Last night was the first Philadelphia Geek Dinner. I went in with no expectations and would have labeled it a success if two people joined for a good meal and intelligent conversation.
But there were ten of us at our table. We shared in good drink, good food, intellectually stimulating conversation, and all of us were given the chance to make friends with new people in the industry. That’s what meetups are about.
The night’s crowd was diverse. Ten people. Four Philadelphians. Four imports (to Philadelphia). Two in-for-a-short-while-and-leaving-within-hours. A comp-sci teacher. Wireless expert. A few company owners. Developers (.NET, Mac, Linux). Project managers. Videographer. Pilots (four out of ten!?). Photographers. Security experts… In just ten people.
Favorite topics from the evening: Introductions, aviation (being pilots), the story of National Mechanics, wireless (T-Mobile 3G), blogging and video blogging, drive and aspirations between small and large companies.
By the way – National Mechanics feels like the quintessential starting point for intelligent people in Philadelphia to meet up. I’ve only been here twice, but I keep hearing that this is where those of us in the tech field (and beyond) can find smart people. When I was listening in on other conversations around us I overheard lots of great stuff. Bottom line, this is a must-visit-repeatedly location in Philadelphia (if you’re smart).
Anyway, couldn’t ask for anything more. So glad to have everyone in the mix.
Sol, thanks for taking the initiative to start the Philly Geek Dinners! I'm looking forward to future dinners and conversations.
Thanks Kimberly for attending. It was great meeting you! Glad you had
good time.
Sol,
Just stumbled across the Geek Dinner. Thought it would make a great article/film for the Philadelphia Weekly. Would you mind having a writer present? You can contact me at swells@philadelphiaweekly.com
Steven Wells
Sol,
Just stumbled across the Geek Dinner. Thought it would make a great article/film for the Philadelphia Weekly. Would you mind having a writer present?
Steven Wells
Steven, sure, we'd love to have you. You'll have to participate, but we'd love to have you.
The next Geek Dinner is Wednesday, September 3rd at 7pm.
I got tired of replying on twitter :) . How bout having a car pool to philly geek dinner the next time?
I really wanted to be there (not sure If i'd fit in – I'm just passionate about tech but not too involved). I don't have a car and don't necessarily want to travel alone in philly at night :P
I take the train depending on weather and timing – might drive. We can get a
thread going on the Facebook group about carpooling though.
I've moved the Geek Dinner to the first Wednesday so people can make use of
$1.00 parking at the Ritz East garage and so we don't overlap the agile
developer group.
Sol,
Just stumbled across the Geek Dinner. Thought it would make a great article/film for the Philadelphia Weekly. Would you mind having a writer present? You can contact me at swells@philadelphiaweekly.com
Steven Wells
Sol,
Just stumbled across the Geek Dinner. Thought it would make a great article/film for the Philadelphia Weekly. Would you mind having a writer present?
Steven Wells
Steven, sure, we'd love to have you. You'll have to participate, but we'd love to have you.
The next Geek Dinner is Wednesday, September 3rd at 7pm.
I got tired of replying on twitter :) . How bout having a car pool to philly geek dinner the next time?
I really wanted to be there (not sure If i'd fit in – I'm just passionate about tech but not too involved). I don't have a car and don't necessarily want to travel alone in philly at night :P
I take the train depending on weather and timing – might drive. We can get a
thread going on the Facebook group about carpooling though.
I've moved the Geek Dinner to the first Wednesday so people can make use of
$1.00 parking at the Ritz East garage and so we don't overlap the agile
developer group.