NYC Tech Community Meetup
Come for the drinks. Stay for the people who actually get it.
About this Event
If you are in the middle of a tech job hunt right now — this one is for you.
Not a panel. Not a keynote. Not another networking event where someone talks at you for 45 minutes and then you shuffle around the room for 20 minutes before going home having met nobody.
We’re hosting the event at one of the hottest venues in Long Island City right now, and we promise it’s going to be a vibe.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DbTyOY0SMNs/
This is a community meetup. A room of product managers, forward-deployed engineers, and marketing engineers — people who are actively navigating one of the most interesting and most brutal job markets in tech history — coming together to share a drink, tell the truth, and remind each other that progress is happening even when it does not feel like it.
We are hosting this at Center Bar in Long Island City on August 25th at 6:30 PM. One dollar to reserve your spot — just enough to make sure you actually show up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DbG6Hu1uG3H/
Why this meetup is different from every other one you have been to
Most networking events are boring. They start out mildly interesting, everyone sits through the panel, and then everyone spends the next hour waiting for the Q&A while making small talk with the one person standing next to them who they will never see again.
We are not doing that.
All the information is already out there. What is not out there — what you cannot find on a podcast or a LinkedIn post or a YouTube video — is a room full of real people who are going through exactly what you are going through, willing to have an actual conversation about it.
We are going to introduce you to people. We are going to make sure you feel welcome when you walk in the door. We are going to make sure you leave having met someone worth keeping in tuch with. And we are going to make sure you actually want to come back next month.
Because this is the first of many. Not just drinks — we are building toward run clubs, pickleball, and other activities that make community building something you genuinely look forward to rather than something that feels like homework. But it starts here. On August 25th. With a drink in your hand and a room full of people who get it.
The three roles that are colliding — and why New York is the place to be right now
Something significant is happening in this city specifically.
According to data published by Paraform — the recruiting platform that has paid out $72 million in recruiter referral fees — New York City now holds 35 percent of all forward-deployed engineering job postings in the entire country. San Francisco is at 11 percent.
https://www.paraform.com/blog/openai-forward-deployed-engineer
Quick side note: here’s a Paraform subscription link if you would like your profile added to the roles that we help recruit for.
https://www.paraform.com/forms/cms9ccu9n00070bjur3ljopm2
Read that again. New York is the FDE capital of the United States. Not Silicon Valley.
And it makes complete sense. Forward-deployed engineering requires you to be on-site with clients. The clients are here. The financial services firms, the healthcare systems, the enterprise companies, the media organizations — they are all here. The talent is here too. It is time we all got to know each other a little bit better.
Product management, forward-deployed engineering, and marketing engineering are converging. The skills overlap. The career paths cross. The hiring managers for all three are often sitting in the same buildings. And the best opportunities in all three verticals — right now, today — are being transacted not through applications but through relationships.
In nearly nine years of operation — coming up on our ten-year anniversary — we have lost count of how many product managers, forward-deployed engineers, and marketing engineers we have introduced to hiring managers whose resumes were rejected when they applied cold, but who ended up getting the interview and ultimately the offer after meeting that same hiring manager face to face.
The resume did not change. The person did not change. The relationship changed everything.
Why networking has never mattered more than it does right now
AI agents are applying to jobs at scale. Hiring teams know it. And the response is exactly what you would expect — more filters, more screening, more walls between a candidate and a human conversation.
The irony is devastating. The more AI is used to apply for jobs, the more dehumanized the process becomes, and the harder it gets for genuinely qualified people to get through. The resume that gets rejected by an ATS at 9 AM gets an interview when the same person shakes the hiring manager's hand at 7 PM.
Going into 2027 this dynamic is only going to intensify. The candidates who are building real relationships now — who are in rooms with hiring managers before they need a job, not after — are the ones who will navigate the next wave of the market with significantly less friction than everyone else.
Everything is exhausting right now. The job hunt is exhausting. The skill development is exhausting. There is not enough time to learn everything you need to learn and you do not even always know which things you need to learn. We understand that.
Come out. Let someone buy you a drink. Have some food. Have some laughs. Talk to people who are going through the same thing. Hear from people who just got through it. And leave with at least one connection that might matter more than any application you send this week.
Who this is for
This meetup is specifically designed for three communities that belong in the same room.
Product managers who are transitioning into AI PM, field PM, or deployment strategist roles — or who are building the skills and credentials to make that move.
Forward-deployed engineers — or professionals from software engineering, consulting, enterprise sales, or PM backgrounds who are targeting FDE roles at frontier AI companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, Databricks, Palantir, and Scale AI.
Marketing engineers — or marketers and technical professionals who are building toward one of the fastest-growing and highest-compensated technical roles in the industry.
Hiring managers and recruiters who work with these communities are also welcome. Your presence in the room is part of the point.
What to expect
You show up. You get introduced. You grab a drink. You find the people in the room who are working on the same things you are. You have real conversations.
No panels. No pitch decks. No one talking at you.
Richard Chen and James Won — co-founders of TechCareers.io — will be there. Program alumni who have recently landed roles will be there. And a growing community of technical and product professionals who are serious about where the AI market is going will be there.
This is Long Island City — a neighborhood we are deeply embedded in and genuinely excited to host in. We will be rotating neighborhoods in future months, but LIC is where we are starting. It is accessible, it is vibrant, and Center Bar has one of the best views of the Manhattan skyline in all of Queens.
Come see what it feels like to be in a room where everybody is rooting for each other.
The venue
Center Bar
28-17 Jackson Ave
Long Island City, NY 11101
Accessible from the E, M, G, 7, and N/W trains.
The details
📅 Date: Monday, August 25, 2026
🕡 Time: 6:30 PM
📍 Venue: Center Bar, Long Island City, NY
🎟️ Ticket: $1 — reserves your spot and confirms your attendance
The $1 ticket exists to make sure the people who register actually show up. We are coordinating staff and space for this event and we want the room full of people who are genuinely committed to being there. That is worth one dollar.
Please DM Rich for Directions, if you get lost here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-chen-082b868a/
Want to go deeper before or after the event?
If you want to learn more about our AI PM, Forward-Deployed Engineering, or Marketing Engineering programs — or if you want to have a conversation about whether a strategy session makes sense for your specific background — our team will be at the event.
Or book in advance below.
📅 Forward-Deployed Engineering strategy session:
https://consultation.techcareers.io/o-discover-fde/about
📅 AI Product Manager strategy session:
https://consultation.techcareers.io/o-ai-pm/about?consultation_utm_source=linkedin
📅 Marketing Engineering cohort — starts September 7:
https://consultation.techcareers.io/marketing-engineer-o/survey
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 2.91
