I’m a student at Hive here in Helsinki and would love to attend. Lurking on HN for years but not nearly enough Karma. I’ve bookmarked the form for later however I’ll try my luck anyway with the form now. Very cool to know there is an HN meet up here!
Thank you HN for the karma on the above comment, I've since kindly been added to the group. No more helpful get 71153750 into the meetup karma needed. I will endeavour to comment more and post to earn it!
Nice one! As a seasoned industry veteran, I've been wanting to have something like this, and while there are many evening tech meetups going on around here, your schedule is much more suitable for the otherwise busy life! *starts karma mining to qualify*
Filled the form and included my email with the HN user ID just in case you'd be willing to deliver the meeting details that way when they've been decided.
The phone number is not associated with WhatsApp (never had it, and won't), but it works with Signal in case it would be more viable option for meetup info comms than email. Who knows, perhaps even a shadow group already exists there, or has potential to get established?
Thank you for arranging such gatherings, hoping to meet up soon!
Hi. Long-term HN user based in Helsinki. I'd join but don't really want to share my phone number with a large group of people. Can you not find another way to co-ordinate?
There should be an email sent out whenever a meet is organized. WhatsApp group is mostly for choosing the most suitable date and a place , it’s not mandatory for participation
Someone correct me if I'm wrong (I've never used it myself), but Google Voice doesn't seem to be available in Finland at all so probably not?
> Google Voice is a telephone service that provides a U.S. telephone number to Google Account customers in the U.S. and Google Workspace customers in Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the contiguous United States.
Not sure what I'm supposed to do with a US phone number anyway, I'd probably be more embarrassed about using a US phone number then letting people in a HN meetup group see my real phone number.
Great! I just spent the past 4 days in Helsinki for vacation (writing this from Silja ferry to Copenhage). Really lovely city , Allas pool Sauna is really a "something else" experience for a Mexican, and a friend of mine who lives there mentioned the vibrant startup community you guys have there. I read a bit more about it and visited Oodi library, which apparently has some great perks for startupers.
Im envious of the startup atmosphere you got there, particularly the more "socialized" less cutthroat d*k waving sense of it .
Dunno if it's a generational thing or what, but I check my email like maybe once a day sometimes I can go 2-3 days without looking at it. It's just a place where Stuff gathers and I go through it when I Get around to it. Can't even remember when I used email to actually communicate with a non-business entity outside of work.
I am not from the area but the deliberations about which messaging platform is kosher are an enormous time waste for every bottom-up organization, especially FOSS projects or hacker spaces.
Interesting you think it's less important for "FOSS projects". I would think the chat should be free software especially in those circles. IRC, XMPP, Matrix, email. Lots of options that have been around for decades now.
As a Finn, I've definitely had to say the phrase "No, I don't have WhatsApp" more times than I care to count. That being said, I imagine a FOSS project or hacker space to be more cognisant of WhatsApp's ownership than a car dealership trying to sell me a used car via video call. I got rid of my WhatsApp precisely because Meta started tweaking the terms of service.
There are a few people who don’t use e-mail, sure, like Donald Knuth. But conscientious objectors to e-mail? I don’t know of any, and if you find any, they probably don’t use the Internet, either.
My thoughts exactly, but I noticed Europe is heavily dependent on WhatsApp for some reason, everyone I have ever talked to before they ask for WhatsApp and some even look shocked when you say you never use it! Instead of email, simpleX or element would do the job.
There was one 14 years ago. I even gave a talk there once. Maybe some of the original organizers or attendees who commented on this post would be interested in rebooting it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4754269
I tend to like the smaller meetups that are focused. But they often degrade in quality as they scale. A failure mode I hit several times was group circles with a louder or opinionated person eventually entering and taking the focus of the group. For large meetups that's not an issue I suppose. Break-out groups did work, but it needs some planning.
Not going, but just adding commentary - Having a karma requirement for a physical meetup is a poor choice. People will come out physically if they truly care, gatekeeping it with internet points is a bad idea, especially if you turn people away.
Having it be an open invitation meetup would attract a very different cohort and would have a very different character. Feel free to start that meetup - I might give it a try. But I wouldn't be interested in spending my personal time organising it
Makes me wonder if there's any meetups in my neck of the woods in good ole Nova Scotia. I kind of doubt it, but it would be wicked. Hope you guys have a great time!
