Mister MooCow said:
Therein is the quandary-- it's a splintered/hierarchical morass of leasees, subleasees, property managers, and owners. There's OSU, SciTech, TechColumbus, OSC, each of their management companies, and a variety of other entities up and down the bureaucratic ladder. I'd try to navigate it, but I already have a day job.
That is the key. The desire for trucks in the area is apparent. The ability to get a decison maker to say yes, or more often, just return a phone call or e-mail is painful. A truck can not set up without the permission of a property owner (the company that leases the building or the manager that turns the key get get in is not the decision maker). I rarely get any call back from property management companies even with multiple follow ups. OSU is a giant hierarchy.
That being said - if any of you are property owners or decisonmakers in the area - we will work with you. If you are not - bug your bosses to find the decisionmaker for your site and get a committment. Happy, well fed workers are good for any organization, right?
I keep hoping that a truck will just squat in one of the many parking lots (it will take days if not weeks for them to get chased off -- due to aforementioned morass), the geek multitudes will reward the truck with patronage, and the suits will be loathe to make the truck leave for fear of a geek rebellion (or otherwise being accused of making Columbus less "Tech Friendly").
Squatting serves a short term need but it creates a long term problem. Squatting fuels the arguments of a small minority that feel trucks are rogue operators that pay no taxes, don't serve clean food and are a danger to society in general. Mobile Food will grow credibility by playing by the rules - even when the rules are unfair. Food Fort client trucks will not squat or break any guidelines.
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