Initial Planning

[Gary Trakhman]

Alright, so to get this off the ground, we'll need a place, a time, something to talk about and an audience.  My next task will be to make  organizing all that stuff cohesive.  But, let's start the conversation?

[Alex]

I like the Beehive option, have you gotten any traction there?

Is there any possibility of Revelytix hosting?

I also have some professional friends in Canton that I could check up
on their willingness to host, but the space seems less than ideal to
me given the level of security involved. (Of course, IIRC the ETC
elevators lock down at 5PM)

I think the Ruby meetup tend to congregate at Max's for socializing,
and hang out at mdlogix for a quieter contemplative space.

We could also contact the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, they
host Baltimore Dorkbot's meetings and might host us as well.

[Gary Trakhman]

We have an office in Hampden 50ft from the lightrail stop, also with
ample parking, I will inquire about its availability. I think it can
handle up to 20 folks comfortably, and there's some bars nearby on
36th. I'm still talking to the Beehive guys, they're having some
e-mail bounce-back issues.

[Gary Trakhman]

Well, I'm thinking that we probably won't have enough inertia to put together the whole production for a little while, at least until after the holidays, but maybe we should start small.  You guys like beer, right?  How about we hit up Max's or another spot one of these nights?  I could do Wednesday or Friday after 7 or Thursday after 8.

[Blaine Nelson]

I like beer.

I can do Wednesdays and some Fridays. A joint like Max's could be
pretty loud on a Friday night. It would be nice to be able to hear
everyone.

[Gary Trakhman]

Awesome, Blaine, would you be up for Max's tonight at like 7:30?  I can announce it if I know a person will show up :-).

Also, my boss agreed to sponsor whatever we need including pizza and stuff.  So, the Hampden office will work, it can probably fit up to 20 comfortably.  I haven't heard back from the Beehive guys yet, but I'll try to get more involved there.

It's located right near the Woodberry Light Rail stop.

[Gary Trakhman]

I guess it's too short notice for tonight.  How about we plan on beer next Wednesday, the 14th, at Max's?

[Blaine Nelson]

Sounds good.  

[Alex]

I'm in.

[Gary Trakhman]

Well, we had a pretty good turnout at the beer night, 6 guys found the way even though we had to go to a different bar :-).  Current plan is to have another beer night after the holidays, and at some point we can plan a presentation-type event.  Once we have some talks lined-up, I think it will be a good time to try and publicize the group some more, until then we stick with low-commitment beer nights once in a while?  Thoughts?

[Gary Trakhman]

You folks wanna do a beer night this Wednesday, Jan 11th?  Hopefully Max's won't be crazy this time.

[Patrick O'Neill]

I'd be up for it.

Cheers,
Pat.

[Gary Trakhman]

Pat, I'll have a beer with you tomorrow if you like, or if there's another day that can work better for others, we can do that.  I want to make sure at least a few folks interested in coming so it's worth making an announcement.

[Blaine Nelson]

Hey Gary, this was a little short notice for me.  What about next Wednesday?  The 18th?

[Gary Trakhman]

Hey Blaine! Yea, fine by me.

[Patrick O'Neill]

Next Wednesday's good for me too.

[Nathaniel Waisbrot]

I'm going to be completely occupied for all this month, at least, but
I'm hoping you all decide to do regular meet-ups and that I can catch
either the next or the one after.

[John Szakmeister]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 6:47 AM, Nathaniel Waisbrot
<nath...@waisbrot.net> wrote:
> I'm going to be completely occupied for all this month, at least, but
> I'm hoping you all decide to do regular meet-ups and that I can catch
> either the next or the one after.

Same here!

-John

[Ryan Zezeski]

On Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 11:16 PM, Patrick O'Neill <po...@umbc.edu> wrote:

Next Wednesday's good for me too.

I can't make next Wednesday, I'll be in Denver.  You all have fun. 

[Gary Trakhman]

Hey, Patrick and Blaine (or anyone else who hasn't voiced yet): would anyone of you guys be opposed or delighted to push it back to Thursday?  It would work slightly better for me this week, though I can still do Wednesday.  Generally Wednesday is best for me.

[Patrick O'Neill]

I'm indifferent between them, really.

Cheers,
Pat.

[Blaine Nelson]

Can't do Thursday.  

We could push it back a week and see if we get some more people?  

[Gary Trakhman]

I could do that, yea

[Gary Trakhman]

I think tomorrow morning or so I'll go ahead and announce a beer night this coming wednesday the 25th. This is a pre-announcement announcement :-).

[Alex]

With two days left, let's get an announcement out on both
baltimorefp.wordpress.com and the @baltimorefp account. :)

[Gary Trakhman]

Beer night summary:  Hey guys, so I think we agreed on a plan for future meetups. Let the list know if there is any conflict, dates are somewhat flexible, but the first goal is to get something running and stable.

So, here's the plan:

bar/beer night: 1st-ish Wednesday of every month in Fell's pt, Hampden, or Federal Hill

talks/hack night: 3rd-ish Wednesday of every month at Revelytix in Hampden (50ft from the Woodberry light rail station, plenty of parking)

Talks proposals will happen in a separate thread, we will gauge interest by tallying replies, and pick talks if there is no strong preference.  I will try to get some recording equipment so we can have videos like the legit guys :-).  People are encouraged to come around, hack, and listen/give talks.  Talks will tend towards tutorials/theoretical but will try to be both accessible to newbies (videos will help with that) and interesting for experienced guys.

I hope we create a chill environment to learn and teach ourselves/others about the virtues and techniques of Functional Programming (or whatever we FPers find interesting).