2°C welcome - superfluous introduction
Friends,
I like to meet friends, get enriched by their wisdom, challenging thinking and also, to meet people and get to really understand them better.
To facilitate this, I've been doing a informal chat called 2°C for the past few years on random frequency.
- 2° = two degrees apart, aka Not known to you = new people
- C = connection = chat = challenge = communication = conversation
- Topic is determined earlier in week on strong desire or interest by 1 person or me :)
- Said person sends some thought provoking articles, so everyone is caught up
- Then, come meet, talk / discuss and explore, ideally: invite a few people who are relevant to topic / experts
WHAT THE 2ºC?
Most interactions that interlace depth of conversation in a limited time interval are often facilitated by immediate / close friends, but are one degree further apart (Research TBD - but it's my hunch and heck, why not). Reason being, people meeting first time cold, know nothing and stick with niceties for far too long and good friends hang out and just shoot the shit aimlessly often - finding the healthy balance is when the one degree apart could work. We are in the valley and there is a buzz abound of startups, impact on the world and more, well here's a attempt at being part of the solution.
What? - Finding fellow curious or interesting folks to delve into a topic of choice for a few hours with some libations, wit and real conversation beyond weekend plans and the party last weekend! Results could range from mindless banter to saving the world to finding a way to not be evil
Why? - Cos sometimes, thinking outside of work needs an excuse (drinking vino or some chai or coffee)
How? - Logistics and planning
- Think of a day or share a doodle
- Invite people to contribute or suggest +Topics
- Suggest inviting one other non-group person on the calendar event once you have a small critical mass (3+ people)
- Send out some reading / material from someone passionate about the space
- Invite one a friend or acquaintance if you can who you respect for innovative thinking, deep spikes of passion or interest, or just having a critical mind to come along
(Calendar event Is editable so you can add / share context and last min logistics)
Logistics
Venues are variable - At my house would be the default, but Noisebridge, Maker's or other communal houses or Impact Hubs are easy to use if anyone has ideas.
Generally, we can order some takeaway food and bring or share beverages of choice or do it at a bar / not too noisy restaurant with amenable seating
- Examples
- Real estate session with a intriguing group - Q2 2013
- Discussion with focus on hardware startups - Q3 2013
- A few startup and accelerator focused ones 2014 (got dormant 😴 )
- Delightful focus on +volunteer tourism and its pro/cons - Q2 2015
- Did one on +Art purchasing by young professionals (and why it is rare) London Q2 2015
- Chinese startup dynamics - Q3 2015
- +Had a discussion around VR - Q1 2016
- +Discussion on the future of the workplace SF - Q2 2016 (Basic income etc)
- +Discussion "immigrant experience of non voting" SF - Q3/Q4 2016
- New one on +Technology & Regulation - Implications and conversations - Q1 2017
- A +focus discussion on Uber / Sexism and how to think through what it means - Q1 2017
- Immigrant life - 2019 / 2020 and lack of voting rights!
- Gentrification 2019 march
To Dos
- Already live - buy 2degrees.org and 2deg.org :+1:
- Run more salons