The Cyberorganic Way


	Every Thursday night is party night at Cyberorganic, a hangout for Bay Area webheads. (Photograph by William Mercer McLeod)

t could be any residential row house in the rundown neighborhoods near San Francisco's multimedia gulch. The paint job is a tame pastel combo of blue and gray. The bay windows are shielded by old-fashioned pull-down shades. But if you stand in front of this narrow, unassuming building and then slowly look up, the secret reveals itself.

Snaking up the front of the building and then exploding in a tangle of black and pink cables, are the clues to the wired ways of 59 Ramona Street -- home of Cyberorganic, a community hangout and Thursday-night party house for San Francisco Webheads.

"Prom night" at Cyberorganic meant second-hand gowns, good times, and lots of digital discussion between beers and champagne. (Photograph by William Mercer McLeod)

Tonight it's "prom night," and amid the talk of Internet security protocols and cyberspace innkeeping, the sounds of taffeta rustling and corks popping fill the air. Although the themes of the Thursday-night gatherings are somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the goals of this wired community are very real. Beyond providing its members with, "a virtual home and a real-time hangout," Cyberorganic folk are also creating the Cyberorganic website, a space to publish, chat, and link to the hippest spots on the Web.

Webmeister Jonathan Steuer, aka Dr. Cheeze, is also creating a real-world cafe providing Net access, food, performance space, educational classes and technical support. In other words, "a cool place to geek out," as the business plan states.