[nepstein]

Just to clarify, there is no direct cost associated with RC. It is free to attend for all participants. Grants, for those who qualify, are for living expenses.

That said, 3 months of wages is still a prohibitive cost for many would-be participants.

[pnathan]

> 3 months of wages is still a prohibitive cost for many would-be participants.

Or 1.5 months. I simply can't afford to not work and attend a workshop in the one of the most expensive regions in the United States.

And I'm a typical nerd; I don't qualify for URM grants.

edit: Don't want to be harsh. The Recurse Center is really cool! Just that I, and many like me, can never ever go. Ah well! Such is life.

[wrsh07]

I think there are similarly awesome events / opportunities! You could go to !!con (pronounced bangbangcon) also in NYC; or attend a hack && tell meet up in your area (or something similar or start one!?)

It's not for everyone, and that's a shame - I'd love to attend too. While I could swing it (being in the area, relatively low personal/family costs), I certainly understand not being able to.

And even still, I find I can get some of the benefit just from interacting with alums like @b0rk on Twitter

[pnathan]

There are other things, yes. My area (Seattle) is more of a "beer && code" scene; the tendencies for meetups are excessive bro (or marketing), not enough hacker, IMO. Ce la vie.

Twitter is a hard medium for long-form thought, and, frankly, when I post thoughts there, they go to /dev/null unless it's a reply to a popular person. So... meh?

I keep ruminating on the idea of working on a "cyberhackerspace", dedicated to the sort of thing Recurse Center channels, but 100% online. Dedicated cluster, domain name, irc channel, forums, etc. But I can't do it alone - I have that pesky Responsibilities monkey on my back.

Ah well. Back to working on some Java.

[wrsh07]

You should check out hifi by apg: http://us11.campaign-archive1.com/home/?u=3489d30623dcf96e5a...

I think you might like it, and he has been friendly if you write back. (In my experience)

[apgwoz]

I try to be friendly! If I'm not, it's probably because I'm stuck inside and it's beautiful outside, so try again another time. :)

Thanks for promoting hifi, and hack && tell for that matter! I'm no longer involved in hack && tell (I moved away from NYC and don't have the energy to do it in San Diego). The people now in charge of it are "best in show," and I'm sure will continue to push hack && tell to be even better than it ever was.

[wrsh07]

Here's a better link: http://hifibyapg.com

[kevinr]

The grants page says that they offer between $500 to $7000 to cover housing, food, childcare, transportation, etc, so that's a reasonable ballpark range on what someone not on a grant might need to spend as well.

https://www.recurse.com/diversity