The mission of the North Oakland LessWrong meetup is to provide a fun, low-key social space with some structured interaction, where new and non-new community members can mingle and have interesting conversations. Everyone is welcome. Yes, that includes you, if you're reading this.
Every week, we have a topic, to provide some structure. But we explicitly encourage people to split off from the main conversation or diverge from the topic if that would be more fun for them (moving side conversations into a separate part of the space if appropriate). Meetup topics are here as a tool to facilitate fun interaction, so we certainly don’t want them to inhibit it.
WHEN: Every Wednesday at 6:00, but with the topic waiting until 6:30 or 6:45 to accommodate stragglers.
WHERE: 540 Alcatraz Ave., Oakland; try code zero-five-eight, and if it doesn't work text 978 460 3399 and someone will come down to let you in. (We're in the far back, two floors up. The door is marked.)
Recurring Topics
Projects: Bring something, usually a personal project; we'll do shared pomodoros and socializing. The first Wednesday of every month is a Projects meetup.
Board Game Night: Use my collection or your own games, let's play and chat.
Reading & Discussion: At the meetup, we pick a blog post or sometimes paper to read, then discuss it; often we'll repeat that with a second thing as well.
Group Debugging: Take five minutes to brainstorm your problems, then share a few with the group and ask for help.
Shallow Questions: Answer trivial questions about each other in excessive detail in pairs, then switch it up with other people.
Deep Questions: Answer broad, big-picture questions in pairs, and discuss, then switch it up with other people.
Short Talks: 7 minutes on whatever you're thinking about, frequently inspired by something the last talk said; no prep required.
...and others. Suggest more!
(Please do not put the door code or the unit number anywhere publicly visible. I get enough junk mail as it is, and have had some minor harassment that would have used my mail and physical location if they could find it.)
The mission of the North Oakland LessWrong meetup is to provide a fun, low-key social space with some structured interaction, where new and non-new community members can mingle and have interesting conversations. Everyone is welcome. Yes, that includes you, if you're reading this. Every week, we have a topic, to provide some structure. But we explicitly encourage people to split off from the main conversation or diverge from the topic if that would be more fun for them (moving side conversations into a separate part of the space if appropriate). Meetup topics are here as a tool to facilitate fun interaction, so we certainly don’t want them to inhibit it.
WHEN: Every Wednesday at 6:00, but with the topic waiting until 6:30 or 6:45 to accommodate stragglers.
WHERE: 540 Alcatraz Ave., Oakland; try code zero-five-eight, and if it doesn't work text 978 460 3399 and someone will come down to let you in. (We're in the far back, two floors up. The door is marked.)
Recurring Topics
Projects: Bring something, usually a personal project; we'll do shared pomodoros and socializing. The first Wednesday of every month is a Projects meetup.
Board Game Night: Use my collection or your own games, let's play and chat.
Reading & Discussion: At the meetup, we pick a blog post or sometimes paper to read, then discuss it; often we'll repeat that with a second thing as well.
Group Debugging: Take five minutes to brainstorm your problems, then share a few with the group and ask for help.
Shallow Questions: Answer trivial questions about each other in excessive detail in pairs, then switch it up with other people.
Deep Questions: Answer broad, big-picture questions in pairs, and discuss, then switch it up with other people.
Short Talks: 7 minutes on whatever you're thinking about, frequently inspired by something the last talk said; no prep required.
...and others. Suggest more!
(Please do not put the door code or the unit number anywhere publicly visible. I get enough junk mail as it is, and have had some minor harassment that would have used my mail and physical location if they could find it.)