

Why we need more Hacker Meetups, by Ian Hogarth of Songkick - danw
http://uk.techcrunch.com/2008/08/21/hey-hackers-need-friends-too/

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wheels
I've been planning to make it out to one of the London meetups, but it becomes
a little problematic that by the time the meetups are announced all of the
cheap plane tickets are already snapped up.

I've been kicking around getting the same thing going here in Berlin and have
talked to a couple of the locals. We've got a couple of good business oriented
meetups, but not one with a real hacking atmosphere. I'm always the weirdo
that can't keep his laptop closed for the whole time. ;-)

If you see this and are based in or around Berlin drop me a line (and aren't
already tracking one of my various feeds), and if we get something going we'll
be sure to get you on the invite.

~~~
babul
Don't think about it. Do it. See what happens.

Worst case is they are poorly attended and fail. In which case, learn, reset,
and try again. Use a different approach (free beer & pizza generally works, or
some sort of interactive/engaging/competitive experience).

Building momentum and traction becomes easier with each iteration. If you can
stay alive long enough, good things can happen. Output is a function of input.

It may be worth doing a presentation at BarCamp Berlin
(<http://barcampberlin3.mixxt.org/>, 13 October 2008) to launch the endeavour
and get going. Better still, you can do an event ahead of BarCamp and talk
about what you _have_ done and are doing, not what you will do.

Lastly, there are many talented groups/people in and around Germany who will
be interested, appreciate, and attend such an event. London does/should not
have the European monopoly.

~~~
wheels
Yep, already in the Mixxt group for BarCamp Berlin.

Poorly attended is fine -- you can have an interesting gathering with just a
few folks. More what I've been trying to do is to make it around to the other
entrepreneurs meetups to make sure that there's not something with a similar
character already going on -- there's no sense in splitting things up.
Business & Beer and OpenCoffee are quite a different atmosphere, WebMontag is
the last one on my checklist, which I've missed due to scheduling conflicts
the last couple goes around.

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dcminter
As a London based hacker this chimes with me. There are groups such as the BCS
that are supposedly there to nurture IT networking, but their events schedule
looks a bit dry.

I've found some of the entrepreneurial networking events (OpenCoffee and
Geektails) to be interesting, but you don't get much of a chance to talk about
the technical challenges at those.

I'm looking forward to coming along on the 4th anyway. But update the "news"
section on the Facebook group with the details please!

~~~
ian
Updated! Sorry about that.

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ucdaz
I've been going to a Hacker meetup for the past few months here in the Silicon
Valley. It's totally a refreshing experience to build relationships with the
community. I also helps me stay motivated and excited about building my app!

If you guys are interested:

SV Facebook Hacker News Group
[http://www.new.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=10089105...](http://www.new.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1008910548889#/group.php?gid=22574669893)

Silicon Valley Hackers and Founder Meetup
<http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/1737/>

~~~
iamelgringo
I hear ya. It's been a blast.

I have a hunch though that if things keep growing, we're going to need a
bigger space to get together in.

Any offers?

------
DaniFong
In certain places, there might be enough people to have a Hacker (centric)
Cafe, like super happy dev house, constantly. Imagine it -- coffee, high speed
wifi, a library, talks, ramen, small meeting rooms, late hours, whiteboards.

~~~
dhotson
Have you seen this?

"Building a Hacker Space" <http://imakethings.com/Hacker-Space-Design-
Patterns.pdf>

.. this is something I'd absolutely love to set up.

~~~
DaniFong
Are you in the Bay area? I think I can contribute some help; I have a lot of
friends that are looking for a space like this. Gabe and Andrew (from Kirkland
North) and I have been hosting these dinner parties that attract quite a few
people: the secret seems to be good cooking. I could cook for a few
'fundraising dinners' to get the ball rolling (for, say, a deposit on a
lease), though I don't think I can be a main person on the project (have a lot
of hardware hacking to do...)

~~~
dhotson
Unfortunately not.. I'm in Melbourne (Australia).

I love the idea of luring people with good food though. :)

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apotheon
If you want to get something rolling in your area, maybe hacking society is
the answer:

<http://www.hackingsociety.org/>

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TFrancis
Why the link to the comments anchor?

~~~
danw
That's strange, I'm sure I submitted it without that since that's a pet peeve
of mine. Any mods feel like fixing it please?

~~~
danw
fixed, thanks

