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NYT Techie Night Life Reprogrammed

Posted by timothy on from the for-some-values-of-most-major-cities dept.

securitas writes "Almost a decade after the Internet bubble collapsed, the New York Times reports on the revival of the Silicon Alley technology social scene — with a twist. It's now about substance. Gone are the "glitzy club ... minor celebrities, go-go dancers, an open bar and pricey giveaways" in favor of unconferences, Ignite, Pecha Kucha, ideas and 'a night life that involves actually talking to creative people doing exciting things.' Most major cities have a geek social scene like the NYC Soldering Championship [video link] featured in the article." Not surprisingly (for anyone who reads O'Reilly's Make magazine), Bre Pettis is one of the event organizers mentioned.

10 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Soldering Championship?!?!?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sounds leaden.

    I'll take the open bar.

    Sometimes balance means shutting off those overly acute powers of perception and going with the animal brain every so often.

    Dropping the bubbly excess sounds great, but everything doesn't need to be turned into a intellectual engineering exercise.

    1. Re:Soldering Championship?!?!?!? by Knara · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I dunno. Honestly, I really enjoy decompressing with a couple beers and the whole "upscale strip club with hot women" environment. For me, over the top makes it better.

      But, I agree. Just because one is geeky, doesn't mean one shouldn't stop on a regular basis and just embrace our instinctual urges without analyzing them to death.

  2. I guess we're talking "web time", right? by krygny · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Almost a decade after the Internet bubble collapsed, ..."

    The bubble burst in 2001. Internet "decades" are much shorter.

    --
    Research shows that 67% of those who use the term "research shows", are just making shit up.
  3. Yeah, that's nice. by zullnero · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, because I work all week with geeks all day long just so I can hang out with them after work on the weekend. Yeah...no.

    Give me the old scene any day of the week. The social scene is about unwinding and meeting interesting people who help you expand your mind, not a bunch of people who think exactly like you and only are willing to challenge you in a game of Warcraft or in a heated discussion about design patterns and antipatterns. If you can't do that at work, then yeah, maybe you need that kind of interaction...but most don't because they get it all day long. Unless you're unemployed, of course.

    1. Re:Yeah, that's nice. by Profane+MuthaFucka · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Your heart must not be truly Klingon.

      --
      Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
    2. Re:Yeah, that's nice. by Knara · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's a huge difference between chatting with people who are generally intelligent, and people who like to speak about all the same things you do. Besides, this type of gathering sounds much, much too planned. It's like a grown-up kid's birthday party, with a schedule and everything.

      I'd suggest that if you find most people you speak with to be idiots, that you're hanging out in the wrong places. It's fine to sound elitist, but realize that elitism is often just another way of saying "I'm unable to relate to people who aren't exactly like myself."

      Besides, it's healthy to be dumb once in a while and let loose. I'm not sure why the whole "geeks shouldn't get wild" meme persists. Maybe it's a leftover from their highschool days when they didn't get to be wild with all the "Cool Kids" or something?

    3. Re:Yeah, that's nice. by e4g4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Most normal people aren't dull

      I beg to differ. Most "normal" people (say, average intelligence) have little to no interest in examining/understanding the world, and as a result, aren't terribly interesting to speak with, as they bring no interesting (read: different from mine) viewpoints or insight to a discussion. That's why, I, personally, prefer the company of smart people.

      Alcohol consumption immediately nullifies intellect

      I disagree with this too - intellect nullification doesn't happen until drink #5+ and if there's anything I learned in college, it's that high level intellectual conversations are readily fueled by alcohol (up to a point).

      --
      The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. - Albert Einstein
  4. Um...preplanned events? by Seakip18 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I figure just throwing a bunch of nerds and alcohol will produce more "intellectual" stimulating exercises than this whole pre-planning will. I mean, nothing wrong with a soldering contest with beer, but I'll take a bunch of napkins and spur-of-the-moment scribbled ideas after a night of drinking with my fellow guys than attend an organized town-meeting.

    I mean, who HASN'T had a a great/horrible idea when drinking?

    --
    import system.cool.Sig;
  5. now thats a night life that i can get used to : by unity100 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    'a night life that involves actually talking to creative people doing exciting things.'

    withering away one's life in a dark bar corner with sleazy sluts and calling it fun didnt make much sense ever anyways.

    --
    Read radical news here
  6. Re:Sausage Fest by that+IT+girl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What about geek ladies?

    --
    10 FILL MUG WITH COFFEE
    20 DRINK COFFEE
    30 GOTO 10