On a Saturday evening earlier this month, I stood outside the Star of the Sea Catholic Church on Geary Boulevard alongside some 300 VCs, founders, and owners of timeline-dominant X accounts — all donning a suit and tie (or cocktail dress).

We made a strange sight, so many formally dressed people gathered in San Francisco, of all places, where the Zuck uniform still dominates. Once we made it inside, the gatekeepers harassed defectors from the strict dress code and watched for (and caught) non-ticket holders attempting to sneak in.

What drew this throng of well-dressed onlookers? Was it a high-profile speaker? A schmooze-y networking event, promising to 10X our connections?

No, it was a good old-fashioned standoff — hosted by the Hamilton Society, SF’s exclusive debate club for some of the most influential young leaders in tech. Over the past year, the invite-only forum has convened monthly in the church to debate matters such as the “ethics of gene editing” (featuring Crémieux, who argued in favor of the practice in December). And it’s quickly become, as one X user put it, “an SF institution for debating the important issues of our time in a context outside of online filter bubbles.”

A breath of fresh air, in other words.