Ask HN: Does Hacker News still do in person meet ups?
I found some old and inactive meetup and eventbrite groups but are there any in person? I went to a hackathon event before covid that was incredible and I was hoping similar "energy" still existed.
A new London one was planned for September 8th but cancelled due to the venue becoming unavailabel (day of Queen's death). https://www.meetup.com/london-hacker-news-meetup/events/2881... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32660447 . If I recall 180 people signed up.
There are definitely a few of us around in Cambridge, UK as well. I don’t know of any HN-specific meetups planned in this area, though it seems that several groups whose interests are likely to overlap with HN readers (about specific programming languages, for example) have started to hold real-world events again if anyone is looking for other local places to meet like-minded people.
Huh. I cancelled last minute because I got covid.
Didn't realise the whole thing ended up not happening at all in the end ...
looking forward to the next one!
There used to be bimonthly socials in SF that didn't have any particular focus, they were just an excuse for to hang out (and sometimes acquire a hangover).
Anyone in the Bay Area interested in a HN Meetup?
The Noisebridge hacker space at 272 Capp in SF could be a good venue. I'm not active in that community but they seem to be open to hosting events like this. It's close to a BART station and a parking garage. https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Hosting_an_Event
Hosting a Reactjs meetup this Wednsesday 9/21 if anyone is interested in frontend. We had a great meetup last month with about 80 people in person!
Details + rsvp: https://meetu.ps/e/LqXw7/gz2nM/i
I have been looking for good meetup groups in the Bay Area for a few months and finally got inspired by you to solve my own problem.
I have created a Hacker News Meetup for Bay Area: https://www.meetup.com/meetup-group-zxkdpjmb/
It looks like enough people are interested in different parts of the Bay Area that we can alternate meetups in SF and in South Bay/Peninsula.
If anyone will like to help out or can donate space to meetup, please email me - my profile here has my contact details.
If someone created an event "Hacker News Meetup" on meetup.com, I'd go.
The problem is someone has to pay. It's not free.
Such a shame this is a forum for paupers.
I can pay. It's pennies. But I don't because I'd rather you pay.
You and everyone else has the same opinion, thus nobody pays.
Anyone still hanging around SF or did everyone flee during the pandemic?
That was a vocal minority
Yep, still a decent place to hire employees.
Still in the east bay. Plenty of humans still here
I’d be down for a spot between Menlo Park and SJ. Don’t really wanna go all the way to SF
Put me down for the peninsula chapter!
Can we do one that's reachable by Caltrain? Would be amazing to make it from Stanford
Or it could be held at Stanford…
I’d come to one in SF or the East Bay!
Sure if it's in the south bay
+1 for SF or Peninsula
Let's do this!
++ for southbay
Yessss
+1
Do it!
I’m down!
count me in as well!
count me in.
+1
It does if you want it to. These have always been privately organized. If you set one up in Chicagoland, let me know.
A bit further out in the suburbs, but for anyone seeing this interested, we have a monthly meetup group in Valparaiso, IN, called ValpoHacks. We averages ~10-15 people per month and group has significant overlap with HackerNews interests.
Here's meetup link for more info: https://www.meetup.com/valpo-hacks-meetup/. If anyone has questions, my email is my HN username @gmail.com.
+1 for a Chicago area IRL event. Would also love to be in the know.
+1 for Chicago
Please also loop me in for a Chicago event!
+1 Would be happy to come as well.
There are dozens of us!
One of y'all should just pick a place. These things are easy to put together!
i would go!
An LA event would be a lot of fun!
Would love for an LA event, but I am not holding my breath. People in Los Angeles are notoriously flaky and rarely attended tech events before the pandemic. Went to my first IRL tech event since 2020 a couple of weeks ago and only two people showed up (besides the 6 organizers).
Im in west LA, lets coordinate a simple meetup of the LA people in this post.
Im in LA should we organize a meetup? How would we do it properly?
If it’s effective, here’s a When2Meet link [1] that should provide a heat map of when most of us on this thread are available.
[1] https://www.when2meet.com/?16905460-DWxNb
Filled in my slots, let's do something with this information.Looks like most folks are available on Saturday. Guessing we'd want to be in Santa Monica?
How about something more central for us east-siders? The new Konbi in Culver City would be great! Insanely delicious, lots of outdoor seating?
How's a 3:00 PM meetup on Saturday at Culver City's Konbi [1] sound?
Here's a link to a Discord server if it helps coordinate logistics [2].
[1] https://goo.gl/maps/ggB652V1KxivQ8Xn7
[2] https://discord.gg/2Aqh2rxF
good
Pick A COFFEESHOP OR BAR AND SAY GO FOR IT?
