# Where do nerds like to hang out? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 28, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320 "2011-01-28T18:25:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tingbudong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tingbudong/32/520_2.png) [@tingbudong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tingbudong)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/21 "2011-01-29T01:58:54Z")
It’s been mentioned before, but I would say that your local Android’s Dungeon game store represent the best possible location for hard-core nerd spotting. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/22 "2011-01-29T02:02:01Z")
Scoring baseball makes one a nerd? Does this apply to minor league games as well? If so, most of the nerds I know are either 60+ good ole boys or parents of ballplayers. Or me, sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/23 "2011-01-29T02:05:54Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Azeroth. 😃 > > (for the uninitiated: that’s the game world in World of Warcraft.) This. At least for me and all the nerds I know. There’s a subset of nerds who are interested in doing “outdoorsy” things like LARPing, attending the ren faire, and playing Warhammer 40k at gaming shops. But most of the ones I know (present company included) are computer gaming homebodies. (Though I really like ren faires and will go if invited–those and gaming/anime cons are the best places to see nerds nerding it up _en masse_) ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/24 "2011-01-29T03:13:05Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Washington, DC, nerdtown USA We’re all trying to get away from DC 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/25 "2011-01-29T03:28:06Z")
> [@Bartman](#): > > Some may say that makes me less of a nerd. I argue my knowledge of which levels the D&D Magic Missile spell gains additional missiles stands as a strong counterargument (1, 3, 5, 7, & 9 in case you are curious). Well, it can’t really gain **additiona** l missiles at level one can it. Oh yeah, to the OP: Check out any smallish general aviation airport. 'Bout 95% of pilots are major nerds. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/26 "2011-01-29T08:40:12Z")
Science fiction conventions (and science fiction clubs) Film societies (and maybe film festivals) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/27 "2011-01-29T14:17:05Z")
Austin. Apparently we’re nerd central, as when I go out on any given day I will see some non0zero quantity of nerd. I’m not going to the game shop either, necessarily, but we have a LOT of software and game companies around here and you can find throngs of nerd around the local restaurants. Nerds do not make their own sandwiches at home, apparently. The local university is filled with nerds and has several clubs. Back in my day, there was a White Wolf LARP group and a few board gamers. I noticed that there are flyers up now for a Pokemon group, which fills me with oldness. If you have a local movie theater that plays midnight movies or special showings, try there. If not, just try the opening show of some nerdy movie. Check your local area to see if there’s a chapter of the SCA. Everyone there is some stripe of geek. There’s a surprising number of people in the SCA who aren’t the Luddites you expect – they slog around in mud and wool on the weekends and end up in your IT department during the week. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/28 "2011-01-29T15:46:46Z")
Socialized nerds hang out where everyone else hangs out. They are just usually the “kindy nerdy friend”. Guys in my college fraternity were nerds. It was a mostly engineering and business university. By definition, half the students were nerds. But then you have the ubernerds, which is what I assume the OP is talking about. These kids tend not to hang out at bars or fraternity parties on the weekend. I don’t really know what they do since they seem to think different from normal folk. For example, are school has a “quiet dorm” which is mostly for upper-class nerds. Most other students usually live in a fraternity house or in an off campus house or appartment with their buddies from sophomore year on. Anyhow, my fraternity was throwing a party one Friday night and our ice machine was broken. So my buddy and I snuck into the quiet dorm with some trash bags to take their ice. So while we are loading up, some nerd walks in on us and is like “are you guys playing a practical joke on the RA! That’s AWESOME!!” It did not even occur to him that someone gathering large quantities of ice on a Friday probably was going to be throwing a party later that night. ---
**Author:** ![seanchai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@seanchai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seanchai)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/29 "2011-01-31T01:43:24Z")
Do some research by watching The Big Bang Theory. Go to the nearest role playing game materials store - my 5 year old grand-daughter is playing Magic the Gathering as we speak. She’s the youngest one there. She tells me that her birthday if Feb 23rd and I can contribute towards the new box of MtG cards which will be out sometime mid-Feb. Mensa groups have lots of nerds. They like to discuss things like whether a slinky will go down the down escalator indefinately, or why I can’t take your electronic gizmo apart to see how it works. (Note: these are not academic questions - there will be research involved). I like nerds, even when I can’t understand them. They are fascinating to me. an seanchai r ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/30 "2011-01-31T05:35:52Z")
With me. I have coffee and cookies. Honestly…all of the IT guys at work love me for just that reason. My boss has to put a work order in and wait for a couple of days for her printer to be fixed. I just call one of the work geeks on my cell phone and complain that my mouse has a dead battery and 3 or 4 of them show up to fix it. I also have a stash of chocolate covered coffee beans. For nerds…that’s better than being hand fed peeled grapes. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/31 "2011-01-31T09:59:19Z")
Many nerds hang out with everybody else: they’re the quiet ones in the loud group. ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/32 "2011-01-31T11:53:14Z")
More and more, Nerds are haning out at places like [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace). A hackerspace or hackspace (also referred to as a hacklab, makerspace or creative space) is a location where people with common interests, usually in computers, technology, science or digital or electronic art can meet, socialise and/or collaborate. I’d like to get one going in my town. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/33 "2011-01-31T14:07:49Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > Well, it can’t really gain **additiona** l missiles at level one can it. You must be forgetting the cantrip version of Magic Missile. Same powers as the level 1 version but casts zero missiles 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320/34 "2011-01-31T14:40:43Z")
Look through all the sorts of places that have been named: Comic-book shops Game stores Movie theaters Film societies Film festivals Science fiction conventions Science fiction clubs Hackerspaces Radio Shack stores Major league baseball games Mensa meetings Esperanto clubs LARPing Renaissance fairs Society for Creative Anachronism events Magic: The Gathering tournaments Straight Dope Message Board Do you notice that there’s not much consistency here? Some of the people who go to one of these things hate the others. Nerds are not a uniform social group. There may be a diverse set of things that nerds are more commonly found at, but even those events don’t consistently have nerds there. Some un-nerdish places have a few nerds at them. If you’re asking for a clear distinction between places that nerds go and places they don’t, you’re not going to get it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-nerds-like-to-hang-out/569320.md?page=1)