"Personally, I don't have the time for a chat room."
I don't really either. But I lurk anyway, because then I'm caught-up on all the discussions and can jump in when I'm taking a break from coding.
Personally, I like chatrooms because they're much better for networking. I'm much more inclined to visit the startup of someone I converse with (as opposed to comment with), I'm more likely to make introductions for them, recommend them for jobs, etc. Basically, I could consider someone that I spend a fair amount of time chatting with a "friend", while someone who I only talk to on message boards is a "professional acquaintance".
This is mostly because of everything you dislike about chatrooms: they're disorganized, they tend to veer off-topic, they devolve into social chitchat, they're spontaneous, and they take up lots of time. You don't really know a person until you see how they behave spontaneously, when they aren't thinking out their response. Hell, I probably seem significantly less intelligent in chats than on here. But it's that vulnerability that makes me trust folks I chat with real-time more than folks I discuss with on a message board.
BTW, I'm also in #news.yc on EFnet, along with Jey. Kinda quiet there at the moment (I think we're both working on startups), but that's just because it hasn't reached critical mass.
If social interaction is really your goal then let's organize a meet-up. I'm located in Boston, right across the Charles from all the Y guys, and would love to get to know some of the YNews posters.
It's a frustration of mine when people propose technological solutions to social problems. Facebook, twitter, et al. are absolutely horrible substitutes for real human interaction. Real-life interaction can be intimidating for some but are a very real necessity. We're built to read body language and receive a strong, low-level, satisfaction from doing so.
How does this sound? I'd love to see this forum act as a networking spring-board; maybe YCombinator Cambridge would be so kind as to provide space for a meet-up?
I don't myspace and such people who I can just go for a beer with. A meetup would be best, but I'm not of the mind to spend a grand or so to fly to another country. Not even counting the travel time, I'd probably spend more time just in security than talking to other people.
Technology is a poor replacement for human interaction, but I take what I can get.
That sounds like a good idea. I'd love to see more meetup posts here, but the problem is, they have only local appeal and so usually don't get voted up.
I'm also in Boston, or rather one of the Boston suburbs. I'm pretty sure there are other Boston folks around. So if somebody could propose a time and a space...
I emailed Jessica from YC and was told that YC is unwilling to sponsor any event they don't organize. Given that we couldn't really make this a "YC Thing" and wouldn't be able to use their space, does anyone still think this is a good idea?
I'm afraid that without official support any attempt to organize a meet-up would yield similar results compared to past attempts. PG -- chime in!!
I don't think it has to be organized by YC at all - this is more about Boston/other city based networking than it is about. Jessica/Paul/YCombinator are busy enough as it is - but that's no reason why there shouldn't be a Boston meetup.
I currently live in Boston close to the Mass Ave bridge, but spend a decent amount of time roaming coffeeshops in both Boston and Cambridge.
I'd propose a meetup this Thursday (the 3rd) evening or Sunday (the 6th) evening either at Diesal Cafe in Sommerville (my favorite coffeeshop to hack in http://www.diesel-cafe.com/ accessible via the T), or the Espresso Royale on comm ave.
I'll bring my cofounder, and maybe 1 or 2 friends if anyone's around and interested.
I think this sounds great. I'll start a new thread and propose the location. I think it'd be a good idea to tentatively set the date for Sunday the 6th to give people a little more time to plan.
Extroverts are built to receive strong, low-level satisfaction from doing so. Introverts are build to receive strong, low-level stress from doing so. We're just introverted, so we don't say so as often as extroverts say that face-to-face interaction is so healthy.
I don't really either. But I lurk anyway, because then I'm caught-up on all the discussions and can jump in when I'm taking a break from coding.
Personally, I like chatrooms because they're much better for networking. I'm much more inclined to visit the startup of someone I converse with (as opposed to comment with), I'm more likely to make introductions for them, recommend them for jobs, etc. Basically, I could consider someone that I spend a fair amount of time chatting with a "friend", while someone who I only talk to on message boards is a "professional acquaintance".
This is mostly because of everything you dislike about chatrooms: they're disorganized, they tend to veer off-topic, they devolve into social chitchat, they're spontaneous, and they take up lots of time. You don't really know a person until you see how they behave spontaneously, when they aren't thinking out their response. Hell, I probably seem significantly less intelligent in chats than on here. But it's that vulnerability that makes me trust folks I chat with real-time more than folks I discuss with on a message board.
BTW, I'm also in #news.yc on EFnet, along with Jey. Kinda quiet there at the moment (I think we're both working on startups), but that's just because it hasn't reached critical mass.