At 3:50 I briskly walked through central square to a small cafe tucked away on a side street.

There were 5 of gathered around a low-set coffee-table: two consultants, two MIT Course 6 Juniors, and a Northeastern CS sophomore on Co-Op. One of the consultants was female, the rest of us male. All were ‘white’.

Our conversation quickly delved into deep territory. We talked about motivations, happiness, and dreams. I won’t go too detailed here: although we were strangers, we quickly became comfortable and I don’t think it would be fair to the experience to divulge much. I will say this: I had a chai latte.

Although lengthy, the 2 hours seemed to pass quickly.

On the three questions I asked earlier:

• No one was lame
• Consultants are very busy, but they were able to make it, which is reassuring!
• Tech Early Adopters — This is definitely a factor. Everyone there was pretty technical

We talked about the kind of people who would come to this — I’ll admit, I did mention Putnam — and the general consensus was that we weren’t too diverse. However, there was excitement in learning from other groups. We were all pretty young, but there was excitement to be able to connect with an older generation as well. I mentioned to my mother that I was going to this, and she remarked that she would like to go on one — so perhaps this will be marketable to a general audience moreso (I know, I know, we aren’t supposed to say, “my mom could do it,” as a tech gender-norm patriarchy enforcing phrase, but I really did talk to my mom and that is what she said).

I’m not quite sure if I would go again soon — it seems like it is too small at the moment; I would quickly exhaust the set of hosts, however it is certainly an experience I’d recommend you try. If something like this really catches on with a more diverse audience, I think it would be a great avenue for bridging social activity. After all, who doesn’t like getting tea?