'What is N?'
'N' gathers 16 strangers in each of 16 cities for an 'N'-titled conversation salon.
73/256
'16N' is 24.6% complete
#play16n
AS OF June 29, 2017, 70 people in 6 cities have said 'yes' to an invitation to 'N'.
Invitations are sent to people we discover through various random chance encounters, or on the internet, or in real life, or through friends of friends. Invitations can be requested directly from this website, too. The idea is to mix it up, and find people who would be interesting to include in a wide and varied mix. There is a cost to participate. Guests mutually agree on a date.
In the entire world, we're only looking for 256. That means, at the time of this writing, 16N is 27% complete.
'16N'
Here's where 'N' has happened so far...
16
'N' Phnom Penh
26 April 2015
NORMALITY
NUK Cafe
16
'N' Bangkok
11 October 2015
NOW
Nikko Cafe
16
'N' London
30 November 2016
NOTEWORTHINESS
National Theatre
16
'N' Hanoi
27 June 2017
NARRATIVE
Nhọ Nồi5
'N' Copenhagen
NEARNESS
Now registering
1
'N' Bologna
NOSTALGIA
2
'N' Wellington
NEST
0
'N' Gangtok
NOTHING
0
'N'
NUMBERS
0
'N'
NEURAL
0
'N'
TBD
0
'N'
TBD
0
'N'
TBD
0
'N'
TBD
0
'N'
TBD
1
'N' New York
NARCISSISM
*secret location*
HELLO.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME you struck up conversation with a total stranger, and found out something really cool about them and, in the process, about yourself, too?
What would you say if someone invited you to a thing called '16N?' In which people who did not know one another in your city could meet. In real life, of course. But briefly. And once.
Would that be interesting?
Or odd?
If odd, let's think about that. Let's think about why. Are real life serendipitous encounters too intense? Hm. As a designer, I really miss chance encounters and randomness being more normal than it is now. I dislike googling people ahead of meeting them, or fearing they might know too much about me.
I was thinking about that a lot, here in my base in Phnom Penh.
Then I thought, 'Hm. What about if 16 vectors crossed paths once? That would be a point. A point in time. In other words, if we get a bit metaphysical, that would be a moment. A particular kind. A magic moment.
Could we engineer that? An 'a-ha' if 16 of us convened, all at once?
'N'.
(Note: It's not for everyone)
This is how to play.
1
Request an invite
2
Commit with a 'ticket-yes'
3
Choose a date with 15 other registered guests
4
Find out where it will be
5
Show up for your 'N'
6
Win!
'Can you explain?'
16
# of 'N's there will be. Cities have to have an 'N' in them. Some have been fixed. Most are open at the time of this writing.
16
# of people at each 'N'. The idea is they don't know each other. Usually I find them online based on the topic and just write and say, what do you think about this? Sometimes, it's friends or friends-of-friends or people I know through work, that kind of thing.
1
The # of times 'N' happens in each city.
N
The letter that the topic starts with in each place. So far, 'Normality,' 'Now,' 'Nearness,' and 'Noteworthiness.'
N
The venue has to start with an 'N'.
256N
The goal. Discover 256 people in the world who would be up for this kind of thing, who say yes, get a ticket, and choose a date with 15 total strangers, all online, trusting the process and the person who is holding the space. (That would be me, A. Spaice. Hello.)
3
Cities 'N' has been completed in, so far.
Why?
Got tired of agenda-driven, boring conversation. Hate wasting time with endlessly-shifting coffee dates that ultimately, who cares? Enjoy the urgency of the moment that happens when you know it will end soon. Of showing up, even if you have no idea to what, exactly.
- SO FAR,I have invited657People.'It takes a lot of NO's to get to YES,' as they say.But the magic moment is SO great. I want to keep going. I am still going.
Next stop: Copenhagen
For 'N' Copenhagen: NEARNESS. What's close? How does it affect me?
These are our framing questions.Are you curious?
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