Comments on: Help me name my nerdly gathering society.

Question: Help me name my nerdly gathering society.

agropyron — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:23:35 -0800

What would be a good name for a group of nerds that gathers monthly to trade lectures? Kind of like a salon for geeks.

I'm organizing a group where people gather once a month and give each other presentations on interesting topics like quantum physics, neurochemistry, literature, music, and so on. I was part of a similar (now defunct) group that had a terrible name. They called themselves PoS (for obscure reasons), and everyone was quick to point out the obvious joke about the name.

I need a catchy name for my group, one that rolls off the tongue. A friend suggested "TMI", which I thought was great, but I can't think of anything really excellent for TMI to stand for. (Teaching, Meeting, Interacting? Trading Mucho Information? Lame.)

I'm not particularly attached to TMI, so all kinds of suggestions are welcome!

By: never used baby shoes

never used baby shoes — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:28:58 -0800

Heard Nerd or Nerd Heard?

Trippy Monthly Information

By: cosmicbandito

cosmicbandito — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:37:27 -0800

How about the New Royal Society? The original Royal society was a similar group of nerds.

By: and hosted from Uranus

and hosted from Uranus — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:39:23 -0800

ETC
(eclectic thinking collective)

By: chrisamiller

chrisamiller — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:39:53 -0800

"A Trivial Pursuit"

By: kanemano

kanemano — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:40:56 -0800

Nerdus

A herd or gathering of nerds.

ie: look at the Nerdus in the AV room.

alternate meaning: Nerds are us.

By: parmanparman

parmanparman — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:45:45 -0800

the pocket protectors

By: fidelity

fidelity — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:47:27 -0800

Societas Eruditorum

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:49:46 -0800

Information Peeps.

"Hey, want to go see a movie tonight?"
"I can't; I have a meeting with the Information Peeps."
"You and those darned Information Peeps. Every week, it's something new with your precious Information Peeps. What do those peeps have to offer that's so great, anyway?"
"Information."

By: sevenyearlurk

sevenyearlurk — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:51:56 -0800

There's a lecture series in Toronto that sounds similar. It's called "Trampoline Hall". (warning: annoying website)

By: enfa

enfa — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:54:01 -0800

You could be an affiliate chapter of Nerd Nite.

By: odi.et.amo

odi.et.amo — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:54:18 -0800

How about The Brain Trust - sounds snarky to outsiders, but cool to those in the know!

For TMI - Too Much Intellect, The Magnificent Intellectuals

By: kindall

kindall — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:00:03 -0800

I'm gonna have to go for the Futurama reference and suggest "Brainspawn."

Or "Nerdaissance."

Or "SoL II: Electric Boogaloo"

But "TMI" is good. It doesn't have to stand for anything. In fact, it might be more fun if it can stand for anything.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:04:28 -0800

The Invisible College.

By: Metroid Baby

Metroid Baby — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:04:47 -0800

But "TMI" is good. It doesn't have to stand for anything.

If anyone asks you what it stands for, you can always say, "I'm sorry, that would be too much information."

By: Kadin2048

Kadin2048 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:05:32 -0800

TMI and ETC remind me of TED. Which might not be a bad thing.

By: junkbox

junkbox — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:05:47 -0800

Porn 'n Chicken

By: signal

signal — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:06:36 -0800

TMI: "TMI Meeting of Intellectuals"

By: signal

signal — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:07:29 -0800

BYOB: Bring Your Own Brain.

By: contessa

contessa — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:18:46 -0800

TAS (The Acronym Society)

By: kuujjuarapik

kuujjuarapik — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:23:15 -0800

Interested Parties

By: ian1977

ian1977 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:29:38 -0800

Nergy. An orgy for nerds. ( I cant take credit for that one tho)

By: kureshii

kureshii — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:34:22 -0800

NIC: Nerds in Conversation
(though technically it's not really conversation...)

This reminds me of TED, which stands for Technology, Engineering, Design. Too bad that's taken. TED attendees are called TEDsters, so maybe you can call yourselves NICkies or NICksters or some other collective term, I guess...

By: Benjamin Nushmutt

Benjamin Nushmutt — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:37:29 -0800

MeFi

kidding, how about:

The Spielers
Emcee Hawks (regionally appropriate?)

