[NTLUG:Discuss] disappointed

[travis.farral@nokia.com]

Being the one that typed the current directions and the one that setup the
meetings at the  Nokia campus, I feel obliged to respond to this thread.
First off, let me begin by apologizing for the poor directions on the web
site.  I understand the need for more clear directions and perhaps a map to
aid in getting new people to the site.  Let me further apologize for Nokia's
tremendous growth and endless building projects.  It seems that campus is
doomed to endless construction until Nokia stops selling so many cell
phones.  (Hopefully this won't happen soon however - I am a stockholder you
know ;)

The physical address of the building where the meetings are usually held is
6031 Connection Drive, Irving, TX 75039.  I think you'd be hard pressed to
find "Connection Drive" on any maps though as it is owned by Nokia and not
by the City of Irving and is therefore a private road.  So I'm afraid this
knowledge is of little, if any, use to people trying to find their way to
the campus.  Perhaps some of the newer maps may show it since it's now been
around for a couple of years, but I'm not aware of any.

There are some things that are beyond my control and many times even beyond
my knowledge.  For instance, I didn't know they were going to block out the
building-side entrance to the parking garage for a few hours that very
morning.  Such is the nature of the construction on the new building next to
the one where we meet.  Hopefully, these types of issues should only present
themselves for the next maybe 2 meetings or so as they are largely complete
with the exterior of the new building.  We can hope anyway.

Another issue is the fact that Nokia only provides the one guard on duty
during the time that the meetings are held and that guard is positioned at
the *back* of the building (opposite side from 114).  The front doors are
locked so if you park in the front (114 side), you must walk around.  Most
newcomers want to park on the 114 side and enter through the front doors of
the building only to find they are locked.  One way to fix this would be to
assign someone to affix a paper sign to the glass on the front of the
building stating that NTLUGger's must go around to the back if they wish to
attend the meeting.  This way, they at least know they're in the right
place.  Simply stating the fact that those doors are locked and to go around
to the other side in the directions posted on the web site would not be
sufficient as many would, for some reason, still expect those doors to be
open.  I cannot guarantee that I'll be there early enough to the meetings to
make sure a sign is in place myself but I will try to make sure it's handled
during the meetings that I'm there before 10 AM.

So, I realize that although the meeting rooms are certainly nice and serve
the purposes of NTLUG quite well, the facility itself is not the easiest one
to A) find and B) get into.  I do apologize to any who have had trouble
finding the meetings or getting into the building to attend the meetings.  I
will do what I can to make it easier in the future.

I will have a new set of directions ready this week... hopefully with some
kind of map.

Best Regards,
Travis Farral
Nokia, Inc.