Urban Geek Drinks (UGD) is an informal gathering of people interested in technology and urban issues. There is no agenda and there are no speakers; just a group of like-minded, passionate, nerdy folks who gather over cocktails, sodas, and food to discuss what we're working on and scheme about what we might work on next. Bring a handful of business cards and your craziest / best ideas.

Please invite your friends and colleagues and feel free to blog, tweet, forward, or otherwise share this event with anyone you think would be interested. If at least 50 people RSVP, our gracious hosts at Villains will put out some free food; a list of everyone who has RSVP'd is at the bottom of this page. 

For updates, follow us on Twitter: @urbangeekdrinks. If you're interested in sponsoring UGD, please get in touch. 

history:

In April 2010, with my wife and I expecting our first daugther in July, I wanted to figure out a way to continue networking with friends and colleagues over a cocktail after work, something I usually did three or four times a month. That pace wouldn't be sustainable once she arrived, so I went through the keyboard in Gmail, inviting whomever auto-completed on each letter and I thought might be interested. About 50 people were invited and 40 showed up - I quickly realized that Urban Geek Drinks was going to be something amazing. 

Since then, there have been meetups every month save one (we skipped January 2011), ranging from about 20 to well over 75 attendees. Until May 2011, the event was invite only, with an exposed invite list and no RSVP. On the one year anniversary, UGD is evolved to its current form: hidden invitation list with an exposed RSVP. 

Many thanks to my friends and former colleagues at the Metro Chicago Information Center, who introduced me to many of the Urban Geek Drinks regulars. 

-justin massa
www.justinmassa.com
@justinmassa