We have the nicest and best commenters on the internet, so it stands to reason that we’d be pretty cool to hang out with, too. Anyone can decide to host a gathering. You don’t need to check with me or get input from anyone else.
What I suggest:
- Pick a day and time that works for you.
- Pick a location that is public, easily to reach, and not too elaborate or expensive or requiring of reservations. Boston met at an ice cream shop and hung out there and outside on nearby benches. Chicago is about to do a similar jam. Seattle is putting together a happy hour.
- Do a little research on accessibility – Are there bathrooms? Is it wheelchair friendly? Will there be places to sit?
- Is there a way people can contact you – blog address, email, Twitter handle or hashtag – and a way people will be able to identify the group once they get there?
- Send me an email with the announcement and I’ll post it. That post will be the thread for everyone who wants to talk about the meetup and hash out details and figure out how to stay in touch afterward.
- Don’t fall prey to the Geek Social Fallacy that everything must work for everyone or stress yourself out with elaborate schemes. Herding a bunch of strangers together is hard, so do what works for you. Other people can plan stuff that works for them next time.
- Have a good time and let me know how it went!
- NO CREEPING.
If the whole thing gets ungainly at some point and we have to buy a Meetup membership, that will be a good problem. For now this should work.
Special note for Chicago people: Sweet Machine, Commander Logic and I live here. Which is lucky, because we get to meet local folks! But you don’t have to ask our permission or wait for us to do “official” things or even find out when we’re free. Please feel free to throw something together if you want to, and as stated above, do what works for you.
Eventually my secret evil plan is to throw some kind of larger weekend-long Awkward Con, with tables for people who want to play board games or just color quietly together, karaoke, readings of awkward tales, music, pitches of creative projects for possible collaboration, a film and/or story festival, maybe sessions with self-defense or assertiveness training or other guest speakers, speed-friending, etc. In my mind’s eye I see a kissing booth to take care of all the Never-Been-Kissed folks, a Peanuts-style advice booth, and also two circles drawn on the floor where people can stand and give each other Jedi Hugs and compliments from a few feet away. I need to think on it more, and it definitely won’t happen before 2013. We need a wealthy benefactor, obviously!
CaptainAwkward.com 
Boosting this! The Seattle meetup is tomorrow, 6:30, Wayward Coffeehouse in the Roosevelt neighborhood. We will be the large table with a stuffed Beholder on it and I’ll probably be knitting fingerless gloves in dark blue yarn.
Sorry if this is the wrong place to put this, but with the submission box closed I couldn’t think of anything else:
I’ve got London Meetup #2 all booked up and ready to go, and I’d like to give people as much notice as possible so they can plan. Is there somewhere I can submit it?
Yo, Captain, I’ve emailed you a couple of times about the next London meetup, did they get through?
I’m mostly a lurker, but I was thinking about arranging a New York City meetup. It says I shouldn’t email right now, however, and since this is a large place I wanted to be sure no one else had already started the process.
Why don’t you post the details here (or, it’s okay to email) and I’ll post a thread. Don’t know of anything else in the works, so it’s all you.
*waves*
*waits patiently for Meetup directions to self-destruct in five seconds*
I would be interested!
Did this ever happen?
Hi,
I’d quite like to organise a Bristol UK meetup, but I’ve no idea how many people we would get (possibly none, if London only had 15), so is there any way you could put up a post saying “Possibly Bristol meetup on the cards, would anyone be interested?”. If we get two responses, I can organise something. Numbers would also be great for working out whether I needed to book, etc.
Thanks, and no worries if you’d prefer not to clag up your blog with that kinda thing.
I won’t post a poll, so plan something and see who shows up. Bring a book in case: No one.
Not that you’re crazy for wanting this, but multiply this request by all the cities where people “might” want to do a meetup and it’s an administrative issue for me.
Would you mind if I created a Facebook group for Perth (and/or Australian) Awkwardeers?
Not at all.
I’m in Perth and would love to meet some other Awkwardeers – is there a group/meetups or anything?
Create one!
Dublin, Ireland Awkward Army meetup.
Hi all!
I’m Aoife, a mostly-lurker here at CA, and I’ve decided that despite the fact that party-planning makes me panic, Awkward Army members are so undeniably great that I should try to meet more of them, and am reasonably confident that Interestingly Weird Conversations will happen. And those are some of my favourite conversations! So, meet up!
