I’d be really interested in finding a baltimore/DC meet up group if there is enough interest.
Are there any community guidelines for starting local IPFS chapters/meetup groups.
I’m not sure what the protocol is or if there is enough interest. But I find such get togethers extremely helpful and productive, and would love to attend and help promote if others were also interested.
Hi! I would be interested in such a meetup, found this post while Googling for one.
@jeffreycwitt I am also very interested in having a meetup focusing on IPFS and decentralized network. If you are based in DC, I will be very happy to help.
@haoliangy I’d love your help.
I think @joeperks and I are both in Baltimore, but in order to create a critical mass, maybe we could alternate locations, 1 month in Baltimore, 1 month in D.C.
If you guys are really interested, maybe we should arrange a skype chat to discuss logistics.
let me know.
I am in the suburbs between Baltimore and DC and would be interested. I would prefer someplace that is easy to drive to, although I am also 5 minutes from a MARC train station (Penn line) so any place near Union station in DC would also be fairly convenient for me.
Great sounds like, we’re getting a little a bit of interest. I definitely can host a meetup at Loyola (which is in the north part of Baltimore City). I may also be able to pay some of the expenses of an invited speaker from Protocal Labs. It might be great for an inaugural meetup.
But I think it is important to get a critical mass. Thus it would be great to DC people like @kevina and @haoliangyu were willing to come to north Baltimore and if Baltimore people were willing to travel to a DC location.
If people were willing to travel, we could alternate meetings, 1 month at Loyola, and one month at a location near D.C. But someone else would need to find a space for the D.C. meeting.
If the group got big enough, we could eventually split into a Baltimore and D.C. Group, but I think it would be ideal to find a way to combine the meetup until it that happens.
Let me know what you guys think. @joeperks are you still interested?
I can probably make it to Loyola. Some place just south of Baltimore would be more convenient for me. Maybe U.M.B.C could be a good compromise location to avoid having to alternative between two places if you can get that location. It may also be easier to get to from D.C (well closer at least). I just looked it up and people from DC can take the MARC train and then CityLink YELLOW.
@jeffreycwitt Sorry to respond late.
I agree. It is more important to advertise and attract interested participant, then we can consider developing city chapter in the future. Loyola is a great location since it is close to both universities and city center. There should be a large group of potential audience in the area.
I would be happy to help, organize, and maybe build some connections with DC’s blockchain/distributed network meetups. We can try running meetups at Baltimore and see the reaction, then explore the market at DC. I personally think having a meetup for two cities is a pretty rare case.
I currently live at North Virginia and it would take me ~1 hour to Loyola. It is not a big deal but my availability should be discussed case by case. Just let you know.
Alright, let’s try for an inaugural event at Loyola sometime in April. We can then have a planning meeting about future meetings, where they should meet and how often.
If we can find a date soon, I can write someone at Protocol Labs and see if they could give a 30-45 minutes presentations. We could then have questions and an hour long hack sessions.
What does Thursday’s look like for people. Perhaps April 13, 20, 27 or from 7-9pm?
If any of those dates work for everyone, let’s begin setting it up. We’ll need to make a meetup group and advertise.
That sounds awesome. I should be able to attend and meet.
I didn’t make a decision, because no one chimed in for a month until the last 2 days, and thus it didn’t feel like we had a critical mass. @equalunique and @haoliangyu would you guys be able to meet Thursday the 26th or Friday the 27th. Would you come, even if it were just the three of us.
For my part I think it would be worth it. I’d love to get together and chat about work and think about ways to grow the meet up group.
If either of those days work for both of you, let me know ASAP, and I will create a meetup group today and schedule the first meeting. Perhaps with a meet group page we can attract for a few more people.
jw
Looks like our library closes at 6pm on Fridays, so I would suggest Thursday the 26th from 7-9pm, or even later if needed. Let me know ASAP if that’s still a date and time that works for you guys.
Location would be here:
Loyola Notre Dame Library
200 Winston Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21212
(410) 617-6802
I work about 80 miles south west from that location, so assuming traffic moves at a decent pace, I may be able to make it there in 2 hours on a Thursday. A Friday would be ideal though, since I am more flexible that day. I’m definitely excited for a meetup.
Both date looks good to me . I generally prefer evening in the day since I am not very close to the location (~1 hr drive).
Are you guys still interested coming? Thursday April 26th?
@equalunique would help to push the start time on Thursday back to 7:30 or even 8:00? I know its a long drive for you, but if we’re all able to get together for an initial meeting we can discuss a rotating schedule, perhaps one month at a Baltimore location another month at a more D.C. location.
I’ll set up meet up group today, and share the link.
Looks it costs a monthly fee of $9.99 to start up a meetup group. Uggh, I can’t afford that. I’ll have look into something else, maybe a google group? We can discuss the best way to advertise at our first meeting 
@equalunique @joeperks @kevina @haoliangyu
Alright, bad news. I’ve just found out, I have a surprise conflict on April 26th and the 27th.
We’re going to have to put this off until May. I’m really sorry. It’s the end of the academic semester here at Loyola University, and everything is overlapping.
But maybe this will give us more time to advertise.
The date in May that would work for me is Thursday May 17, same time 7:30 to 9:30, same place.
I’m checking now with the venue to see if it is available. Stay tuned.