Over the past years, Mate has become an essential part of the burgeoning hacker conferences taking place world-wide, as integral as beer is to a football game. Just as the Guarani used to share knowledge and other immaterial goods in a mate circle, hackers converge from all corners of the world to exchange ideas and information around their metaphorical hearth / source of light (the computer).
Mate lectures, DIY Mate Workshops, and mate databanks are as much in demand at such events as cryptography crash courses; and a constant and varied supply of mate beverages is as essential as a fast internet connection at these conferences.
Conferences such as the Exceptionally Hard Soft Meeting and Chaos Computer Congress (c30.de) have teams that are responsible for ensuring the mate supply at these events.
Mate Workshops are a highlight at events such as the OHM2013 or the Caffeine Hackathon, where an elaborate menu was created with Mate.
http://old.metamate.cc/2013/08/mate-hacking-updates/
http://old.metamate.cc/2013/08/matematic-mania/
There are a burgeoning number of online communities dedicated towards Mate from blogs written by independent mate fans such as www.mate-blog.de, to regional groups of mate fans such as mateman.ru or the Circle of Drink, which uses the internet to network with mate drinkers worldwide.
That being said, there is nothing that can replace the true mate ceremony of taking the time to sit down with someone and share a cuia, conversations and connect.
