We’re All A Bunch Of Lunaticks

It began with a conversation over a cappuccino. And a few weeks later ‘The Lunaticks Society of Newcastle’ was born in a quiet Newcastle Hotel.

In that conversation, we talked about the positive impacts of the digital revolution and the implications of the National Broadband Network (NBN) to places like Newcastle. That was until the banter turned to discussing the poor levels of awareness and use of digital and social media in our local community. The conversation continued on our LinkedIn group ‘Newcastle Coffee Mornings.’

As a consequence, a small group of us decided to form a society to encourage new creative ideas, fresh thinking using digital and social media. So we created the ‘The Lunaticks Society of Newcastle’.

Now you want to know why we called it ‘The Lunaticks Society of Newcastle’.

Well surprise, surprise – it’s a pun on lunatics. No. Not the locked up in a straight jacket type of lunatics.

But after a dinner club and informal society of prominent industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham, England to debate the new thinking of the industrial revolution.

They were called ‘Lunar Society of Birmingham‘ and its members cheerfully referred to themselves as “lunaticks.” Rather than steam engines and cotton mills, our bunch of lunaticks wishes to discuss the digital revolution.

We had our first meeting at the Railway Hotel in Hamilton.

Attendees included: Mathew Packer, Lindy Asimus, Wayne Lennan, Prue Robson, Roger Pryor, Stephanie Hinds, Alan Apicer and Me (Gordon Whitehead).

Others unable to attend our first meeting: Brendan Brooks, Melanie James, Jenny Roberts, Michael Ulph, Harlan Marriott, Josh Marshall, Cas Scott, Peter Turner, Nora Jones, Lars Feldmann, Siobhan Curran, Narelle Redman.

If you are interested in joining or helping out, please just shout or email us.