I live in Helsinki so this seems fun. Commenters everywhere are a pretty strongly (self-)selected bunch so seems like a good way to get a strong selection effect without arduous requirements. Does anyone have previous experience with this kind of a setup?
theres def atleast one OG guy id love to buy a coffee/beer for there, no idea if he goes to HN meets tho, would love to attend at when Im next over there in any case.
I suppose organizers choose the easiest way to contact people rather than relying on one of the least-used messaging apps that people won't install just to attend a meetup.
> To keep the group focused on posters (and not just readers!) anyone can join so long as:
> they have a non-greenname account
> they have 64 karma or more
Is the karma checked at the door or is it at the time of submission? Seems like somebody could be at 12 and then post “actually I believe the general consensus on gravity is wrong” in the right thread the night before and roll in with 89 points
Would be interesting to join but have to get bit more karma :)
I think you will have enough after your message ;)
We're not too strict about that, please join!
Mission accomplished Toivo karma: 84
let me help
I’m a student at Hive here in Helsinki and would love to attend. Lurking on HN for years but not nearly enough Karma. I’ve bookmarked the form for later however I’ll try my luck anyway with the form now. Very cool to know there is an HN meet up here!
Thank you HN for the karma on the above comment, I've since kindly been added to the group. No more helpful get 71153750 into the meetup karma needed. I will endeavour to comment more and post to earn it!
You were added :) See you in person
Nice one! As a seasoned industry veteran, I've been wanting to have something like this, and while there are many evening tech meetups going on around here, your schedule is much more suitable for the otherwise busy life! *starts karma mining to qualify*
Filled the form and included my email with the HN user ID just in case you'd be willing to deliver the meeting details that way when they've been decided.
The phone number is not associated with WhatsApp (never had it, and won't), but it works with Signal in case it would be more viable option for meetup info comms than email. Who knows, perhaps even a shadow group already exists there, or has potential to get established?
Thank you for arranging such gatherings, hoping to meet up soon!
I guess it's the luck of the draw, but unfortunately Sunday's are no good for me. The curse of parenting :)
But it's still a great idea, and I wish you all happy meetups. Would be nice if this inspired other groups to form too.
We also meet in the evenings sometimes, so I would join now and figure it out later.
We've been organising this for a while (a year? more?). It's quite relaxed - just a coffee morning every month or two.
I'm sure there are other HN local meetups who could post in this thread - please do if you have a local meetup
Please! Would love HN meetup in Berlin.
I've put my email in my profile, if you want to join the email thread, then send me an email :+1:
If anyone else wants to join the email thread for a Berlin HN meetup, ping me an email - no google nor whatsapp required ;)
+1 for Berlin. Moving there in two weeks. Pls email me; my email is in my profile (your profile doesn’t show an email at the time of writing).
Just sent out an email thread to those that have emails in Berlin!
Interested in Berlin also. Happy to help co-organize also. Email in profile.
Make it happen, don't wait for someone else to do the work on your behalf :)
Excellent initiative, Cal! Thanks for organising
Would love to join something like this in Brussels
Replying in case anyone is in Amsterdam :)
Anyone Eindhoven?
I’d be interested! My email is in my HN profile, let’s set something up!
Like, worst case scenario we just start with the two of us.
Would love to organise a meet in Ineleț
Too bad this requires using WhatsUp.
WhatsApp isn't really required. If you submit the form, we will email about about the date and location of the next event.
What a great idea! Anyone that want to join up in Oslo / Norway?
I can use the work office, have more then enough coffee, tea etc. with space to around 150 people.
https://forms.gle/2pDEkQTYihQ4txK29
(Copy pasted the form. Why change a winning team)
Unfortunately it's a little far to go for coffee from Tromsø.
Hi. Long-term HN user based in Helsinki. I'd join but don't really want to share my phone number with a large group of people. Can you not find another way to co-ordinate?
There should be an email sent out whenever a meet is organized. WhatsApp group is mostly for choosing the most suitable date and a place , it’s not mandatory for participation
Things might change in the future, it seems that WhatsApp is gonna start offering usernames, I saw the notice on my app a few weeks back.
That would allow using it with strangers, without sharing a number, in the future.
You don't have a throwaway Google Voice number? I use one for dating apps. Very convenient and worry free.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong (I've never used it myself), but Google Voice doesn't seem to be available in Finland at all so probably not?
> Google Voice is a telephone service that provides a U.S. telephone number to Google Account customers in the U.S. and Google Workspace customers in Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the contiguous United States.
Not sure what I'm supposed to do with a US phone number anyway, I'd probably be more embarrassed about using a US phone number then letting people in a HN meetup group see my real phone number.
