space... Hence my separate thread... Which I'll write soon...