'Tis the season
Rather than putting on the usual monthly speaker, us folks as the UK chapter of the Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) last night organised a pub night in London, for anyone interested in UX, IA, online communities or anything in between. Excellent turnout, and a good time had by all.

But it started me thinking. I note the IA fraternity - as opposed to the usability fraternity - generally refer to these events as a 'cocktail hour', whether or not the venue in question (Barcelona, Amsterdam, San Francisco etc.) serves cocktails. (In fact, the IA fraternity in Barcelona does not appear to frequent either of the two classic cocktail venues in Barcelona, being Gimlet - down in the Borne area, and Boadas - just off the Ramblas. Instead they retreat to the nether regions, a regular local bar in Poble Sec). Am I missing something? Does the very concept 'pub night' need to be rebranded? Will the trendies not turn up if we give it the wrong label? Will new media types turn up their noses at the very idea of 'pub'? Does this vary cross-culturally? All responses gratefully received ;-).