Why is there no General Assembly/Hacker Dojo in Chicago? Is there a demand for it at all?
The culture in Chicago seems totally different, would there even be a demand for that sort of thing?
The culture in Chicago seems totally different, would there even be a demand for that sort of thing?
noble tree is a coffee shop and chicago jelly meets there, but it is not a space where you can expect to go meet random hackers
pumpingstationone is nice but last i checked it didn't appear to have a strong technology startup type vibe.
i understand that curating the "vibe" of a "hackerspace" (whatever that means) isn't an easy thing to do, but i've been INCREDIBLY IMPRESSED by general assembly and hacker dojo. pumping station one is a great space, its just not quite the same. I'd consider:
nycresistor:generalassembly::pumpingstationone:"what i'm asking for" -- basically "general hacker types" (macguyver, picking locks and being generally crafty) vs "programmer hacker mindset" (hey, i wrote a really cool thing in node.js which i learned over the last 48 redbull fueled hours).
Chicago is an amazing town and there are tons of great people for it: birthplace of RoR, cofoudners of django live there, plenty of YC startups, groupon, beyond the pedway (woot, @timjahn, calling you out -- attended your "Entrepreneurs Unpluggd" event in Feb and I think that may be the best event I've attended in Chi), grubwhub, grubwithus, i think restaurant.com, etc.
However, the tech community isn't quite as unified and its a lot harder to get in touch with likeminded folk. At hacker dojo, you could turn to almost anyone to get feedback on a web app or ask for javascript advice, which I am not aware exists in Chicago.
That being said, in my eyes, things have come a long way in the past 2 years. Excited to see what the next 2 years bring.
Perhaps we need a meetup in Chicago that is similar to 106 Miles...
Every Wednesday from 12-4 we're there. Usually on the 3rd floor it seems.