Cypherpunks Santa Cruz -- Great Party!

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

I want to update the general list on how well our "Cypherpunks Santa Cruz"
party/meeting went last Saturday.

Apologies to those who get this twice, as I just sent it out to the folks
on the mailing list of interested folks I keep. (Not all of them are
readers of this list, so....)

It was a great success, from all indications, and we'll be doing it on a
regular basis. "Meet locally, communicate globally."

--Tim


>Date: Sat, 2 Sep 1995 11:03:33 -0700
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>To: (Recipient list suppressed)
>From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
>Subject: Cypherpunks Santa Cruz -- Great Party!
>
>
>This is a report on the Cypherpunks Santa Cruz party/meeting held last
>Saturday at my house. For those of you on this list (52 at last count,
>obviously not all locals) who missed it, it was considered by many who
>commented to me to be a great success.
>
>Some highlights:
>
>- I counted 23 attendees, from as far away as Oregon (Greg Broiles) and San
>Luis Obispo (Jeff Simmons), and with a bunch of folks from Marin and the
>Greater Bay Area.
>
>- We got rolling around 5, when the first cars started filling up my
>parking area. Things kept going 'til 5 in the morning (!), when the last
>stragglers departed and those staying the night found their futons and
>crashed.
>
>- Not too much was formally done. We had a round of introductions (and I
>provided name tags, which were purely voluntary, in that anyone could
>volunteer not to wear them and hence not be remembered by others...most
>wore them). Later, after the barbecue, Bob Fleming and Cherie Kushner
>described their work on micropower, ultrawideband radio "localizers." While
>not strictly "crypto" related, there are overlapping themes (privacy,
>surveillance, and even some of the math overlaps).
>
>- Mostly it was a chance for our local community of folks interested in
>these issues to mingle and make contact. I expect we may have a larger
>focus than just "crypto" (although Cypherpunks have always had a larger
>focus than just cryptography, of course). Especially as there are folks
>doing some neat stuff on the Web out here in Santa Cruz.
>
>- Two folks from my local ISP attended (Jay and Marc), and they have some
>thoughts on possibly hosting the Cypherpunks archive site on their system,
>and other ideas. They stayed until nearly 5 a.m., talking with us about
>networking, Web pages, etc.
>
>(Santa Cruz has long been a hotbed of computer activity, especially of the
>more independent sort. So the good turnout from local folks could be very
>promising for Cypherpunks themes. Interestingly, Linus Torvaldis (sp?), of
>Linux fame, had just been in town a couple of days before.)
>
>I want to avoid opening the meeting up too broadly, to, for example "anyone
>interested in computers," as this would produce unpredictable turnouts and
>lots of folks who want to learn to use Windows, or need help in dBase, etc.
>Better to keep an ostensible focus on "Cypherpunks" themes, with forays
>into related areas.
>
>Some people commented to me that they hope the meetings/parties are
>monthly, but I suspect every other month may be more reasonable...after
>all, a monthly meeting would mean another one only 3 weeks from today, and
>I can't see this happening.
>
>Anyway, I expect to announce another one for sometime in October. I also
>may be having a "PenSFA" party at my place in early November (11/11 is
>being considered), and may merge the two. It's a good opportunity for
>mingling.
>
>Another attendee offered the possibility of having a Cypherpunks Santa Cruz
>meeting/party at her house, so some rotation to other venues may start to
>happen. I think the notion of having these things at private houses is
>better than trying to get space at a local company, for example. Parties in
>houses are more intimate, less formal, and don't require the "corporate
>approvals" that are sometimes needed. Besides, I'm offering my house and
>have no contacts at local companies.
>
>I expect to be able to host a lot of these things, and if some others
>volunteer as well, we'll be set. (I expect attendance will not equal the 23
>at this "first" meeting, for obvious reasons. This means meetings/parties
>could even be held in apartments or condos. But I'm not suggesting this,
>only noting it.)
>
>So, thanks for coming!
>
>--Tim May
>

---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
Corralitos, CA              | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839      | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."