atma.nyc – just because.
Have a seat. Start from the beginning. I’m listening…
Every week, I invite somebody in New York to have coffee with me. Sometimes a drink. Two people at a table, talking. Nothing to sell. Nothing to pitch.
I realized how many people I know digitally without actually knowing them.
We can know what somebody does and how they think about AI, hiring, startups, venture capital, or our crazy political climate. But not why they would choose the opera over baseball, or what it's like to have a conversation that skips and jumps through three or four different subjects before coming full circle.
We built technology with the potential of removing barriers, limiting isolation, and creating connection. But we used it to build digital cocoons.
So I'm using technology to help me be a little more human. And I'm using it to get with others who feel the same.
Not networking. Just taking a beat; over coffee, tea, or wine. And finding out what happens when neither of us is trying to get anywhere.
In a possible future, after we’ve met, the two of us might invite two other people, and all six of us sit down for a casual dinner or a mimosa-powered brunch. Or not, just a thought.
The only objectives are to relax and enjoy being human.
This idea isn't new. It's just timely.
How I decide who to ask
Something about you pops me out of my high-speed, numb-scrolling.
Something you wrote. Something you built. An insight I had not heard before. I pause, take a moment to click on your profile, and if I think, “hmmm, that’s someone I’d like to talk to… (and they live in NYC),” I send the invite.
That’s pretty much it.
If you're like me, you’re also interested in getting out from behind our machines and making friends IRL.
Re. me
I am Atma.
I work in marketing and technology, and I've spent most of my work life around founders, thinkers, builders, and people looking to understand the why behind our furiously busy lives.
In my past lives, I have been a monk and the leader of a rock-and-roll band.
These days I’m loving baseball, bourbon, and writing books.
I live in East Williamsburg with my best friend, Beast, a Belgian Malinois.
She often comes along.