I don’t see (from my iPad) how we would coordinate beyond the overlapping times. Specifically, how do we contact each other once a time is agreed upon?
someone needs to make a version of this but with a no dox map. I dont know if all of you live in Santa Monica or Pasadena.
Filled in my ideal windows
I'd be in for LA!
I second that!
I'm in a hackathon group with a few people locally and a few people from HN. We hang out on Discord and at my house. Though some of us have never met in person. Does that count?
Anyone here in NYC? Would love to do an IRL meetup
If folks are interested, email me at: my username (dot) hackernews (at) gmail and we can set something up
NYC checking in! Surely there are enough of us to put together a meetup?
Yup there’s quite a bit :) email me at ^ and we’ll try to set smthg up!
I'm flying to NYC on 10/15 :D
Im in NYC and would love this - how can I help?!
Yes! This would be great
Would be interested!
another vote for NYC
Sounds fun!
Yes
+1
Agreed!
Yes!
+1
+1
Yes
Yes
+ 1
Sure
Let me know if anybody wants to meet up in Washington DC!
I'm interested!
I'd be down!
Anyone else in Singapore interested in a HN meetup?
I'd come along if it was organised
Interested!
Interested
I'd do a Bend, OR or Portland OR meetup for sure!
+1
New Zealand? Worth a try :P
Probably more likely than North Dakota. :)
I wish mate
Other than using the HN name, and publicizing on HN, what goes into a "Hacker News" in-person event?
Hi folks! Gwyn from Meetup's community support team here to offer folks from Hacker News a discount code to start an organizer subscription on Meetup. We love the energy and interest in creating community! Here's the link to get started: https://meetu.ps/3p92mL . Use code HACKER50 for 50% off a new 6-month subscription. The offer is valid until Monday, 9/26/2022 until 11:59 pm ET.
If you do end up starting a group or if you are an existing organizer, be sure to check out the Meetup Organizer Community on Discord for tips and help from experienced organizers and more! https://discord.gg/7bZ5uJQq
Nothing has made me dislike meetup more than this message has.
If anyone in the Tel Aviv area is interested, we (robusta.dev) would love to meetup!
ITT: A disturbing lack of people requesting a Seattle meetup!
I have a small group of founders I could likely convince to join. Anybody have any venues they would recommend? I've found Optimism to be pretty great
> a disturbing lack of people requesting a seattle meetup
Not going to lie, as someone currently living in Seattle, the lack of people from here requesting a meetup is the most unsurprising thing in this thread.
LUGs etc seem to just starve here. What explains it?
From personal experience, combine the typical flakines/social non-commital of people from LA with typical nordic asocial behaviors, and that's what you got here.
Add lots of tech people to the mix, a lot of whom would already be a bit predisposed and comfortable with such behaviors, and it gets even worse. Not trying to cast shade on anyone here, I am one of those "predisposed" people myself.
Over the past 4 years, almost all of my closest friends left the city (3 non-locals, 1 who was born and raised here; out of those 4, I only knew 1 non-local prior to moving here) and moved to NYC, and they all couldn't be happier with their decision, years later.
Trust me, I love my alone time and can go without interacting with people outside for days without feeling bad about it at all. But even for me, Seattle feels more suffocating than literally any other major city I've ever been in. Luckily, not staying here for much longer.
https://www.meetup.com/hackernewsseattlemeetup/
Message the organizer and post it here too please.
I messaged them and might try and reboot it
My org should be able to host an event if you want to try and throw something together.
Unicorn start up and all that jazz. Likely they will want someone to give a short spiel.
Optimism lives on meetup type events. +1 for Seattle.
Anyone want to do a Sacramento / Davis / Folsom meet up?
I can host!
Ready to host like 4000 folks?
there's that many HN folks in the Sacramento area?
Sounds like we could take over Discovery Park and call it good. :)
Sacramento is like Austin without the PR… (if you know you said this lmk)
having lived in Texas for many years and now back to Sacramento...
it wishes it was Austin. ;-)
Count me in! Maybe a public function would be more accommodating if enough people tap in.
Kind of a lurker here but would be interested!
I would love to!
yes please
I have seen a post about meetup in India a few days ago but sadly, they used whatsapp for coordination so I didn't join. Wonder what happened to that?
> they used whatsapp for coordination so I didn't join
How much personal opportunity cost is acceptable before it becomes worth using a platform you don't like...?
Remember that even if it your life's sole goal to eliminate the use of that platform worldwide, you will probably achieve more if you take every opportunity possible, including those gatekept by the platform you don't like...
