I was thinking the same thing, and you'd do well with pastries and desserts too. You could even consider hosting and catering book club meetings, maybe show a movie once in a while (and encourage disscussion afterwards, naturally).
I'd like to suggest another location for you too Hal, bring your big American dollars up to Vancouver, you'd have no problems there.

I was thinking that very thing about LASFS... I can't believe that it's still around. I was never a memeber but I remember someone trying to get me to join when Jedi was released.

it seems that you are envisioning a club of the yesteryears...adventurers clubs where people sat about and discussed events going on around the world and their peers latest travels and adventures.

history repeats itself

now that it looks like I hit it right...

look around... there are lots of clubs, from car clubs to activity clubs to charitable organizations, Kiwanis Club comes to mind.

When I lived in Singapore one of the best places to hang out was the American Club, because you met with other people, hung out, drank, ate, discussed, whatever. There were private places, and there were public spaces, game rooms where people played together pickup backgammon, chess, or boardgames. Some spaces were just lounges where people sat talking.

Because it was membership based there were plenty of people, but over time people got to know the people that came around the same time. Sometimes when you add a new activity to your schedule you meet a whole new set of people using the club facilities.

I for one would love to be a member to these types of clubs.

There's only one issue. Cost.

Each club like I described has a membership fee, then there's a monthly amount of $$$ that must be prepaid and used at the facilities dining rooms, bar, etc.

a 'club' involves a little bit of exclusivity that will discourage people... the cafe is an open forum for people to come in regardless of how often they've come before, and TALK

there was open membership which was free for 2 weeks or something like that...that's so that you can see all the facilities and amenities.

What about a cafe with an attached club- the cafe is open to all, and if someone sticks around and passes muster they eventualy get invited to join the club - that tends to generate proffits, while alowing it to generate a more dedicated clientelle and fulfill both purposes-

It'll only be as "exclusive" as you make it, Hal. This is a bunch of ideas from other groups we know of. You'll modify it as needed, and probably again a while after you do it, if you do, to deal with weaknesses.

word to that..... i want in!

I know somebody who owned a mom-and-pop coffeehouse but shut it down. Here's what he had to say.

I think that the Cafe sounds like a great idea. Having someplace to go where we could actually have intelligent conversations with the people on here that we always virtually speak to, but never meet, would be awesome! Movies on weekeds also sounds like a good idea, and then discussion afterwards would be key. I also like the "open-ness" of the cafe, it would encourage more to come and visit.

I definately think that I'd travel a bit to get there...but how bout Chicago as another possible location maybe...possibly??:D:hmm:

The Cafe idea sounds very interesting, but the fan base might be a problem at the beginning because the idea would basically have to spread by word of mouth. It can't just be a certain group of people, it needs to try to reach out to everyone. The ability to attract a large variety of people is one of the key things the internet has over real life.

The cost wouldn't have to be extreme. Renting a place shouldn't cost too much, the furnature could cost a good bit unless you look for used furnature. Then again, the mix and match style would kind of fit in with the TFP theme.

Hiring people to moderate wouldn't be that hard, just hire intelligent college kids who are open minded for minimum wage. Ain't the best paying job in the world, but I wouldn't mind having a job that where I would just sit around and talk.

If It gets anywhere near as sexy as the real TFP..I request seat covers.