I was one of the people who expressed opinion against the LW content. In general I liked the event, but found those parts off-putting. I'm really surprised that people new to it seemed so oblivious.

Perhaps one reason why people who were familiar with that content were hesitant about showing it to others, was that they were afraid it would reflect poorly on them. If I brought a bunch of 'regular' friends to a 'transhumanist' meetup that I told them I was somewhat involved in, I would be really be afraid of them getting a poor impression of transhumanism.

It's kind of like taking your significant other to meet your parents. You're significant other may not mind your parents quirks (or vice versa), but you notice every one and horrified for them.

Another thing that comes to mind is that they some of the 'serious' talk was controversial even among this crowd. Personally I really don't believe that humans should live forever, for example. Here the people who care the most about it would also care the most about discrepancies. For instance, a very devout Catholic would be the first to get angered by what they feel to be a wrong or mistaken representation of Catholicism at what seems like a very sacred event.

Overall though, thanks for getting feedback and writing this all up! I'm really interested in how it progresses.