It will be on Saturday April 13th from three to five. (Not that we’ll be kicked out at five; the cafe is open until nine so if people are having fun and have no other plans sticking around is an option.)
The venue will be Lemon Jelly Cafe. (http://www.lemonjellycafe.ie) It’s on Millennium Walkway, Dublin 1 (sometimes known as the Italian Quarter) which runs perpendicular to the Liffey between Liffey Street and Jervis Street. Lemon Jelly is an accessible, roomy cafe. You can get sustenance ranging from a cuppa and a slice of cake to a bagel or savoury crepe or omelette, but it doesn’t do full large meals. It does do a lovely range of fancypants teas as well as the normal stuff.
I will be sitting at a table with a mutant purple teddy bear-octopus Thing That Should Not Be. I am a short brunette with glasses and I will probably be wearing a top hat.
Please feel free to bring your knitting/crochet/colouring books/other easily transported things that can be done while meeting people.
If you have any questions, you can email me at aoife DOT ni DOT chonchubhair AT gmail DOT com.
You may want to ask if the Captain can post this to the main blog, as I’m not sure how many people will see it here.
Have fun!
Hey, I’m not sure if you got my email, but I am having a meetup in the Twin Cities, tentatively set on September 8th.
Right now this is all sort of tentative, but the meetup will be at Spyhouse Coffee, at their Whittier location. I’m setting the date for September 8th at 6:00 to 9:00ish pm. If that’s too late for everyone, I’m open to changing venues. I’m still very new to the area though, so I’m not totally aware of what’s around.
Assuming nothing changes with timing and/or location, the address is:
2451 Nicollet Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55404
(612) 871-3177
http://www.spyhousecoffee.com
It is at the intersection of 25th and Nicollet. There are baked goods there, some of which should be vegan and/or gluten free. There is parking on the street, but be prepared to look around for a bit. According to Google, there is a bus stop (Nicollet S and 25th St. W) across the street for the 18 route, and several stops serving the 11 and 17 within 3 blocks. I will have a sign at the table and will probably be towards the front. Feel free to bring coloring books or other fun stuff to do!
Please email me at mmmf62 at missouri dot edu if you’re planning on coming, or have any questions, comments or suggestions!
I will make this its own thread, thanks for the reminder.
Hi! I’d like to announce the next DC-area meetup:
Date: Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Busboys & Poets @ 14th & V (2021 14th St. NW) http://www.busboysandpoets.com/
The venue is accessible by metrorail, metrobus, Circulator bus, and Bikeshare; see http://www.busboysandpoets.com/about/14th-v for details. Street parking may be scarce; there are a couple of garages within a block of the restaurant where you can expect to pay $6-10 for the evening.
Busboys & Poets has a variety of well-labeled vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free items, and it’s wheelchair-accessible.
Find our group by looking for the red balloon I’ll bring with me. So I can ask for the right size table, please e-mail me at bokunenjin@gmail.com if you’re planning on coming or have any questions or suggestions.
This is a little short notice because a date was picked on the forums and it took me a bit to find a place because Baltimore is full of stairs. There will be a Baltimore meetup on November 24th at 2pm at the Towson location of The Corner Bakery Café. My mum has told me that it is wheelchair accessible, and the online menu has vegetarian and gluten free options. It’s near the bus stop for the 55, and there is a large, free parking lot. I have blue hair and will wear a batman shirt. The address is:
823 Goucher Blvd.
Towson, MD
21286
Oh, also, the website is http://www.cornerbakerycafe.com
Oh dear… Questions are closed but I was hoping to get a signal boost on an upcoming Chicago meetup that’s been brewing in the forums. Here are the details:
Date: Sunday 1/19/2014
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Dollop Coffee (Uptown), 4181 N Clarendon Ave, Chicago, IL 60613. We’ll be meeting in the back room unless a short flight of stairs will be an issue for anyone.
Transportation: By car, with street parking and a pay lot just down the street; by train, Red Line Sheridan stop; by bus, 151 or 36.
Activities: MAD LIBS!
I am a smallish woman in her twenties with chin-length brown hair, and I will have a sign reading The Awkward Table.
I’ll make it its own post!
Can there be a Las Vegas, NV meetup?
