Olekisy, I think the point about statistics is like your point about alcohol free beer- it misses the point. The question before OSM isn't "Do OSM events model the alcoholic consumption trends of the country they're in?" nor is the question "Are there beverages which taste similar to alchol free beer?", the question from Richard Weait was "Do the alcohol events turn anyone off?" and the answer for several of us is yes.
What's a more useful question is then "Why?" And I can tell you that for me, it's not the alcohol per se, but the whole bar/beer culture. It's not that if you provide some beverages, I'm more willing to go, it's that being in a loud, crowded place is quite literally painful, and so while I will tolerate accepting some level of pain for some period of time, when given the choice between doing that and not doing it, I will generally choose not to. As for beer and its role- I have some gastrointestinal issues which prevent me from having beer. I'm gluten intolerant and alcohol itself is not kind on my system. That's why I don't generally drink, because the alcoholic drinks which don't give me trouble me are few and far between. When I used to be able to drink beer, I think that my tolerance for the above noise/etc was dulled by the inebriation. But there are lots of reasons why people may not choose to go to an event that's beer centric. Maybe they're gluten intolerant, or alcohol intolerant, or alcoholic (and abstaining), maybe they don't drink for religious reasons, or maybe they just make a choice not to, or they have sensory issues, or maybe if an event is held in a bar, it keeps people who are under 21 away, or I know some women don't like to go to bar/drinking events because of past bad experiences. The causes are different but the result is the same. I don't think Richard was asking "How can I find an alcohol free beer?", he was asking about "Are there people who find themselves unable to attend OSM events which are based around alcohol?" and for me the answer is yes, and as an example I offered, the SOTM US social events have either taken place at a bar (starting from the very first one in Atlanta), or were essentially just taking an office and putting alcohol in it. The result is either I tried attesting and found myself extremely uncomfortable and left after a very short time (10-15 minutes) or more recently, I've just stopped trying to attend these "social events" and just go to the conference itself. Contrasting this, by the way, is SOTM in Birmingham, the last day, food was served, and alcohol was offered as well. We had tables, and so things didn't seem quite as alcohol centric, even though Brits tend to have more of a beer culture than even Americans. It's never possible to make things perfect for every person, but offering smaller rooms, or more quiet, low key places/events as part of a larger event can make a big difference to me. I don't expect people to accommodate, though, I just choose not to put myself in a situation where I feel either socially or physically uncomfortable. What event organizers choose to do with this information is entirely up to them. - Serge _______________________________________________ talk mailing list talk@openstreetmap.org https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk
