Why does 2600 need St. John's?
It might seem strange that St. Johns University is evicting the 2600's conference after years of collaboration.
I met Mitch Altman at a small soldering workshop I randomly found at my co-working space. I didn't know he was kind of a hacker celebrity.
We spent that afternoon walking around the city. He told me about CCC, encouraged me to share my work as a talk.
We talked about getting bullied at school. I told him about when I was a teenager, convincing my parents to let me bus across the city to a mall food court where the 2600 meetup happened. I'd sit with trenchcoat-wearing nerds, with their schematics and Cinnabons, catching maybe half of what was discussed. But they gave me tips, encouraged me to start my BBS.
That's 2600. They show up, they teach whoever wants to learn, they're kind to strangers. When I finally made it to CCC years later, Mitch didn't remember meβhe meets thousands of people. But he was still the same warm and kind man, respecting this other soul standing in front of him.
This is the community that St. John's has decided to evict? Why?
Their official reason was "alignment with values and mission."
It started when someone complained about a pamphlet left on a table by a random conference attendee.
They didn't complain to 2600, they went straight to the university president. After years of collaboration, the university didn't contact 2600, instead apparently doing a secret investigation where the accused couldn't defend themselves, then pointing fingers based on vague, moral accusations.
Most people would accept if St. John's just said: "We're a religious institution, some leaders got uncomfortable with some of the edgier elements that 2600 attracts, so we're deciding to part ways." That's at least honest. Instead of this, we'd be celebrating the years of St. John's support.
I doubt it was actually about 2600 at all.
Many universities have gutted great programs with weak reasons. The sad truth: they're collateral damage from internal power struggles.
St. John's cancelled their fun basketball event, and Columbus Day, not just 2600's conference. Three major cancellations in a year? Smells like political fallout.
We've all seen how protests are discredited by planting violent agitators, or taking things out of context. Same playbook. The pamphlet was just convenient pretext.
The real reason is probably one provost accidentally hit reply-all with a snarky comment last year, started a feud, and they've been cancelling each other's favorite events ever since. The poor communication liaison has to write it up as "for student engagement" and "alignment with values".
I kid you not. This happens all the time.
Whether it's infighting, lack of due process, or just letting their fears get the better of them, St. John's methods are theirs to reflect on.
The problem worth solving for us is that 2600 is having trouble shifting venues.
Hosting can be cut off for many other reasons - renovations, financial trouble, leadership changes. Maybe the administration building gets destroyed in fire and brimstone one day. Who knows.
Universities (at least good ones) compete for access to communities of practice.
In London, UCL, Imperial, and Kings actively seek out technical specialty groups. Oxford and Cambridge have such a rivalry they'd compete for something like this. Go tell a Cambridge prof about a great event at Oxford, and you'll get a lesson in how the British do polite insults.
Student bodies benefit from learning from people at the forefront of their fields. Universities want what 2600 does.
And here's 2600 in New York, a city full of great universities.
I'd love to see 2600 answer with what it already does best: community.
Student clubs hosting cool meetups across New York campuses, with 2600 help. 2600 workshops on digital health, cybersecurity, the things they've been teaching for decades. It'd show which clubs and faculties get excited, which are organized enough to literally open doors.
With active relationships with multiple universities, the frame shifts from "we need to find a venue" to "which university makes the most sense this year?"
The big HOPE conference could even rotate campuses, reaching more student communities.
Mitch gave an afternoon to a stranger. 2600s encouraged a kid to keep going. That person's here now, giving that encouragement back. The universities know they need you. You're already doing all the right things.
This isn't a setback, it's a dislodgement towards something better. HOPE is getting an upgrade.