It sounds to me like you are volunteering to organize a Las Vegas, NV meetup. 🙂
Oxford (UK) meetup on March 30th at Combibos (http://www.combibos.co.uk) on Gloucester Green in the city centre. Menu is online and all seating and bathrooms are on the ground floor.
I will have a small plush Cthulhu with me (idea shamelessly stolen from Kate in London) and have long light red hair and glasses. I will be there from 12.30pm for at least an hour.
There is an Oxford Awkwardeers Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/228599867299883/) and also a thread in the forums. I can be emailed at: awkwardkathy AT gmail DOT com
Can we get a signal boost for the San Francisco Bay Area meetup next week (Saturday April 12th 2014) at Lake Merritt in Oakland? I’ll be there at 1:00 PM, easily identifiable by my rainbow shoelaces and red baseball cap. Details are still being hammered out; people can contact me at pellew at gmail dot com (not putting out my phone number in public, but it’s on the forums for members) to give input.
Thanks for this, I don’t read the forums with anything approaching regularity and will never see stuff unless you guys let me know.
Can you link to the venue?
Saturday, April 12, 1:00 pm until when?
There will be a meetup for Melburnian awkward people and associated nerds on May 11. The location is the same as last time, Jimmi Jamz on Lygon (http://www.eastbrunswick.jimmijamz.com/). I’ll be around from about 3pm to about 4:30pm, with a copy of Hark! A Vagrant on my table. There’s tasty pizza (and other food, but pizza!), coffee, and alcohol. It’s fairly accessible, kid friendly, and public transport friendly–plus parking on a Sunday is fairly painless.
Please feel free to bring friends, small children, books, crafts, and interesting facts.
Chicago Meetups are a Thing Again Sort Of!
Date: Saturday, 5/17/2014
Time: 3:00pm
Location: The Chicago Cultural Center Lobby (1st floor), 78 E Washington St, Chicago, IL 60602.
Transportation: By CTA, a whole slew of busses and trains. By Metra/Electric District/South Shore Line, Millenium Station. By car not recommended due to obscenely high cost of parking.
Activities: Let’s look at some art! The CCC has both rotating and permanent exhibitions. I’ll find a table in the lobby and stake out for a while, then when we’ve collected a few people we can head upstairs to the galleries if there’s enough interest. The cafe has permanently closed but I believe outside food and beverages are allowed in the mingling areas but not the galleries.
How to Find Me: I’ll be wearing a shiny purple dress and will have a big sign saying ‘The Awkward Table’.
SPECIAL BONUS ACTIVITY: The Windy City Rollers are having their championship that day as well, and I will be going to the game at 6pm to support my girlfriend on the Manic Attackers.
Dear all,
May’s meetup is the 17th!
Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX near Waterloo station, 11am onwards.
For this month’s theme, bring or talk about something awesome. This can be any of the following:
Since I don’t have a new icebreaker idea yet, we’re going to re-do the colouring one.
If you can, please bring coloured pens, pencils etc., and/or things to colour in. These can be either anything out of copyright you can find on the web, or printups of CA slogans such as ‘House of Bees’, or your best drawing of a golden retriever of love, or a rageasaurus. Or just come as you are!
This venue is working out really well.
They sell food in a cafe (standard sandwiches etc.), but they also don’t mind people bringing food in from outside. There are several other local places where you can buy stuff as well. The excellent food market outside has loads of different food options, which can fit most food requirements, or you can also bring a packed lunch.
Meet on the fourth floor, outside the Blue Bar (go up in the JCB lift, lift 7, which is bright yellow and quite musical). If you have been to a meetup previously on the second floor, we are now in the equivalent place horizontally, but two floors up vertically, if that makes sense?
I will have my Cthulhu with me, which looks like this: http://forbiddenplanet.com/3950-cthulhu-baby-plush/ I have long brown hair and glasses.
The venue is accessible via a lift, and has accessible toilets.
The London Awkward group has a Facebook page, which is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/549571375087294/. There is also a thread in the new forums for saying hello.
My email is Kate DOT Towner AT Gmail DOT com
(June meetup will be on the 14th.)
Cheers,
Kate
Boston Meetup! This weekend!
Date & Time: Saturday, June 7th @ 4:00 PM
Location: The Boston Common by the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (near Frog Pond)
How to find us after 4PM: Look for a pink unicorn plushie somewhere near the monument or Frog Pond
More info:
At least one of us (the person with the plushie) will be able to stick around past 6PM, so feel free to stop by a bit later in the day. This meetup was coordinated over in the CA Forum, and we just remembered that we should also post it here. 🙂
Hi Captain!