This is a conversation about a HN meetup in Europe. Google voice is not available on the free tier to Europeans. It requires google workspace.
Doesn't WhatsApp have usernames these days?
I believe in a group chat you can see everyone's phone number.
They're rolling out a new feature I believe to allow username only
Hacker News London meets up on a semi-regular basis. They have recently moved from Meetup to Luma:
https://luma.com/calendar/cal-plFkEeW4fsaL5Nx
Great! I just spent the past 4 days in Helsinki for vacation (writing this from Silja ferry to Copenhage). Really lovely city , Allas pool Sauna is really a "something else" experience for a Mexican, and a friend of mine who lives there mentioned the vibrant startup community you guys have there. I read a bit more about it and visited Oodi library, which apparently has some great perks for startupers.
Im envious of the startup atmosphere you got there, particularly the more "socialized" less cutthroat d*k waving sense of it .
Ironically, a karma threshold will rule out most Finns
Damn right:D
I'd love to join, sadly I'm mainly lurking around here so I don't have the required karma.
Tell a bit more about yourself and maybe somebody would invite you as a +1?
> We use a WhatsApp group for co-ordination
I would've gladly joined if you hadn't decided on a service owned by Meta...
It initially begun as an email thread, but we settled on WhatsApp owing to, well, most people having WhatsApp.
Surely e-mail is even more widely used?
Dunno if it's a generational thing or what, but I check my email like maybe once a day sometimes I can go 2-3 days without looking at it. It's just a place where Stuff gathers and I go through it when I Get around to it. Can't even remember when I used email to actually communicate with a non-business entity outside of work.
WhatsApp messages I get immediately.
Surely checking once every three days is frequent enough to see an invite for a meetup that happens once every eight to ten weeks?
I am not from the area but the deliberations about which messaging platform is kosher are an enormous time waste for every bottom-up organization, especially FOSS projects or hacker spaces.
Interesting you think it's less important for "FOSS projects". I would think the chat should be free software especially in those circles. IRC, XMPP, Matrix, email. Lots of options that have been around for decades now.
As a Finn, I've definitely had to say the phrase "No, I don't have WhatsApp" more times than I care to count. That being said, I imagine a FOSS project or hacker space to be more cognisant of WhatsApp's ownership than a car dealership trying to sell me a used car via video call. I got rid of my WhatsApp precisely because Meta started tweaking the terms of service.
There is a conscientious objector to every communication system. As was said above: WhatsApp had the fewest.
There are a few people who don’t use e-mail, sure, like Donald Knuth. But conscientious objectors to e-mail? I don’t know of any, and if you find any, they probably don’t use the Internet, either.
There is also Böbbi Tables from Trollhein
My thoughts exactly, but I noticed Europe is heavily dependent on WhatsApp for some reason, everyone I have ever talked to before they ask for WhatsApp and some even look shocked when you say you never use it! Instead of email, simpleX or element would do the job.
They'll enjoy their time without you just fine.
Anyone who’d be interested in a meetup in Cologne?
There was one 14 years ago. I even gave a talk there once. Maybe some of the original organizers or attendees who commented on this post would be interested in rebooting it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4754269
I am in if it one is running. email in bio if you want to reach out to coordinate.
Sure! But where?
Wherever, can be also in a Brauhaus :) Updated my bio with an email, feel free to contact me (also in german)
+1
Feel free to contact me via the mail in my bio (also in german)
Would anyone be interested in meeting up in Rome? My contact's on my profile and I'm happy to organize.
Perhaps we could host it jointly in Milan and Rome?
Any Meetups in NL? Im far from the Randstad, would've loved to host one otherwise
If you're near the Maastricht / Aachen area:
https://www.meetup.com/euregiotechmeetup/
I'd rather not go there. Too crowded, too busy, too much violence. I wouldn't mind a city, though. Is Zwolle an option?
Edit: just saw your profile, sorry never mind ^^'
I just moved to Kampen, so if you can get a Zwolle thing going, I'm game
Eindhoven?
That is amazing. Back in Helsinki soon. <3
Same!
I'd love tips for maintaining a good meetup.
I tend to like the smaller meetups that are focused. But they often degrade in quality as they scale. A failure mode I hit several times was group circles with a louder or opinionated person eventually entering and taking the focus of the group. For large meetups that's not an issue I suppose. Break-out groups did work, but it needs some planning.
This might be useful: https://www.techtrib.es/guide
Nice. Does anyone know if a Stockholm group exists?
