I wanted to let you know that after some careful prayer and consideration, I’ve decided not to continue to put on Meta Cafe at Grace. The main reason for this is that it’s become too big of an operation for me and my team to handle, especially in light of the dip in return we are seeing in interest and outreach.

So to be clear, there will be no Meta Cafe in May.

We may do something similar but with tweaks in the future, or host events that will cater to some of the same demographics and needs, but for now, we’re going to take an indefinite break.

Thanks for all your support and for coming out and fellowshiping with us over the last year and a half. I’ve loved getting to know many of you better at Meta Cafe, and look forward to doing ministry with you in the future.

For now, this is me, signing off.

In the end, the Plaid Waffles took home the gold, earning themselves a $60 gift certificate to the Olive Garden and bragging rights until the next time we have a battle of the bands. It was an awesome time last month, and everyone had a lot of fun.

Hope you’ll be out next Friday night at Meta Cafe–we’ll have Rock Band 2 set up, as well as variety of other things to do–there will be video games, board games, volley ball, freewi-fi , and our cafe will be stocked with plenty of goodies and beverages for you to purchase. We’ll be open from 8-midnight, so please invite a friend and we’ll see you there!

Thanks so much for coming out to Meta Café! I hope you had as fun a time as I did. Remember that our next one is on March 6th, and every first Friday of the month thereafter. A couple of quick things:

Stay Up to Date and Socialize

• You can get regular updates about Meta Café by joining our group on Facebook. Simply type in “Erie Meta Café” into the search bar or hit this link. It’s an open group, so you can use it to invite your friends on facebook, and I’ll send out an invitation to everyone in the group to attend Meta Café each month.
• To get updates from this blog, don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed to get updates to your aggregator!
• Finally, for those of you on twitter, I update regularly what’s happening at Meta Café, especially during the week of. Follow me here. And then you can retweet to your extended network and get some buzz going about Meta Café.

Get Involved

There’s a lot that goes into getting Meta Café up and running every month, from promotion, running the blog, set up and tear down, running the café, and deciding what to add/take away from what we do each month. If you’d like to volunteer on our leadership team, set up team, café team, or if you have skills in networking or promotions/blogging, please email me at brian@whoisgrace.com and let me know you’d like to get involved. I’m sure you’ve got some great ideas we haven’t even thought of yet.

Thanks again guys. Last night was a blast, and I hope I see you next month!

When you get to Meta Cafe, there will be a sign up sheet in the main lobby. You’ll want to put your name and band name on there. Make sure you have 4 people, or you won’t be able to compete! There will be a preliminary round of judging, which will be weighted equally between your technical ability, and how much fun you have with it! After the judges weigh your technical scores with your showmanship score, we’ll pick the best three bands, who will then play for everyone on stage at Meta Cafe.

The winner of the top three bands will be chosen via crowd applause only in the final round, so make sure your friends cheer loudly! The winning band will score a 60 dollar gift certificate to Olive Garden, so that they can go celebrate as a band together!

Just a word that Meta Cafe will be returning this Friday, Feb. 6th, from 8pm to midnight. All the normal hoopla will be available, from free wi-fi, our cafe selling coffee and snacks, volleyball, and games. An all around good time for sure. On top of all that, we’ll be hosting a Rock Band 2 tournament in our main auditorium stage, replete with a 60$ gift card for the winning band to a local restaurant so that they can celebrate!

We’re still working out the details, but I’ll post the rules of the competition later this week. In the mean time, start warming up those limbs and vocal chords!

Meta Cafe is, as always, free and open to the public. So please come out, and don’t forget to tell your friends! We’ll see you at Grace Church out in McKean at 8.

Just a reminder that there is no Meta Cafe in this month.  We’ll be back and running like clockwork on the first Friday in February–the 1st–and every 1st Friday of the month there after.

I’d also like to remind you that we’ll be hosting a Rock Band 2 battle of the bands at Meta Cafe in February–and you can win some great prizes.  So get a band of 4 together and get practicing! Send me an email if you’d like to sign up early and reserve your spot.  Remember–only the first 8 bands will be able to enter.  See you next month!

Just a reminder that Meta Cafe is tonight! Come up and have some fun from 8 to midnight tonight. We’ve added a second Rock Band station to satiate the incredible demand we saw last month.

Our cafe will be open serving all kinds of food and beverages (cash only, so make sure you bring some!), and we’ll be offering free wi-fi access as always if you want to chill with your laptop.

We’ll also have our usually compliment of board/card games, volleyball, Wii Sports/Mario Kart, Geometry Wars 2, Halo 3, and others.

This is the last Meta Cafe before the Holidays, so come and relax from all the hustle and bustle!

Our Cafe will be open and serving various hot and cold beverages, as well as snack, dessert, and dinner items.  (We don’t accept cards at this time, so please bring cash!)

We’ll also be having volleyball in the gym and various table top games in the lobby as well.  You can bring your own or break open one of ours.

So bring your friends, and come hang out at Meta Cafe.  As always, wi-fi access is free and open to the public.   Bring your laptop and we’ll provide a sweet environment to relax in.  See you on November 7th!

It’s already been a whole month since our relaunch of Meta Cafe. We’ve got some changes coming, so I just wanted to let you know what’s new here at our event:

• We’re expanding our food offerings to include more than just dessert–there will be pizza and other savory edibles on offer, so come hungry and grab something from the cafe.
• This month we’re offering both hot and cold apple cider to coincide with the season, in addition to our normal array of coffees, cappuccinos, and teas.
• One of our most popular things to do at Meta Cafe has been Rock Band.  This month we’ve replaced that with Rock Band 2–we’ve nearly doubled our track list now, so make sure you come check it out–grab a guitar or drum sticks and have at it!
• Our normal offering of games to play will be on offer, starting with 4v4 system linked play of Halo 3 in the main auditorium, Wii Sports and Mario Kart for Wii, and last month’s hit arcade title, Geometry Wars 2.
• For the less technically inclined, we still have a whole slew of table top and card games for you to play with your friends, and volleyball in the gym.
• Free wi-fi access is provided in the cafe, so if you’d rather just have a more chill night with your laptop and a latte, you can do that to.

Meta Cafe is the perfect event to invite your friends out to, so come on out and bring some buddies to hang out with.  We start at 8 p.m. and run till midnight the first Friday of every month.  Check out our directions page if you need to know how to get to us.  We’ll see you next week!