Manchester Geek Socials

Last night Kirk reminded me on MSN that I hadn’t updated my blog for a long time – certainly not as often as I used to whilst at university. This is largely because not much has happened in the past few years, but I felt this was an opportunity to remind people of the geek socials I run for the residents of Manchester on a regular basis. If you want to meet new people and enjoy food with fellow geeks, please do come along to one or more of the events – they are open to all.

Currybeer runs twice a month. On the first Friday, we go to Hardy’s Well pub in Rusholme for some drinks, followed by curry. On the third Friday, we pick a different cuisine (using the ‘one man, one vote’ system of Ankh-Morpork) and go for a slightly more expensive meal out. There’s usually 10-15 people at the curry events, and 6-10 at the alternative cuisine.

Geek Walks are a monthly event on Saturdays which involve a train journey to a destination within one hour of Manchester where there are places to walk and decent pub lunches. The walks are more akin to gentle strolls, and tend to last 40-60 minutes. It’s a great way to get a bit of exercise and fresh air whilst talking tech (or trains, photography etc.). There’s usually 6-8 people on each walk, and you’re welcome to meet us at the pub instead.

Bletchley Park trips are organised once a year, usually around June/July. We all go down on a Saturday – I try and group people into cars where possible and the rest of us arrive by train. There’s a guided tour and then we break off into smaller groups to wander around the grounds and fixed exhibits.

If you’re worried about being deluged with emails, I can promise that Currybeer gets approximately one email a week, Geek Walks has two to three a month and Bletchley Park two to three a year. I’m the only person who can post to the mailing lists, so there’s no long discussion threads or people saying ‘please unsubscribe me!’.