I wouldn't have been able to attend so it was futile to install whatsapp and join the discussion.
There is no ideological reason behind it.
Then you wrote your original message in a very odd way, implying it was because of the WhatsApp use that you did not join. Not harping on you, just an FYI in case you're learning the language or would like to increase communication skills.
They're probably communicating on whatsapp.
I went once or twice to the one here in San Diego, years ago. They were smart and interesting people as I recall.
Amarillo, Texas! Anyone? :-)
There’s this and no austin in this thread!
Id love to hear what startup folks in the panhandle are working on.
We need an Austin thread.
Wait - people still do IRL?!
I know, right? Meetup.com pretty much turned into OnlineOnly.com. After going online during the pandemic, my meetup members showed no interest in IRL meetups again after things calmed down, so I basically gave up figuring it's a sign of the times.
Someone should do a startup to disrupt meetup.com.
Meet up is the experts exchange of social planning.
Yes? the world is full of people who want to do things in person.
Anyone in Dublin interested in a HN Meetup?
I'm in Belfast but I'd drive down for it
Chat on Twitter? @arnaspdk
We can create a group chat.
Yup.
Chat on Twitter? @arnaspdk
We can create a group chat.
I have not visited any hackathon since late 2019, I so miss that events. I would like to visit some offline event for HN crowd.
How about Houston, Texas? Good timing, too, since I may soon need to recruit for a new startup. ⊙⊙
I'd be interested in a Houston meetup!
Same!
Is it weird to post this from a throwaway acct?
I want to start hosting meetups and lightning talks in Montreal Canada. Would anyone be interested?
Send me an email (bio), organizing something with a couple of others!
Your email isn't in your bio :/
Please send me an email here! jingxiangmo.public@gmail.com
It'd depend on where you are, for one - would be helpful to know.
e.g, the Tokyo meetup is still a thing, met back in July: https://hntokyo.doorkeeper.jp/events/138928
Anybody else in Philadelphia?
+1
Atlanta, anyone?
Let's talk startups, AI/ML, and disrupting the incumbents!
I'm actually surprised there doesn't seem to be a Minneapolis/ St. Paul MN contingent. The Twin Cities had a lot of interest groups in the 90's.
Toronto - who is in?
We created a Telegram group for Toronto HNers.
t.me slash +IAT_zueOKigwY2Y9
(trying to prevent bots invasion!).
Me too - boatman at list.ru
I’m in.
me!
im in!
Email?
I'd be down to organize an event in Pittsburgh
Would attend such a meetup!
Anyone in Florida?
I’ll be moving to Broward County in a month and definitely would be interested in an HN meetup.
Recently moved to Orlando from NYC.
Definitely shoot me an invite if you set something up. Even if it's Tampa or wherever I'd probably be down to drive.
If you arent aware, theres a fairly active Orlando devs slack [1] and actually one of the people in that Odevs slack has started a Tampa dev meetup [2] that seems fairly popular
1 - https://orlandodevs.com/slack/
2 - https://www.tampadevs.com/
Was not aware, thank you for sharing!
Cocoa Beach area, checking in
Grew up in Brevard county and still swing through from time to time!
Nice. Born and raised in Rockledge. Moved back about 7 years ago now.
Wow I’m on the space coast too. I wasn’t sure how to reach out but I sent you a connection on linked in.
Haha, small world
Orlando here.
Gainesville. Hi-o!
Volusia County!
I’m down if anyone is in the Northern Virginia/DC area. Ping me, I’ll buy the first round. I’d love to hear your story.
NOVA here, DMed!
I’m not aware of any events that successfully capture what HN is. If you want to make contacts, go to YC startup events and meet people. The smartest and most talented people aren’t usually wasting their time with general catch-all tech events. They’re on a mission and aim to meet people who can genuinely help them accomplish it.
I’m not spitting at hackathon type events, but let’s be real — they target recent grads.
I’d love to be proven wrong on this, because I’d promptly attend the events that I don’t believe exist.
I’d suggest looking into rationalist/effective altruism meetups. As far as professional interests and demographics, its hard to imagine another niche group with more overlap - naturally both seem born out of SF
Agree, but unfortunately the big ones just happened. Probably another 6 months.
I wish I could attend an event like the YC event but I dont live in NorCal.
Why don't you organize one in your area then?
The “work at a startup” meetups were fun, even if only to hear the pitches and see what Sam had to say.
Is that still a thing?
Raleigh / the Triangle anyone?
We're out here
I'm here
Me too!
Anyone in Italy, possibly Milan ಠ‿ಠ
I'm traveling to Milan this Friday and I'm staying there for two weeks. Would love to meet!
