While walking with some friends and colleagues in this year’s Heart Walk in Kapiolani Park, I had the opportunity to talk about some of the things we do here at Civil Beat. Folks had questions about the look of our site, so I told them about our plan for launching the new site. Others asked me if we were planning on having advertising on our site and I told them, “Nope, our only obligation is to our members. No advertising partnerships to worry about.”

Then as we rounded our third mile of the Heart Walk, the topic of Beatups came up. “So it’s like a Tweet-Up but you used ‘Beat’ instead right?” Not exactly. Although we are connecting people in the community using tools like our website, Twitter, and Facebook, the premise of our get-togethers is discussion and education. I almost quoted our Beatup page, “Our goal is to put Civil Beat members and leaders of the community in the same room with each other. We want to create an opportunity to learn, understand, debate, and discover in an environment steeped with the Civil Beat values.”

Beatups are simply an offline extension of what we are hoping to build on our site, a community of civil discussions that better educates and involves the people of Hawaii. We’ve only had three Beatups so far, but they all had a relaxed and comfortable feel (much like a Tweetup). They had some snacks and drinks (much like a pau hana). Two were live-streamed and brought in viewers from New York and as far away as Kenya (yes, Kenya)! But my favorite element that the events shared was the opportunity to meet with a diverse group of people who live in Hawaii. It was great chatting with everyone, learning about where they came from, what they do, and what they’re most passionate about when discussing Hawaii.

By the end of the Heart Walk I was drinking cold water and eating gratuitous Subway sandwiches, while also explaining that Beatups don’t really have any strict guidelines. Just like the Civil Beat website, the events will become exactly what the members want them to become. If you want to participate, ask questions or share a comment. If you want to watch and listen, feel free too. If you want take a quick snooze, I would recommend the back row. But be careful, I may live-stream you over the web if you start to snore.

For our next Beatup, I am anxious to learn more about what the Hawaii State Bar Association is all about, and what its role is in the judicial nomination process. There were a lot of opinions surrounding the Katherine Leonard nomination, and questions about why things are done in a certain way. That’s why I really like the format of the Beatups because you don’t have to be a lawyer, a government official, or a scholar to attend. If you are one of those, great, the more the merrier. But it’s equally important that our Beatups have a diverse group of people participating and learning from one another. As long as you have a desire to listen, learn, make some new friends and maybe even talk story, then show up. Remember, Beatups are for you.

So if you are like me, curious about how things work in Hawaii and enjoy conversation, join us for our next Beatup at 5:30 p.m. this Thursday, Aug. 19. It’s open and free to all. We just ask that you RSVP to beatup@civilbeat.com.

At the very least you can come find me and make fun of my Dumbo-like ears.