LucidNYC: The All-Star Game for Mathletes

If the Internet has taught us anything, it's that unapologetically nerdy is as cool as cool gets.

As kids we looked up to millionaire athletes who, paradoxically, now work for the billionare Web gurus whom we idolize as young adults.

At first glance, it doesn't seem that athletes and inventors have much in common, but it all boils down to passion; the best athletes have a passion for the game, while unabashed nerds have a passion to innovate and a passion to make a difference in people's lives. While athletes have established venues for their craft and receive praise in public, most inventors toil in obscurity and their names are known to just a handful of folks.

With the idea of bringing some of New York's most passionate and creative minds out of the shadows, David Friedlander launched LucidNYC, which he sees as a younger, hipper and less exclusive version of the TED conferences, while still harnessing the philanthropic energy of the multinational event.

"There are few opportunities for intellectuals to sew their brainy oats outside of academia, industry and interest-specific events," Friedlander said. The Lucid formula is a combination of philanthropists, enternainers and innovaters who deliver presentations while people drink wine and nibble on snacks. Lucid is "a nightclub for nerdy, do-gooders," according to Friedlander.

The first Lucid event was hosted in a Chinatown loft in August 2008 and featured a presentation about the history of competitive eating by Nerd Nite co-founder Matt Wasowski, as well as a rundown on the ethics of freeganism.

Subsequent events have featured talks on the culture of encoding "easter eggs" inside video games and programs like Microsoft Excel, using turbines to generate electricity from New York's East River and the Mongol Rally, which is a 10,000-mile drive from London to Mongolia.

"Lucid is deliberately heterogeneous, where there is an ideal of cross-pollination of ideas and interest," said Friedlander, who added that he knows of a number of relationships that were a direct result of people's attendance.

In order to find his ecclectic roster of presenters Friedlander has tapped friends, his girlfriend and a network of "informal consultants,"  themselves former presenters who often reccommend their friends and acquaintances with cool ideas of their own.

As a concept, Lucid is picking up a lot of speed. Friedlander estimates that the attendance at the monthly events has been in the 40-70 range, but as a business there is a lot of work that still needs to be done, because he has lost money on every event. "I was trying to make it slick--business like, like TED and EG and other conferences. But that wasn't the right or original concept," he said. "I really wanted it to be a breaeing ground for ideas, organic interpersonal connections, and partnerships."

While citing the prohibitively high cost of renting space and equipment in a notoriously expensive city like New York, Friedlander said he is proud he is able to continue the events.  "This has been a consistent thread--that people are really jazzed by their experience," he said. "I want these people to have a place outside of academia, outside of a bar, outside of a house party, to meet and exchange ideas, to be a part of one another's projects."

As New York's hippest, most passionate nerds rub shoulders, count on seeing great collaborations coming to fruition in the near future. And, if any of the relationships started at Lucid lead to children, let's hope the Lucid ends up somewhere in the name.

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The next Lucid event is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2009 and will feature Treehugger.com founder, Graham Hill, Collegehumor programmer Ben Donaldson and others. To learn more about Lucid, or to watch presenter videos, click here.