Some thoughts to consider. Keep in mind weather and location and numbers. Outside at a pond in Feb. can be wet , cold or both. The easier the access to the location the better. You also have to plan a flexible location that will work if you have 20 or 50 people. With limited time to meet (you will be shocked how fast the time will run out) the focus should be on exchanging ideas and discussion of topics . DFW was an open forum which worked well because with a little advanced thinking the topics people were interested in were covered. If you have set talks on specific topics you lose the interaction of the attendees and someone has to prepare to give the talks. ewest