NYT Techie Night Life Reprogrammed

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.

Comments

I guess we're talking "web time", right?

[krygny]

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

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

soldering contest?

[NothingMore]

What ever happened to the classic drinking contest? Sure you dont learn something useful like you would in a soldering contest but at least at the end all the girls look significantly hotter.

Re:soldering contest?

[Profane MuthaFucka]

In geek bars, drinking solder makes girls find YOU significantly hotter.

Yeah, that's nice.

[zullnero]

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.

Re:Yeah, that's nice.

[Knara]

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?

Re:Yeah, that's nice.

[e4g4]

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).

Cyber-nouveau riche

[Colonel Korn]

And we finally have a definitive answer to the question asked at least since the time of the Roman Republic: how can we segregate those with new wealth but no cultural sophistication away from the rest of society without isolating their money from the larger economy?

The apparent answer: soldering contests with expensive drinks.

now thats a night life that i can get used to :

[unity100]

'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.

Re:Sausage Fest

[Anonymous Coward]

I predict a total sausage fest.

Come on, ladies.

Geeks are great, once you get to know us.

[citation needed]

I was there, it was fun

[rsmah]

I went to this thing. The soldering contest was just the warm up (a friend of mine participated and almost won).

The event was actually pretty fun. It was in a biggish bar/lounge so there was plenty of booze and it was *packed*. The crowd was a mix of geeks, artsy types and business folks. A bit loud, but hey, it's NYC.

The main thing was a bunch of 5 minute presentations. They were NOT demos or requests for funding as someone else implied. The talks ranged from funny (how NYPD conducts undercover prostitution busts) to weird (guerilla knitting) to informative (how to raise money from angels) to cool (a prof from NYU's ITP who showed a bunch of new tactile interface ideas) to preachy (helping out in third world countries). Most of the speakers were pretty good. One guy even did his in rap/hip-hop style.

All in all, it was fun and everyone I know who went was glad they did.

Rob

Re:Sausage Fest

[that IT girl]

Woah, really? Then where did I get these? :o