On Nov 9, 2011, at 11:19 , Isaac Sanders wrote:

> In Columbus we have two meetings. One night we have presentations, and
> another we have a "Code Jam" where you bring a project to work on. Check
> out http://columbusrb.com for more info.

I can second this and/or take it a bit further... Seattle.rb used to do presentation in several different formats over the years. Eventually we evolved into a weekly "nerd party" (aka, hack night). Totally free-form, no presentations. We went from a rather dry presentation format to (at the time) beer, pizza, and kiln cooked sandwiches and it ignited our meeting attendance. There are three key components in there:

1) weekly = no big deal if you miss one

2) food & beer/coffee = much more relaxed environment = more inviting

3) agenda-less format = more flexible and inviting