It is free. It is not costless.

The important part first: this meetup is free, always will be, and there will never be a ticket or a membership fee. This page is not selling anything.

What a week costs

The venue

A$100–200

Some places charge a minimum spend, some charge for the room. It changes week to week, it does not change with how many people come, and the odd session runs higher.

Your drink

Your own tab

The venue asks that everyone at the table orders something — coffee, tea, a soft drink, a juice. It does not have to be coffee. Unrelated to the above, and it is your own tab.

I currently cover that myself. Not unaffordable, just no reason for one person to carry it.

If you want to chip in

Ten or twenty dollars is plenty. Once, occasionally, or never — all completely fine. Most people who come will not chip in, which is normal and changes nothing.

For scale: a session costs roughly a hundred or two, with about twenty people in the room — a few dollars each. There is no need to give more. This is not a fundraiser.

If you want to be on the "who keeps this going" list, put a name in the payment message. Leave it out and you are not listed, and I will not ask.

Three things that will not change

1. 01Nobody can be spotted for not giving. Who gave and how much is never said, and the thank-you list is opt-in — someone who chipped in and stayed off it looks exactly like someone who never did.
2. 02Chipping in buys nothing — not floor time, not billing, not any kind of preference. Time on the floor is earned by building something. That applies to everyone, me included.
3. 03Anything left over is not refunded. It rolls into the next session and cushions things like a venue price rise. Shortfalls are on me.