There’s a Brooklyn/NYC based meetup this weekend!
WHEN: SAT Jun 21st @ 1-4p
WHERE: Berry Park (@ 4 Berry Street; Brooklyn, NY 11211)
HOW TO FIND US: Look for the orange orangutan plushie!
GAMES AND FUN THINGS: Cards Against Humanity, Apples to Apples, Bannanagrams, and True Colors. If you have other games you’d to bring, feel free! (We’ll also post an update at the CA forums where the meetup was organized)
Sorry, I saw this and then got sidetracked and didn’t get it the signal boost immediately, and it got kind of lost in the mix. I hope you get a good turnout!
Manhattanite here; just finding out about this; hoping I can get there but not quite sure.
Portland, Oregon meetup first weekend in August!
When: Saturday, August 2nd, from 2:00 to 5:00-or-whenever
Where: Tiny’s Coffee Southeast, 1412 SE 12th Ave
What: Crafts and/or games; I’m bringing Imaginiff and some yarn and crochet hooks.
I (Sunflower on the comments and forums, Julia in meatspace) will be wearing a bright red bandanna on my head or neck. If you’d like to rsvp or suggest activities, or have more questions, feel free to email me at jaybird at rattlebrain dot com
Posted to main site, have fun!
Seattle meet-up, last-minute annoucement. (Zee organized this over on the Friends forums, and I noticed there was nothing posted here, so asked if I should let you know.)
People (Zee at least, and almost certainly Vicki) will be gathering at Bauhaus, 414 E. Pine Street (on Pine Street between Crawford Pl and Summit) in Capitol HIll tomorrow, Saturday, August 9, starting around 3:00. Bauhaus serves coffee, tea, other beverages, and light snacks. Look for the big stuffed pony. Zee says “If you’re familiar with the Wells Fargo ponies you’ll recognize it right away, but it’s just a big tan colored stuffed pony.”
Hello, Captain! We at Bristol are running another meetup – details below, brazenly copy/pasted from the Facebook event. Apologies for the last-minute reporting, hope it’s not too late to get it on the main page.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1503275666624083/
Plangent honkings and pre-season’s greetings, fellow awkwardeers! Get ready to start your pengines and synchronise your swatches for Bristol Awkward Army Meetup: Doodle Edition.
WHERE AND WHEN?
11:00AM, 6th December
The Canteen, 80 Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS1 3QY
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
We’re going to be chatting, sketching and maybe playing some drawing games. If previous meetups are any indication, there may also be pancakes and tea and lovely people.
WHAT DO I NEED?
Nothing! Pens and paper will be provided. If you have your own favourite colour though then you should definitely bring it, because nobody will ever love burnt fuchsia as much as you do.
The Canteen is wheelchair-accessible with a disabled bathroom, and caters for organic, vegan and gluten-free diets. Parking is free for an hour, or all-day for £5. More details (including a sample menu) on their website:
http://www.canteenbristol.co.uk/
I will be there from 11:00 and will have some manner of stuffed animal (genus tbc). Hope to see you all there!
Mark
Got it! And made the date correction for you. Thanks.
Can I gauge interest for a Cardiff (Wales) meet-up?
I’ll happily organise and sort out a suitable venue should there be enough humans that would be interested.
Hi! If it’s really important to you to have consensus, I suggest putting up a trial balloon on the forums at friendsofcaptainawkward.com to see if other locals are interested. Otherwise, plan a casual thing that’s really easy for you to go to and bring a friend and/or a book with you = as planner, you get to plan something that suits you. I don’t create threads on the main page until an actual event is planned.
I’ve sent an email, but I’ll also post this here since this is sort of last-minute:
Hi! I’m arranging a meetup in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend, specifically in the peninsula / south bay.
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Place: Pioneer Memorial Park (between City Hall and the library) in Mountain View.
If you’re coming via public transit, the easiest way is probably going to be to get to Caltrain via whatever makes sense in your area (BART to Millbrae, Muni to 4th and King in San Francisco, VTA Light Rail in San Jose, etc.) and then go to the Mountain View Caltrain station. It’s five blocks from the station to the park; there are busses, but it’s also a nice walk through downtown with lots of shops.
