The Gatherings.
September · The Debate
Gathering 01
Is AI doing more good than harm?
We’ll start with conversation cards and a little mingling, then split the room, build arguments, challenge each other, pull a few wild cards, and see whether anyone changes their mind by the end.
- IArrive, mingle & conversation cards
- IIChoose a side
- IIITeam huddle
- IVModerated debate
- VWild cards + final arguments
- VIFinal vote
The point of the night isn’t to “win” an argument. It’s to hear how other people think, defend a position thoughtfully, and maybe leave a little less certain than you arrived.
We’ll begin socially, with conversation cards and time to meet people before the debate starts. Then the room will split into two sides. Each team gets time to brainstorm its strongest arguments, examples, counterpoints, and questions for the other side before we open the floor.
The evening
What we’ll get into
- IIs AI making us more capable — or less capable of thinking for ourselves?
- IIWill AI create more opportunity than it takes away?
- IIIWhat makes human creativity valuable if AI can produce art, writing and ideas?
- IVDoes AI put too much power in the hands of companies and governments?
- VWill AI strengthen human connection — or slowly replace parts of it?
- VIIs the greater risk developing AI too quickly, or limiting a technology that could help humanity?
October · Murder Mystery
Gathering 02
Murder Mystery
A room full of clues, characters, suspicion, and at least one person you probably shouldn’t trust. Come ready to play along, ask questions, and make a very confident accusation based on questionable evidence.
- IReceive your character
- IIFollow the clues
- IIIQuestion the room
- IVBuild your theory
- VReveal the culprit
A night built around play, observation, deduction, and the very specific joy of realizing someone has been lying to your face for the last twenty minutes.
Guests will step into characters, follow clues, question one another, and try to piece together what actually happened. You don’t need acting experience, and you definitely don’t need to be good at lying. The fun is in getting involved.
Expect a mix of mingling, clue drops, suspicion, alliances, accusations and a final reveal. Costumes may be encouraged depending on the story.
November · Potluck & Speed Teaching
Gathering 03
Potluck & Speed Teaching
Pick something you’re curious about, learn enough to teach it, and give the room a five-minute crash course. The topic can be useful, strange, niche, academic, ridiculous — whatever you think is worth knowing.
- IBring one dish to share
- IIChoose any subject
- IIIPrepare a five-minute lesson
- IVLearn something from everyone else
This one is about remembering how fun it is to learn something for no reason other than wanting to know it.
Every person chooses a topic, researches it beforehand, and comes prepared to give the room a five-minute crash course. It can be serious, niche, absurd, academic or completely impractical — the history of perfume, black holes, why cults work, game theory, the psychology of memory, anything.
We’ll pair the mini lessons with a potluck, so everyone also brings something to share. By the end of the night, you should know a little bit about a lot of things — and probably have several new rabbit holes to go down.
December · Movie Night
Gathering 04
Movie Night
We watch something worth talking about, then stay for the part where everyone somehow saw a different film.
- IFilm screening
- IIShort intermission
- IIIGuided conversation
- IVOpen floor
Movie night, but for people who think the best part sometimes starts after the credits.
We’ll choose a film with enough beneath the surface to actually talk about. After the screening, we’ll move into a guided conversation around the choices, themes, moral questions, characters, and whatever everyone interpreted differently.
No film-studies vocabulary required. Just watch closely and come ready to say what you noticed.
January · Vision Boarding
Gathering 05
Vision Boarding
A night to think about what you want next, cut things out of magazines, make something with your hands, and put a little shape around the future you keep imagining.
- IPrompted reflection
- IIVision board making
- IIIOptional sharing
- IVTake-home intentions
A slower night for thinking intentionally about what you want the next chapter of your life to look and feel like.
We’ll start with a few prompts to get beyond the usual “dream house / dream job” version of vision boarding and think more about values, experiences, relationships, habits, curiosity, and the kind of life you actually want to be living.
Then we’ll make the boards, talk, share if we want to, and leave with something tangible to take home.
February · Book Club
Gathering 06
Book Club
Come ready to talk about what stayed with you, what annoyed you, what you underlined, and the part you’re still thinking about days later.
- ISelected monthly read
- IIGuided questions
- IIIFavorite passages
- IVOpen discussion
Less “summarize chapter seven,” more “what did this book make you think about?”
We’ll choose a book in advance and come together around the ideas it raises rather than trying to have an academic discussion about it. Bring the passages you underlined, the parts you disagreed with, the character you couldn’t stand, or the question you kept thinking about afterward.
The goal is not to agree on the book. It’s to use the book as a reason to have a better conversation.
Phones down.
Come inside.
Gatherings are intentionally small and attendance is by invitation. If this sounds like your kind of room, ask to join us.