BAD: While the venue was a good choice for several reasons (especially for group bonding), one of its downsides was that it was somewhat loud. Conversation was still possible for most of us, but there was a hearing impaired LessWronger in attendance who was unfortunately unable to participate in any group conversations. And while it's not always possible to accommodate everyone, it seems that a quieter venue for future meetings would not only benefit him, but facilitate communication for everyone and increase the maximum conversational group size.
Even with quiet I'm pretty marginal at interacting with a group, I'm afraid, but it's a nice suggestion. (What can work for me as the person in question is one-on-one chat in a quiet environment. So why did I come? Just for the sake of maybe getting surprised -- and I did have a nice chat with mindviews on the way.)
There will be a meetup for people from lesswrong in Los Angeles, on Friday July 9th, 2010 at 3PM. Roundtrip carpooling from San Diego is definitely available and other carpooling options may develop. The time and location are designed to make it possible for people from lesswrong to get together and talk. Later, anyone interested should be able to walk to the first meeting of the LA Chapter of the SENS Foundation where Aubrey de Grey will be attending. It should be a good time if you can make it! See below the cut for more details.
The exact location of the meetup is no longer in flux. We will meet at the same place as the SENS Meeting but two hours earlier. That will be Friday 3PM at:
Westwood Brewing Company1097 Glendon AveLos Angeles, CA 90024The format will be very free form - mostly talking, eating, and/or drinking. Topics are especially likely to include cryonics and life extension given the proximity of the SENS Meeting, but saving the world and "rationality itself" will probably be on the menu as well :-)
See you there!