The park has several benches and nice tiny grass hills for putting picnic blankets on, and lots of shade trees. I will bring my lunch and some picnic blankets; feel free to eat before you get there, pack a lunch if you’d like, stop by the Mountain View Farmers Market (9am – 1pm, at the train station parking lot) and get something from one of the many vendors that sell tasty ready-to-eat things, or get something from one of the many downtown restaurants.
The public restrooms at the library are unfortunately closed on Sundays, but there is a cafe on the same block that is open, and all the downtown restaurants have restrooms. I believe all the sidewalks in the park are accessible for wheelchairs and the like.
I’m not sure exactly where in the park I’ll be sitting, but it’s a small park and I’ll be somewhere visible from the central circle. I’m a medium-height guy with shoulder-length brown hair, and I have a patchwork pink/purple/orange/blue/yellow shirt that … well, I’m still not at all sure what I think of it, but it’s certainly distinctive, so I shall plan to wear that.
Feel free to email me at brooks dot moses at dpdx dot net if you have questions.
– Brooks
Anyone in the Central Texas area interested in meeting up? Okay, that’s a big area…Austin. Austin, TX. At an Amy’s Ice Cream shop. At noon on Nov 14th. If peeps are interested, I’ll see if we can pick an Amy’s that’s reasonable for most of us to get to. And I’ll bring a few board/card games, and sit at a table playing them by myself until someone shows up and joins in the fun!
About to send this email to the Captain, but I wanted to crosspost this here too 🙂
Hey Captain and Awkward Army,
I am thrilled to announce the first ever Kansas City Captain Awkward Meetup! Come for coffee/tea, coloring, and conversation! And where can one find this most auspicious event?
Where: Broadway Café
4106 Broadway Blvd
Kansas City, MO 64111
(816) 531-2432
broadwaycafeandroastery.com
When: Saturday, April 30th 2016, 1pm – 4pm
Accessibility/Parking: Broadway Café has wheelchair access, however, it in the Westport district. Street parking is extremely limited in Westport. The bus does have several stops in the area, but I know that our public transit system is not great. Please let me know if you need a ride, we’ll try to organize something.
Food: Broadway Cafe has vegan and vegetarian options available on their menu. I’m in no way knowledgeable about the gluten-free options, so I cannot comment on those.
I am generally a lurker but some may remember my commenting name, StarlikeSilences. I also have a tumblr and a gmail under the same name, please feel free to message me if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to chat pre-meeting. I’d love some kind of headcount, just for accurate counting of art supplies. Arm-wrestling over calligraphy pens is never as classy as we think it is in the moment. I will be wearing a ridiculously tiny hat and have a sign that says “Awkward Meetup” on it.
– StarlikeSilences
Hey there NYC awkwardeers! After a few (fun! successful!) meet-ups last summer/fall, they kind of dropped off, or at least I haven’t seen any new postings in the last 3 months or so.
Would anyone be interested in reviving that monthly gathering?
NYC January Meetup!
Hello NYC Awkwardeers! I know this is a little ahead of the curve, but I wanted to get this on people’s calendars and give us something to look forward to in the new year!
What: Captain Awkward NYC meetup
When: Saturday, January 12, 2019, 2pm onward
Where: Think Coffee, 123 4th Avenue, Manhattan
Feel free to bring games/board games, crafts, or just your wonderful selves!
We’ll meet at Think Coffee at 123 4th Avenue on Saturday, January 12th starting at 2pm. It is right by the 14th Street – Union Square Station on the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, W or R trains. The platforms for the L, N, Q, W, and R trains at this station are wheelchair accessible. The platform for the 4, 5, and 6 trains at this station is NOT wheelchair accessible. Think Coffee is on street level with an accessible bathroom. They serve coffee, tea, soups, sandwiches and baked goods. They have vegan options.
Link: https://www.yelp.com/biz/think-coffee-new-york-3
(Props to NYC Meetup organizer Emma for finding this venue. I am new to the city, so I’m just going with a venue we’ve used in the past.)
I have shoulder-length brown hair and will be working on knitting a blue sock. I will also be accompanied by a brown stuffed bear. Feel free to email me with any questions or to let me know you’re coming. My email is ciaonsd@gmail.com
I’m looking forward to meeting you soon!
-Natalia
I would attend an Awkward Con. I dearly hope you do one.