So I’m relatively involved in various national skeptical groups and I’ve found this site through a blog I read:

http://www.drinkingskeptically.org

Would anyone be interested in joining me for a beer or two?  It’s definitely a social thing - which I think is great. 

Beer + smart people + geeky scientific topics = FUN!

PS: I’d be happy to be the contact person for the group too

Laurae, this sounds like fun; count me in. Where are you thinkin’ of drinkin’?

Well I have been trying to get in touch with the folks here at CFI Pittsburgh to make some connections and arrangements, but no one seems to be responding.  My boyfriend and I are always up for meeting new people and if they are rational thinkers, that’s just icing on the cake!  We are actually going on vacation soon, so perhaps the last weekend in June would work?

June 27th or 28th?  If it works for, I’ll start a group on the drinking skeptically site and I’ll also see if I can’t get it announced on some other skeptical blogs I read. 

Let me know!

~Laura

________________

http://www.laurawithoutlabels.com
http://www.weavemagazine.net

Awesome!

Can we do it in the city? Not downtown, but just not in the burbs, I mean.

For sure!  What about the east end like Squirrel Hill or Bloomfield or Oakland?  Any suggestions?  I’m down that way a lot.

Once I get a place nailed down, I’m going to set it up for June 27th at 7:30pm. 

Are you on AIM?  I’m “baalitlaura” so say hi sometime.

That works for me.

I’m in South Side, so really, I’m not too far for a cab ride just about anywhere in the city. I’m not really familiar with bars outside of SS though, other than the Squirrel Cage and Brillobox. But I’m always down with trying someplace new. :)

IM is blocked from my office, but I’ll message you after I get home.

Oh duh, the south side makes WAY more sense!  I forget about that area sometimes but clearly it is the drinking hub of Pittsburgh.  I can get anywhere really, so it makes no nevermind to me. 

I just emailed the coordinators at Drinking Skeptically to get approval to start a Pittsburgh group. 

I’m excited!

Fridays and Saturdays in South Side can get a little crazy, so I’d totally understand if folks wanted to avoid the madness there.

Have you ever been to The Library, sorta kitty-corner to the Birmingham Bridge? It’s a book theme restaurant/bar and a really nice staff and I think, at least for an initial meet-n-greet it might have the most ideal noise level. Just a thought!

I haven’t been there but it sounds perfect. Thanks for the recommendation!

I"m thinking that if we do something early enough on a Friday, it won’t be that busy.  And people could have food then too, make it like dinner plans, and those of us that wanted to stay later could do so.  That is, if anyone else shows up!

my email address: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Here’s the skinny on The Library’s happy hour: M-F 5pm – 7pm, $1 off all drinks. I can’t say enough good things about their Edgar Allen Sweet Potato Fries, or their ever-changing dessert menu.

I’m really looking forward to this! I hope we can get some more interest, and maybe even generate some more forum activity here. :)

That place looks perfect and perhaps happy hour would work better for folks.  When I get a confirmation from SD.org that we can go ahead and plan something, I’ll email the bar and ask them if we need to do something special if we want to have an informal meeting of the minds (along we microbrews - yum!)

I’m also hoping to announce the event on Skepchick.org since I know some of the ladies that write for them   Perhaps there are other skeptical folks who would find out about it through their blog.

I’m really not sure why I’ve not been able to reach people in regards to other CFI events.  Have you attended any?  I’m definitely interested in getting more involved and generating some more threads here on the forum.

Hi laurae and eliza ann. Sorry for not responding sooner. I think you idea is GREAT. That is in fact one of the ideas that we have talked about trying to get initiated. Unfortunately, the number(s) of committed people is fairly small, so having others willing to get involved and make things happen is a ?send. Once you establish a date, time, & place, let me know and we can send out an announcement to our contact list, post it on the website, and announce it at our events (of which there is one tonight at John Harvard’s in Wilkins Twp). Thank you so much for your energy and willingness to get involved and for your commitment to rational thought and reason.

If you want to e-mail me directly at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call me at 412.384.5893, please feel free to do so.

Hi Bill!

I’m definitely interested in getting Drinking Skeptically Pittsburgh up and going.  Just be sure to check out the site rules for starting a group:

http://www.drinkingskeptically.org/start.htm

Specifically:

We will gladly co-sponsor Drinking Skeptically events with local groups and organizations, but Drinking Skeptically is its own organization and is not “presented by” any other group.

Like I said, I’m happy to be the contact and keep things going.  I figure we could have a get together ever 6 weeks or so.  I’m a little obsessively connected online.  Has the CFI considered getting their pre-existing facebook group more active?  I have lots of ideas for getting a younger demographic involved, as well as woman with my connections with Skepchick.org

Let me know how I can be of help.  I’m always up for good conversation and/or a beer

I, too, am always up for good conversation, and would love to talk to you about ideas. We have been wracking our brains for two years over how to get more people (especially young people - we unfortunately have a fairly gray demography at the moment) involved and to actively participate. We do things like bike (pedal power type) excursions, we have a canoe trip on the Yough coming up in August, we have a movie night (3rd Wednesday of every month), we have two book discussion groups, and two other discussion groups (one a formally structured class on “The Historical Jesus” and one sort of free-form). So we’re doing lots of things to try to enhance participation. But any ideas and/or suggestions that you have (and any energies and help that you are willing to invest) would be enormously appreciated.

Note to eliza ann: our movie nights are held downtown and our discussion groups meet in Shadyside, so those comply with your desire to avoid the ‘burbs.

Hi Bill!

I’m going to try and make it to the next Shadyside discussion. (My only issue with the burbs is a difficulty in getting to them without a car, not some picky urbanite thing, honest.)

I’m very interested in participating and being any help that I can to the group. I have experience with all sorts of computer and web related nerdstuff, and a background in design for print and web. So if you want promotional stuff, I’m not a bad person to turn to, or so I’ve been told.

I have some ideas for promotion and activities. Let me get back to you on them after work when I can focus more and write in peace.

So I’m officially the contact person for Drinking Skeptically Pittsburgh.  Since this location (http://thelibrary-pgh.com/) was recommended to me, I’m going to stick with that.  I think the south side is a good drinking hub anyway, and it’s close Oakland. 

Things that were recommended to me:

-That I stick with a monthly day and time to make it easier for people to remember
-Creating some kind of online group to remind people of events: I will start a Facebook group.
-Having it at a regular location (I have a call into that bar as we speak)
-Having some kind of thing that makes me stand out at the location; they will send me DS buttons, I could also have balloons or   something like that.
-That I network with my local CFI chapter (hey look at that - I’m one step ahead!)

So I am thinking I should schedule it for either

4th Thursdays during happy hour
OR
the 4th Fridays around 7:30pm 

I’m only picking the 4th week because then we can start this month and it seems to not conflict with existing CFI events, if we wanted to collaborate (or at least advertise DS events to CFI members, since these are like-minded organizations).  I prefer the Friday, but I’m flexible.

Since Eliza, you showed interest, I wanted you to get a say in the time/day!  Also feel free to suggest something else.

I’d like to get back to the guy at DS tonight or tomorrow before I leave for the weekend, so he can post it on the website ASAP. 

Yay!