Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Thomas A. Beckett" <thomas AT tbeckett.com>]

        Upon rereading, I think that my use of the term "shallow contrivance"
could be taken as harsher in tone than I intended.  What I meant was, I
like things like stupid party games which get people to meet each
other.  It's shallow, it's clearly artificial, but IMHO it works.  For
instance, the Drink Exchange group out in San Francisco has a rule that
when you come to the event, you have to start out by buying two drinks,
but you can't buy a drink for yourself (or anyone you came with) ever. 
It's a shallow contrivance to force people to step outside familiar
territory and network.  

        I think Uzi's proposal is pretty neat.  My main concern would be that
INW could be construed as a pick-up event, which may not be where we
want to focus.  (That is not to say that folks don't already come to INW
a-trawling for romance.  That is definitely a fun aspect of the total
melange that is an INW gathering.)  

        OTOH, if we set up a one-off singles night, kind of the way the 
Geeknic
was put together, could that work?  Rather than ask, who on this list
would be interested in coming to such an affair, I would ask:  

- Do you think that /other/ single folks in the InterNetWorkers milieu
would be interested in attending a singles-focused event?  

- If so, would the six-minute rotating tables thing be a suitable
shallow contrivance to get the ice broken?  

- What other shallow contrivances might be fun and effective?  

- How long would it take to write a PERL script to assign seating in the
proper balance to ensure that everyone met everyone?  

- Where should we have such an event?  

- Is Geek Love too dangerous a territory to get into?  

- Are mixed marriages (Windows/Linux, Apple/Intel) socially acceptable?  

        What do y'all think?

TaB