The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Nerd

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 16, 2009 4:30PM

Being a nerd was hard back in the day, but it seems nerddom is becoming popular and trendy. It is now more acceptable to let your nerd hang out.

2009_03_CNSC.jpg Three of Chicago's twitterati [Ed. note: SO not a fan of that word, but in this case I suppose it's fitting.] have formed a club for nerds, the Chicago Nerd Social Club. When they realized that each time a Tweetup was planned or someone announced they were out for a beer, about 25-30 people would show up. From that, Rachel Baker, Scott Murphy and Jeff Smith came up with an idea to create a social club for nerds.

"Nerds sometimes get a bad rep - we want to change that," says Murphy. "We also noticed that options for social clubs in Chicago were all sports oriented and we thought we'd create something with a similar feel but none of the sports slant that would typically scare away your standard nerd."

The club announced their kickoff event for May 7 at Risque Cafe. Special guests iFightDragons will perform. The party will be followed by a trip to a midnight screening of the premiere of the Star Trek movie. The Club plans to host regular events some informational, like a discussion on Netbooks helping guide people through the process; and some will be casual gatherings at a bar or a gaming night. Most events will be free or inexpensive.

We want to "create an environment where like minded people can get together in a non-threatening, fun environment," Murphy said.

BY: Pattie Lee