NYC Meet Up Input Requested

With all of the snow that I'm currently dealing with (30 inches, give or take), I'm looking forward to spring now more than ever.  And what better way to do that than to start thinking about a spring Philofaxy meet up in New York City?

We have had four very successful meet ups thus far (see one, two, three and four).  However, the last attempt at a meet up showed that interest is waning just a little (in the end, we ended up canceling it), especially since the numbers have been dropping a bit since the first meet up back in 2011.

We have a strong core group of people (maybe five or so), but in the interest of gaining newcomers, I am looking for feedback on planning the next meet up.  In the past, I have tried a few different ways of putting it together: I had all interested parties email me, and together we chose a date, venue, and time; I chose a date, venue, and time myself (in order to save us all from several back and forth email discussions), announced them and whoever could come could attend; and I also tried announcing the date first, with sign up starting at a later date so that people had time to rearrange plans if needed.

I don't know if the changes in procedure have anything to do with the decrease in numbers or if it was just a matter of bad timing.  Or maybe the issue is our choice of restaurant and/or retail store.  I don't know what the answer is, so I am open to any suggestions for this spring's meet up.

Here are some things to consider:

• Should I leave the date open to discussion (keep in mind this could create chaos, as no one date will be good for everyone)?
• Should I choose three dates and leave it up to majority rules of those who are interested?
• Should I choose one date and whoever can attend will attend?
• How far in advance should I give notice?  (I try to leave at least a month or so, but maybe that's not enough time, or is it too much time?)
• I have always chosen a Saturday, but is Sunday better?  (Some people travel quite a distance, so a change in day may not be doable, but I'd like to hear what people think.)
• Is one particular month better than another?  (Typically I stay away from the holiday season since it's so busy anyway and the winter months for weather reasons -- I myself travel almost two hours by train to attend and do not want to attempt it in heavy snow.)
• Should we stick with shopping at Sam Flax and lunch/dinner at Le Pain Quotidien or try for some place new?  (Since retail shops are limited, we should choose a retailer first, followed by a restaurant in walking distance.)
• I'd love to hear any other ideas you may have that I'm not addressing here.

If you'd like to offer any insight into a future meet up, you can leave a comment here or email me at kanalt17 at Gmail dot com.  I will take everyone's suggestions into consideration but I cannot promise to accommodate everyone's wishes for obvious reasons -- there are just too many variables.

Once I've gotten a good amount of feedback, I will report back on any decisions and/or meet up information.

Thank you!