St. Petersburg "Salon" Discussion Group MeetUp--Theme: RIGHTS

You're invited to attend the Saint Petersburg "Salon" Discussion Group MeetUp hosted by Gabrielle & Douglas.

The theme for this "Salon" Discussion Group MeetUp is RIGHTS.

This theme was suggested by one of our members, Claudia, during our most recent MeetUp and it's one that certainly has a lot of avenues to explore.

With this theme, we can pose questions related to the murky issues surrounding rights of artificially intelligent robots, animals or certain groups.

Or, we can explore when it's appropriate (or not appropriate) to take away rights. One recent example is in San Diego, where the city has been struggling with an outbreak of Hepatitis A and has cloaked the location and identity of those infected to protect their rights to medical privacy--but, have discovered that doing so has been helping to fuel the outbreak since other people won't know to avoid these areas (many of the infected individuals are homeless and spreading Hep A by leaving bodily secretions on sidewalks and other public places). So, when do the rights of individuals outweigh rights of the many?

Another topical example is the right to refuse to stand during the national anthem either in sports, schools or other public places.

We can also travel back in time or forward in time to debate how certain rights have been held back or moved forward and what we expect to happen to rights in the future.

As you can see, this theme really has many ways it can be approached, so feel free to come up with other ways to explore it yourself.

You can start RSVPing for this MeetUp event on Monday, November 6 at 7 pm.

This MeetUp will be held at 2910 11th Avenue North in Saint Petersburg, which is a private home. You are invited to bring beverages or snacks for yourself or to share with the group, but it is not required. This is a limited-seating event, so an RSVP is required--please don't just show up. Thank you!

If you have trouble finding the home, please call or text Gabrielle at 917-370-2761.

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Note: If you RSVP to attend, then realize you cannot make it, that's not a problem. However, please be considerate and return to this MeetUp page and cancel your reservation so that another group member can attend in your place since this is a limited-seating event. Thank you!

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FOR NEW MEMBERS WHO HAVEN'T ATTENDED A "SALON" DISCUSSION GROUP MEETUP EVENT YET:

What we'll be doing at this event:

We'll be discussing and debating questions we each bring based on the theme for that night’s event.

Before you arrive, please think of one thought-provoking, conversation-triggering question to bring to the discussion group that is in keeping with the theme for that night. (You will be provided a pen and paper to write it down on when you arrive.)

Feel free to explore philosophy, science, human nature, technology, psychology, ethics, etc., associated with that theme. (Often, the simplest questions can provoke the most interesting debates.)

The only topics we steer clear of are religion and politics since these tend to get polarizing fairly quickly.

When you arrive, you'll be given a pen and paper to write your one question on--anonymously. We'll then put all of these questions into a jar and draw them out one by one and discuss them.

RSVPs are limited to facilitate a good discussion. You are allowed to bring one guest. RSVPs are taken on a first come, first serve basis.

IMPORTANT: There is a waitlist, so if you realize you cannot make it, please cancel your reservation on this MeetUp page so someone else may go in your place.

The discussion generally lasts about two hours.

If you've got questions, please let us know.

We look forward to seeing you all--and enjoying a lively, thought-provoking and fun discussion. Thank you for being a part of this MeetUp group!

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HOW THE WAITLIST FEATURE WORKS

There has been some confusion about how the MeetUp waitlist feature works. Here is what happens:

When the RSVPs are all full, you can add yourself to the waitlist. When someone cancels their RSVP, a waitlisted member is automatically RSVP'd in the order in which they added themselves to the waitlist.

If you are on the waitlist as a 1+ (you and a guest), you have to wait until 2 people cancel their RSVP to be automatically RSVP'd no matter where you are in the waitlist.

If you add yourself to the waitlist, you MUST enable notifications from MeetUp--then READ your notifications. This is the only way you're going to find out if MeetUp moved you from the waitlist to the RSVP list due to a cancellation. There have been problems in the past with waitlisted members being no-shows because they didn't realize they had been moved to the RSVP list. And that has left empty seats that other members could have filled. If you realize you cannot make it to the event, please remove yourself from the waitlist so that someone else can go in your place.

NOTE: BECAUSE MANY MEMBERS HAVE NOT RECEIVED NOTIFICATIONS FROM MEETUP WHEN THEY ARE MOVED FROM THE WAITLIST TO THE RSVP LIST, THE MEETUP HOSTS WILL CONTACT YOU DIRECTLY TO CONFIRM VIA THE MEETUP DIRECT MESSAGING.