Not as far as I know. We can surely start one tho. I wouldn't mind just setting a spot and time, and then those who can just show or don't.
I can make a post about it promoting it.
HN Fika! Lmk if you set it up
I'd be interested too.
Not going, but just adding commentary - Having a karma requirement for a physical meetup is a poor choice. People will come out physically if they truly care, gatekeeping it with internet points is a bad idea, especially if you turn people away.
Having it be an open invitation meetup would attract a very different cohort and would have a very different character. Feel free to start that meetup - I might give it a try. But I wouldn't be interested in spending my personal time organising it
Specifically only interested in this because of the karma limit.
Anyone want to organize one in Amsterdam with me? I live near the area, would be fun :)
Idga game dev events are cool, but this could be more coding focused so definetly interested lacking points, but sent the form anyways
I see a bunch of people interested in Los Angeles on https://meet.hn/
Makes me wonder if there's any meetups in my neck of the woods in good ole Nova Scotia. I kind of doubt it, but it would be wicked. Hope you guys have a great time!
I live in Helsinki so this seems fun. Commenters everywhere are a pretty strongly (self-)selected bunch so seems like a good way to get a strong selection effect without arduous requirements. Does anyone have previous experience with this kind of a setup?
Very cool, excited to join as well - lets talk there is opportunity to have a space for this up to 20-30 ppl
Do we have enough people in Tallinn, Estonia to organize one here as well? :)
Is there a list of these by country?
There is https://meet.hn/, which is a good way to bootstrap (and indeed, how I bootstrapped this meetup)
Hey I'm already on the site! Used to have the link with my city on my profile.
How does one bootstrap a meet from this? Just explore the map around my location and try to get in contact with people somehow?
You pray that people either have their contact details in their HN profile or that they attached some social networks to their meet.hn post.
Then you trawl through your set of qualified leads :)
This is very cool. I’ve lived in Tallinn for a while so definitely would attend if it was ~5-ish years ago.
This is what I keep telling people
Man, if I still lived in Finland, I'd absolutely want to go! Seems like a fantastic idea!
Anyone from Prague who would like to meet other active HN users?
Long shot, but if there is anybody reading this from Salzburg, lmk if you want to meet up!
Is there one for Warsaw?
Is there any meetup in Paris?
Thanks for reminding me to attend this. I'll try to join the next one!
theres def atleast one OG guy id love to buy a coffee/beer for there, no idea if he goes to HN meets tho, would love to attend at when Im next over there in any case.
Anyone interested in a meetup in Singapore?
Any meetups in Vancouver, Canada?
Or Ontario?
Any interest in a Lisbon meetup?
> We use a WhatsApp group for co-ordination. The time and location of the meetup is announced there.
That's a hard no. You really, really should use Signal instead.
I suppose organizers choose the easiest way to contact people rather than relying on one of the least-used messaging apps that people won't install just to attend a meetup.
Edit: It doesn't even seem to be strictly required https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181030
They could easily use both, if necessary.
Or link them and more via a Matrix server - but that would require a bit more work to do.
Anyone north east pa USA?
As in North East, PA, the town in Erie County?
Nah. Other side of the state :D
Ah, bummer haha
great idea! pls, hnmeetup.com/[place] anyone?
https://meet.hn/ is tangential but not quite for meetups, just discovering who lives nearby. Could be a good starting point though!
> To keep the group focused on posters (and not just readers!) anyone can join so long as:
> they have a non-greenname account
> they have 64 karma or more
Is the karma checked at the door or is it at the time of submission? Seems like somebody could be at 12 and then post “actually I believe the general consensus on gravity is wrong” in the right thread the night before and roll in with 89 points
Then they made a proper effort to get there. Fair game IMHO.
Ah, if only I were from Helsinki, I would have signed up.
Tallinn - then take ferry
64 karma requirement? Pfft. I’d go to a 1k min karma meetup tho ;)
I refuse to join any meetup where some like me meets the karma requirements.
You mean 1024 right?
You mean 1337 right? You are almost there, just need 20 more.
sounds about right, people with 64 with just drink the (supposedly) free beer and not talk until much later.
relevant: https://xkcd.com/1000/
1k? pfft, I'd go to a 10k karma meetup
Personally, I’d only meet with those in the triple digits of karma.
Imagine hosting a meetup in Chicago and getting raided by ICE
It was interesting until I saw:
>To join, fill out the Google Form.
Bro gtfoh
What would you suggest instead for others hosting events like this?