8% partnership fee cap
The Polis venue share is capped at an 8% partnership fee on eligible group bookings. No paid placement, priority matching, or advertising path changes which citizens are invited.
Partner Venues
Rooms for citizens to meet without the noise.
Polis partners with libraries, cafes, civic halls, studios, theaters, parks, and independent rooms that can host bounded offline gatherings with clear norms and fair group rates.
Group-rate model
Venues set transparent group rates by room, format, capacity, accessibility, and time window. Polis brings the right size group and remits the agreed room charge plus the capped venue-share fee.
No-recording rule
Agora requires an eknomos to protect the no-recording rule in the room. For Symposium, Gymnasium, Theater, Festival, and Aleatory, the default ask elsewhere is also no recording, no transcription, and no quotation without explicit room consent.
Cooperative-membership offer
The cooperative-membership offer gives qualifying Partner Venues a venue-member path with representation in the cooperative structure, separate from booking volume and never tied to citizen matching priority.
Local steward fit
Each venue names a human contact who can confirm access, arrival flow, room reset, quiet expectations, and any hard constraints before citizens receive an invitation.
Simple evidence
Polis asks for written capacity, accessibility notes, rate terms, cancellation rules, and room photos before activating a venue in any city.
Public third-place directory
Verified places with visible provenance.
Every public listing has operator review, source freshness, access notes, supported formats, and no paid ordering. Stale and unreviewed places stay out of this surface. Reviewed hosted events are listed separately at /events/.
Library
Evanston Public Library Main Branch
- Partner status
- Verified Partner Venue
- Accessibility
- Step-free entry, quiet room, near transit.
- Formats supported
- Theater, Symposium, Aleatory.
- Upcoming reviewed event
- Quiet Reading Table, June 3.
- Provenance
- Operator reviewed May 28, 2026; source fresh within 12 hours.
Civic hall
Ridgeville Community House
- Partner status
- Verified Partner Venue
- Accessibility
- Step-free route, low-noise room, seated circle.
- Formats supported
- Symposium, Agora, Festival.
- Upcoming reviewed event
- Shared Supper Conversation, June 8.
- Provenance
- Operator reviewed May 28, 2026; source fresh within 24 hours.
Cafe
Temperance Listening Room
- Partner status
- Verified Partner Venue
- Accessibility
- Step-free entry, seated room, evening staff contact.
- Formats supported
- Theater, Symposium.
- Upcoming reviewed event
- Phone-Free Jazz Listening, June 18.
- Provenance
- Operator reviewed May 28, 2026; partner calendar source fresh within 12 hours.
Park
Mason Park Fieldhouse
- Partner status
- Civic public place
- Accessibility
- Outdoor route, step-free paths, public restroom.
- Formats supported
- Gymnasium, Festival, Aleatory.
- Upcoming reviewed event
- Saturday Park Walk, June 6.
- Provenance
- Operator reviewed May 28, 2026; public source fresh within 24 hours.
Symposium
- Quiet table for 5 to 7 citizens for 2.5 hours.
- Phone-basket space and a printed leitmotif card.
- Service flow that will not interrupt the central conversation.
Agora
- 12 to 25 chairs in a visible circle for 1.5 hours.
- Wooden-token table and named eknomos position.
- Staff aware of the no-recording rule before arrival.
Gymnasium
- 8 to 15 citizens can move together for 1 to 2 hours.
- No-headphones norm can be respected by the activity.
- Water, restroom, and accessibility details are posted.
Theater
- 10 to 25 citizens can sit, read, and reflect for 2 hours.
- Pre-read materials can be set out before entry.
- Lighting and acoustics support spoken reflection.
Festival
- 100 to 500 citizens can gather across 1 to 3 days.
- No commercial-vendor lane inside the civic program.
- Open movement, rest areas, weather plan, and exits are clear.
Aleatory
- 4 to 6 citizens can meet for 1.5 hours without staging.
- Room supports pure-lot composition after hard constraints.
- Arrival is simple enough for newcomers to find unaided.