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:55:53 -0800

CLASS: Colloquia, Lectures and... Smart Stuff

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:56:37 -0800

oooh Colloquia, Lectures and Smartypants Salon

By: beagle

beagle — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:09:36 -0800

I am a member of such a group which is called the Monday Evening Club. It has been continually active since 1869. (As such, it is an all-male society, but that could change one of these years.) We have 14 members, and we meet 7 times a year, always on a Monday evening. Each member hosts a meeting (dinner at home or a restaurant) one year, and presents a paper the next year. After dinner, the paper is read and then discussed (with the host moderating the discussion). When the host decides everyone has had his say, the reader of the paper get time to rebut any comments made. Then everyone gets up to leave (which is nice -- there is a defined end to the evening, no interminable chitchat). Topics are not announced in advance (although cryptic titles of the papers are), so as not to allow anyone to bone up on the subject in advance and upstage the presenter.

Apparently, during the 1800s a lot of these self-improvement societies were formed, and many of them were named after the evening they met. A few have survived to the present. I know of two other Monday Evening Clubs, both also started in 1869. One of them is the Hartford CT club, of which Mark Twain was a member (Google "Twain Monday Evening Club"). There was also, in an earlier century in Britain, something called the Lunar Society, with many famous names in it, so called because they met when the moon was full so they could find their way home at night.

One of our members said once that what he liked about the club was that it didn't do any good. Dues are $5 a year for the secretary to mail out meeting notices (we don't do email yet), and to send flowers when somebody's in the hospital. As you may gather, we're on the geezerly side, although we've been trying to perpetuate the organization by getting in some younger members, with reasonable success. So I congratulate you on looking to start up a club like this from scratch. If you'd like any more info, MeFi mail me.

By: i_am_joe's_spleen

i_am_joe's_spleen — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:11:56 -0800

You are an academy.

So I would call it the such-and-such academy of somewhere-or-other (swap in terms as required..

By: cmiller

cmiller — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:37:46 -0800

Related events:

http://cafescientifique.org/
http://barcamp.org/
And of course TED.

By: fishfucker

fishfucker — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:41:26 -0800

also see dorkbot.

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:09:25 -0800

Frank Exchange.

By: amtho

amtho — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:25:13 -0800

Gique Clinique

(Geek Clinic)

Although I like the more plain-sounding "academy" and "Monday night club" names.

By: rob511

rob511 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:34:10 -0800

Point Dexterous
Boffin Bay
Algonquin : Round Table :: Seattle : The Longhouse
Learned Hands
Fifth Column
Swap Meet, Amadeus
Hyperceph Alley
Surfeit Of Knowledge Society Fiends

By: Mr_Crazyhorse

Mr_Crazyhorse — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:17:59 -0800

The Cacophony of Cool

By: Deep Dish

Deep Dish — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:34:23 -0800

I hope you avoid the nerd/geek/dork references and stick with a classical-sounding name, as being scholarly is a noble thing. I'd love to have a group like this. Personally I hope the words nerd and geek retire from the English language - I know its no longer an insult, but I still hate it. A debate/study society that values the hard work and dedication that goes into higher and specialized learning deserves a title that will reflect on its goals in a positive manner.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:01:31 -0800

The Algonquin Square Table.

By: ErWenn

ErWenn — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:14:57 -0800

What's wrong with "Geek Salon"?

Some of these other suggestions are much better, but I couldn't let the obvious go unspoken.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:50:16 -0800

More obscure, but fitting: alizé.

By: eritain

eritain — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:02:20 -0800

Classically speaking, if you read together, you are a collegium. If you speak together, you are a colloquium. If you eat together, you are either a company (Latin) or a sycophancy (Greek). If you drink together you are a symposium. But Plato's Symposium had plenty of speechifying in between the drinks, after all.

By: panic

panic — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:29:28 -0800

"TMI Meets Infrequently"?

Or you could just call it "Too Much Information".

By: agropyron

agropyron — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:29:15 -0800

Thanks for all the suggestions! You've given me much to ponder. Deep Dish, I will be avoiding the nerd/geek references in the name I choose. (My own fault for having them in the question, I suppose.)

By: history is a weapon

history is a weapon — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:38:34 -0800

The pansophic sodality?