Helsinki Hacker News Meetup

(calpaterson.com)

137 points | by calpaterson 3 hours ago

37 comments

  • VCFundedGenYer 2 minutes ago
    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.
  • 71153750 1 hour ago
    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!
    • calpaterson 21 minutes ago
      You were added :) See you in person
  • sqbic 2 hours ago
    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!

  • toivo 2 hours ago
    Would be interesting to join but have to get bit more karma :)
    • darkwater 2 hours ago
      I think you will have enough after your message ;)
    • patricjansson 1 hour ago
      Mission accomplished Toivo karma: 84
    • olegp 2 hours ago
      We're not too strict about that, please join!
    • eric_khun 2 hours ago
      let me help
  • deanc 37 minutes ago
    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?
    • asimovDev 2 minutes ago
      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
    • Hamuko 32 minutes ago
      Doesn't WhatsApp have usernames these days?
      • deanc 15 minutes ago
        I believe in a group chat you can see everyone's phone number.
  • calpaterson 3 hours ago
    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

    • techsystems 14 minutes ago
      Anyone Eindhoven?
    • weli 2 hours ago
      Please! Would love HN meetup in Berlin.
      • kamyarg 35 minutes ago
        Interested in Berlin also. Happy to help co-organize also. Email in profile.
      • earthnail 1 hour ago
        +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).
        • Towaway69 13 minutes ago
          Just sent out an email thread to those that have emails in Berlin!
      • bossyTeacher 2 hours ago
        Make it happen, don't wait for someone else to do the work on your behalf :)
    • rrr_oh_man 2 hours ago
      Excellent initiative, Cal! Thanks for organising
    • svlasov 2 hours ago
      Too bad this requires using WhatsUp.
      • olegp 2 hours ago
        WhatsApp isn't really required. If you submit the form, we will email about about the date and location of the next event.
  • wissio 1 hour ago
    Ironically, a karma threshold will rule out most Finns
  • punnerud 1 hour ago
    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)

    • e12e 51 minutes ago
      Unfortunately it's a little far to go for coffee from Tromsø.
  • slerb 2 hours ago
    I'd love to join, sadly I'm mainly lurking around here so I don't have the required karma.
    • notpushkin 2 hours ago
      Tell a bit more about yourself and maybe somebody would invite you as a +1?
  • BonerWiener 2 hours ago
    > We use a WhatsApp group for co-ordination

    I would've gladly joined if you hadn't decided on a service owned by Meta...

    • icy 2 hours ago
      It initially begun as an email thread, but we settled on WhatsApp owing to, well, most people having WhatsApp.
      • mr_mitm 1 hour ago
        Surely e-mail is even more widely used?
        • theshrike79 1 hour ago
          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.

          • e12e 52 minutes ago
            Surely checking once every three days is frequent enough to see an invite for a meetup that happens once every eight to ten weeks?
    • RicoElectrico 1 hour ago
      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.
      • opan 49 minutes ago
        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.
      • Hamuko 1 hour ago
        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.
        • calpaterson 1 hour ago
          There is a conscientious objector to every communication system. As was said above: WhatsApp had the fewest.
          • teddyh 20 minutes ago
            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.
    • izacus 1 hour ago
      They'll enjoy their time without you just fine.
  • melvinroest 39 minutes ago
    Anyone want to organize one in Amsterdam with me? I live near the area, would be fun :)
  • mchinen 57 minutes ago
    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.

  • asimpletune 2 hours ago
    Would anyone be interested in meeting up in Rome? My contact's on my profile and I'm happy to organize.
    • zedr 2 hours ago
      Perhaps we could host it jointly in Milan and Rome?
  • king_crimson 2 hours ago
    Anyone who’d be interested in a meetup in Cologne?
  • ramon156 2 hours ago
    Any Meetups in NL? Im far from the Randstad, would've loved to host one otherwise
    • TrueGeek 54 minutes ago
      If you're near the Maastricht / Aachen area:

      https://www.meetup.com/euregiotechmeetup/

    • techsystems 12 minutes ago
      Eindhoven?
    • tosti 2 hours ago
      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 ^^'

  • mixnix 30 minutes ago
    Is there one for Warsaw?
  • qifzer 1 hour ago
    Hacker News London meets up on a semi-regular basis. They have recently moved from Meetup to Luma:

    https://luma.com/calendar/cal-plFkEeW4fsaL5Nx

  • Hugsbox 1 hour ago
    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!
  • hnacobsxph 51 minutes ago
    This is what I keep telling people
  • rrr_oh_man 2 hours ago
    That is amazing. Back in Helsinki soon. <3
  • matheusmoreira 1 hour ago
    Is there a list of these by country?
  • tommica 1 hour ago
    Man, if I still lived in Finland, I'd absolutely want to go! Seems like a fantastic idea!
  • huksley 1 hour ago
    Very cool, excited to join as well - lets talk there is opportunity to have a space for this up to 20-30 ppl
  • soderfoo 2 hours ago
    Nice. Does anyone know if a Stockholm group exists?
    • JackDanMeier 2 hours ago
      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.

      • mingusrude 43 minutes ago
        I'd be interested too.
      • walagran 52 minutes ago
        HN Fika! Lmk if you set it up
  • notpushkin 2 hours ago
    This is very cool. I’ve lived in Tallinn for a while so definitely would attend if it was ~5-ish years ago.
  • knuckleheads 2 hours ago
    Long shot, but if there is anybody reading this from Salzburg, lmk if you want to meet up!
  • mchinen 1 hour ago
    Any interest in a Lisbon meetup?
  • ionwake 1 hour ago
    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.
  • Arshad-Talpur 2 hours ago
    Is there any meetup in Paris?
  • icy 2 hours ago
    Thanks for reminding me to attend this. I'll try to join the next one!
  • getpokedagain 1 hour ago
    Anyone north east pa USA?
  • dlojudice 1 hour ago
    great idea! pls, hnmeetup.com/[place] anyone?
    • notpushkin 1 hour ago
      https://meet.hn/ is tangential but not quite for meetups, just discovering who lives nearby. Could be a good starting point though!
  • jrflowers 2 hours ago
    > 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

    • earthnail 1 hour ago
      Then they made a proper effort to get there. Fair game IMHO.
  • block_dagger 2 hours ago
    64 karma requirement? Pfft. I’d go to a 1k min karma meetup tho ;)
    • rrr_oh_man 1 hour ago
      I refuse to join any meetup where some like me meets the karma requirements.
    • ifdefdebug 2 hours ago
      You mean 1024 right?
      • voxelghost 2 hours ago
        You mean 1337 right? You are almost there, just need 20 more.
      • xxs 1 hour ago
        sounds about right, people with 64 with just drink the (supposedly) free beer and not talk until much later.
      • Metacelsus 2 hours ago
    • Retr0id 1 hour ago
      1k? pfft, I'd go to a 10k karma meetup
      • valvar 4 minutes ago
        Personally, I’d only meet with those in the triple digits of karma.
  • jdw64 2 hours ago
    Ah, if only I were from Helsinki, I would have signed up.
    • xxs 1 hour ago
      Tallinn - then take ferry
  • trilogic 2 hours ago
    It was interesting until I saw:

    >To join, fill out the Google Form.

    Bro gtfoh

    • opan 47 minutes ago
      What would you suggest instead for others hosting events like this?