Did you know? The term “happy hour” probably originated in the U.S. Navy. Quoth Wikipedia:

In the 1920s, “Happy Hour” was slang for a scheduled entertainment period on board a ship during which boxing and wrestling bouts took place; this was a valuable opportunity for sailors to relieve the stress accumulated during the long periods at sea.

We thought, briefly, about building on that tradition with the Nieman Lab happy hour and featuring media wrestling matches, with bout cards that include cross-media (ink-stained wretches vs. TV anchors! radio reporters vs. bloggers!), intra-media (Globe vs. Herald! WBUR vs. WGBH!), and cross-discipline (coders vs. writers! UI designers vs. GA reporters!) matchups. Justin even had a lovely Mexican wrestling mask all picked out. But safety concerns won out in the end, and we decided to just have a nice evening of drinks and conversation with some of the Boston area’s most interesting journalists and technologists.

That’s the idea behind the Nieman Lab happy hour, which returns on Monday, October 15 at 6 p.m. (You can also tentatively plan on November 19 and December 17 — the third Monday of the month.)

We’re doing it again at The Field, which is in Central Square, roughly 8.2 seconds’ walk from the Central Square T stop and thus easily accessible to anyone with a Charlie Card. (Map here.) Assuming it won’t be warm enough to be in the back patio, look for us in the room to the left of the entrance. Come say hello and meet a bunch of journalists, nerds, and that rarest of species, the journonerd. Beautiful plumage.

Luchador photo by danksy used under a Creative Commons license.