BEACON--Hudson Valley Green Drinks says effective with the next HVGD networking event (May 11th at Nu-Cavu in Wallkill), the admission price goes up to $8/person. Current paid HVGD members still get in for free but their guests get in for half price.

According to a release, HVGD's organizer Marie-Celeste has been subsidizing HVGD out of her own pocket for the past three years. "No one is getting rich off the admission price--it all goes toward overhead which includes costs like the email service, website, restaurant staff tipping, etc. The staff tipping is a way of saying thank you to the venue and their staff for hosting us," the release stated.

The organization is seeking roundtables and a new executive director.

The roundtables started last fall and HVGD would like to continue them this year.Roundtables focus on a specific GREEN topic with short presentations by experts in that field. They last no more than 20 minutes and it would be ideal to match a roundtable to that month's location. The full calendar with HVGD event locations is available online at (http://hvgreendrinks.org/hvgdeventscalendar.html). Please let Marie-Celeste know if a location works for you: email [Marie-Celeste](mailto:mce@hvgreendrinks.org) to discuss possibly organizing a roundtable for that month.

Marie-Celeste is ready to step down as HVGD's organizer and enjoy attending for a change.

There are rules set down by Green Drinks International. The key one is that GD isn't meant to be a commercial venture (with the 2011 price increase, the organizer should be able to break-even, even without any paid sponsorships). Paid sponsorship is okay but should be appropriate to the GD audience--and carefully done to not turn off the existing HVGD attendees. The email list may only be used for Green Drinks news (community announcements within the emails are okay). The bottom line is, it's not to be turned into a commercial enterprise. If that's what you want to do, you should use another name for it.

Why take over HVGD? It's GREAT advertising for you if you have a green product or offer a green service.

If you think you've got what it takes to run it, then email Marie-Celeste(mailto:mce@hvgreendrinks.org) to discuss it. Please note, there will be a financial investment required to take it over.

In other news, there will be no HVGD in August. With people going on holiday, August is traditionally the lowest attended month of the year so the group will be taking it off too!

Photos and details from HVGD's past events can be viewed online at: http://hvgreendrinks.org/hvgdpastevents.html anytime.

Source: Hudson Valley Green Drinks