No Tweeting Allowed
Protocols, held every two weeks since September in a small private penthouse in Murray Hill, is hosted by five Manhattan news media types who each invite two guests. The idea, according to a host, Michael Malice, an author and blogger, is to let invitees talk fearlessly in the present. “We are fighting against this whole idea that everything people do has to be constantly chronicled,” Mr. Malice said. “People think that every thought they have, every experience — if it is not captured it is lost.”
This is such a cool idea!
On one hand, I love this notion of small, exclusive gatherings where people just talk and share ideas. It reminds me of coffee houses in the 1800s in a very nostalgic, I-wasn’t-there-but-it-sounds-cool kind of way.
On the other hand, I also love the idea of disconnecting and giving your undivided focus to the moment. I care less about the documentation factor - though that’s a valid insight, too. For me, the removal of outside distractions is powerful.
This reminds me a bit of a much more high-brow, exclusive version of the magazine club.