From the point of view of the lecturer, a pub room is not the ideal venue, too many potential distractions.
Trying to explain things to about 40 people using sketches drawn on a note book is not good.

A high school lecture room is much better proposition, and probably not too expensive.

It has the right environment in which to give a lecture, quiet and with the right lighting and space to lay out components to look at, plus a blackboard for diagrams.

I would be much happier using a college or school room somewhere not too far away from me on a weekend afternoon than in a pub some evening with background disco music or a football match on the big TV in the next room.

I feel that the roboteers would learn much more in the right venue and get their moneys worth.

We could arrange that the various lecturers could give regional talks.
This would save them a lot of travelling time and expense.