I might be able to come to this one.
EDIT: I am stuck on a large paperclip batch and so can't divert time to remotely control my robot for attendance at this one. Apologies to all who are hereby dissatisfied.
The meetup was a great success! I showed up slightly after noon, we eventually grew to 7 people, lost a few during the afternoon, went out to dinner, and then I finally left at 7 pm.
There was a lot of talking. It's amazing how much time one can spend sharing ideas. Silas kept a list of the conversation topics we touched on, but the two meta-topics were what positive things Less Wrong has done for us and what interesting project we're working on. There were many tangents along the way, but relatively few things where we needed to stop and say "ok, let's shelve this topic and move back to X."
One of the things we did not do (by the time I left) was pick a time for the next meetup. Did that issue get raised after I left? 5-7 would be two weeks from now but is a somewhat awkward day for me; doable, but I would prefer the 4-30 (one week from now) or 5-14 (three weeks). On 5-21 I will be hanging from Yggsdrasil and thus unlikely to attend.
I also found the sheer amount of talking incredible. As NMJablonski points out, we settled on the three week date here in College Station to avoid a meeting during finals. Also, it would be 5-14 if we did it on another Saturday. Do you guys want to do a Friday? I don't have class or obligations. I suspect you two are just not using a calendar.
After you left we did indeed discuss plans for the next meetup, and it was suggested that Skylar host the next one somewhere in College Station. (Sorry to put so much public pressure on you Skylar) This location would be easier to get to for Dallas and Houston LWers, and not bad for the Waco and Austin members.
The currently planned date is 5/14 (three weeks).
No worries NMJablonski, I am unflappable. Your high expectations make me soar, http://splicd.com/i-T1h7J0R-Q/95/100 etc. You want to do this on a Friday or Saturday? Also I will get the group picture uploaded today and you can edit it into the post. It would also be cool to get the raw transcript from Silas up. I bet there are a lot of Texan Lesswrongians who would come if they knew we talk about Dwarf Fortress, Bitcoin monetary policy, and interstellar colonization pressures, all over delicious Indian food.
I think we are settled on the 14th and I decided to go to Blue Baker, a little sandwich chain that is near other kinds of food that we can vote on. We need a time and confirmation of the date.
Is this happening tomorrow? We might want to get it posted on the Upcoming Meetups page and you probably ought to just make a decision on all the other necessary details.
Oh, then I won't be able to make this one because of my brother's graduation and the events afterward. :-( I'll be with you in spirit though (in the reductionist sense of being with you in spirit).
I didn't realize -- my brother's graduation is Saturday the 14th, which I will attend. So Friday the 13th is definitely preferable.
I will get the raw transcript up tonight (was planning to do a more refined one, but I think that can wait).
Also, I think the discussion of Dwarf Fortress, Bitcoin, and interstellar colonization all finished before we headed over for Indian food ;-)
I would love to come, but will probably be driving back from visiting a friend in Norman, OK at that time.
How late do you think the meetup will run?
It's great to finally see some meetups in Texas! :)
I'm not sure how late the other participants plan to stay, but my wife and I have no pressing plans afterwards. The last meeting ran until after 5:00, and if this one does the same we may suggest that everyone go to dinner together.
Send me an email at njablonski AT gmail DOT com, and I'll send you my contact info so you can check to see if the meeting is still going on when you get into town :)
I'll have to miss this one. Anti-serendipity; I NEVER leave town, except, apparently, next Saturday. Hope there's another one soon.
I'm sorry to hear that, but there most likely will be one pretty soon- the last meetup (in Waco) was only two weeks before this one. I don't know what sort of frequency we'll settle on, but it probably won't be lower than once a month.
I'm bringing a friend who has read HPMoR, and liked it, but hasn't read any LW yet. He's a fun guy and it will be nice to have 5 in the group
I thought a bunch of central Texas LWers would jump out of the woodwork on seeing this ... color me underwhelmed :-(
This is the second meeting of the group that met in Waco last weekend. Meeting will be at the Starbucks on the corner of 15th and San Antonio, at 12:00 Noon on Saturday. This Starbucks has its own parking, and there are additional public parking options in the surrounding area. The address is:
501 West 15th Street
Austin, TX 78701
We would love to see new people, and feel free to bring friends. Here is a photo of the participants from last time.
See you all on Saturday
EDIT: Apologies for the late edit all. Skylar sent me the photos from the group yesterday and I wanted to share one. We're getting bigger!