This was my second time to attend Nerd Nite at Hopmonk Tavern in Novato. The attendance seemed to double from last time, so I believe the concept is catching on here in the North Bay. I enjoyed the fun emcee who kept things moving with a lot of humor. The three quick presentations varied in their material and were not over my head with scientific jargon. It was also fun to see a few faces I recognized.
Peter N.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Oakland, CA
Not quite as busy as the East Bay and San Francisco versions, but just as good, and even better in some respects. If you don’t know, Nerd Nite is in short, nerdy talks(often science, but also often not), and beer. What could possibly go wrong? The organizers have set up a solid show, and I’ve now been to two events. The November one was unsurprisingly quiet due to holidays and poor weather, but January was a full house. Hop Monk is a cool place, shame the menu is so limited vegan wise, but the beer selection is great and so is the service. Nerd Nite itself was pretty cool — like the other editions, eclectic talks on things like sex in space and how realistic CSI is, and the talks were easily a match for others. The Novato location isn’t too much of a challenge from Oakland — about 30 minutes if you time it right, and the earlier start at 7pm(in theory), means I’m home by 10, versus the East Bay version starting at 8 and talks often running until 10.30 sometimes means I need to skip the last talk on a school night. But check it out, you won’t be disappointed.
