It is and it isn't. Here in Vancouver (Canada) I occasionally see meetups at GrowLab (our off-brand Canadian Y Combinator) for e.g. 'innovators under 30'. Presumably there is at least one such event being held elsewhere in the world, meaning it's not local to the Canadian tech scene. Moreover, if it's sculpting your networking opportunities, it's definitely more than a 'hook'.
Journalistic hooks are a lot like API hooks. They point the ways to power.