I'm in Italy, based in Bari
+ 1
Hawaii? Oahu specifically, anyone out there? I'd love to meet the community.
Portugal, either Porto or Braga. Let me know if you'd like to meet!
Poland/Poznan interested inmeetup in Oct/Nov?
Atlanta?
I'd be in for Atlanta
DFW, Texas, anyone? I'd be down for a monthly meetup.
Anyone in Germany? :)
Too large for any meaningful action. You need major city granularity.
How about Berlin?
Montréal, anyone? :)
C'est parti. On fait ça quand?
Shoot moi un courriel (bio) et je m’occupe du doodle !
Lets do it!
Send me an email (in bio) and I’ll schedule a time!
Anyone in Bangkok? Would love to do an IRL meetup.
I am. Feel free to give me a shout via Twitter (username in my HN Bio) or via email which you can find on my Personal website (listed in Bio as well)
It’s a long shot, but is anyone in Chile?
The possibilities exist, here from the 0.002% of the world.
Yes! Applications are open for YC Winter 2023!
Started out /s, but upon consideration I imagine YC really is the closest you could get to the spirit of HN in an in-person meetup.
the application deadline for Winter 2023 was last week fyi
Anyone in Nashville, TN looking to meet up?
let's go. ;)
EDIT: down to hang out with anyone that is super chill (and lives close to Nashville).
Maybe we can all pick a place downtown to (passively) make fun of those tourist nerds that keep invading.
Feel free to email me at my username @gmail!
Checking in!
Feel free to email me at my username @gmail!
Anybody in Ft. Myers, Florida?
Philly?
Anyone in Valencia, Spain?
anyone in boston? I could use some more hacker pals!
hi! What about a meetup at the MIT Museum (which reopens in its new space at Kendall next week)?
The new museum is absolutely gorgeous and amazing (my wife works there).
:D
:wave:
Anyone in HK?
Yes! My contact info is in my profile
Chicago?
Someone should make a global map with a web app that you can place a search engine protected email address on + GPS location - to contact in case of desire to grab a coffee over locale-focused startup & tech convos. Boom.
I like this idea alot, maybe something like this:
User opens app, makes a possible meetup that s/he is into , it then shows up on the map as just the title of the Group, along with maybe an interest count of initially 0.
If others click on it enough, the original users gets notified that this 'has momentum' and whether or not they want to schedule an actual get together. If they do, all other people are notified of the event.
like meetup.com, but the emphasis is on the location.
Is that what you were thinking ?
Very cool idea. I'd love to have that here in southern Italy.
No need to be rude just because someone used more words than you think necessary.
Oh that wasn't meant to be rude, I liked the idea and wanted him to keep talking about it.
HN is always frothing about WFH so wouldn't it contradict the central HN tenancy being with other human beings is bad?
Once upon a time HN was about creating things.
Create a meetup and see what happens? There's a lot of cool stuff you'd learn doing that.
See what other locations people around you use for meetups. Run one and iterate. Start as open as possible.
I would NOT want to meet anyone from here tbh. I fear what people write here are how they are in real life.
Not saying they are bad people just from the bad takes and endless pedantic arguments are something I would quickly grow tired in a spoken conversation.
You can skip over paragraphs but in real life you can't.
I went to quite a few of the HN meetups in London, and they were great. People often behave differently in meatspace.
Bad takes can be hilarious, though. It's only a problem when the participants and audience aren't chill. Discussions where everyone thinks everyone else is wrong are fun when everyone's chill. I'd wager Redditors might not be the best group of people to have chill conversations with, but it's kind of surprising to me that someone would dismiss HN'ers that easily. But I guess some people just don't appreciate bad takes.
Also, I doubt that most people are going to focus on the pandemic at this point. It depends on where one lives, but even in LA most people have long since moved on from it, and no one wants to hear it at an IRL meetup revival.
But the beauty of it is that crap evaporates in real life. I don’t want to overstate it, of course, but the effect is always huge.
It would be a comedy sketch if you had a real meetup, but people using their "Hacker News" tone. Lot's of hot takes, fights. Maybe each person has a up and down vote button on their t shirt? Some boring conversation in the corner 2 people listen to. In 10 years time turns out it was the launch of Bitcoin, Figma or Dropbox or something.
That reminds me of a sports talk show I see on the gym TVs sometimes. A few talking heads, and a host who literally gives/takes points from these old men talking football/sports.
"endless pedantic arguments" here? nah!
nothing more painful than looking in the mirror lol
In real life there's no flag button, unfortunately.
Yes you have to confront people or leave, that's insane right? /s
Just try to get your bivalent covid booster first.