Some city, state, provincial, and federal agencies allow meetings to be held in their buildings. You can try schools or public libraries. Usually there is no meal service in these facilities however. In such a case, you could bring your own or just have snacks. It is most important to have the time and place most convenient for most of the members.
Some chapters have a social or an informal meeting once each year.
The first year goals of any new chapter are stability and cooperation among interested members. We are providing these milestones to help you know how your efforts are coming along. Chapters typically charge a fee for attending membership meetings. The fee is used to cover expenses, either for the room and refreshments or for speaker gifts and advertising costs. The fee can also be an incentive to join the chapter, since members usually are charged less than non-members.