There's no active South Bay group that I know of. There was one a few years ago (maybe in 2022 or 2023), but it hasn't been active recently. I'd definitely recommend going for it!

What works:

• Bring free food. It will make the event much better IMO.
• Provide some kind of nominal activity or discussion topic so that people think they'll get value out of the event. People who want to socialize will come anyway.
• Pro tip: If it's your first event, seed it with a few of your friends so that it's not very awkward when it's just you and 1 other person.

What doesn't work:

• I haven't had much success when I haven't advertised the event. Always advertise (can do via EAForum events, LW events, facebook groups, etc.
• Don't dilute the message: There is a tendency for groups to attract people who just want to chat and hang out, and don't want to actually do things in the real world. Never forget that the goal is to take actions to improve the world. This isn't something to worry about on your first meetup, but always keep in mind that you want to attract people who are can be convinced to do important things. Don't cater to the lowest common denominator.

Why wasn't there someone ready to immediately take over:

• In SF in particular, there are a lot of EA people who have their own social networks, so even though there were a lot of people who could have done it, their social needs were already filled, and there wasn't pressure to restart it.
• However, in general, (this applies to all activities) the number of people willing to take somewhat costly actions to make a public good happen is often lower than you think. The effective market hypothesis doesn't apply for things like "Starting a local EA group". Thus, there are tons of "100 utilon bills" lying on the floor for enterprising people to pick up.

If you have more questions, feel free to DM, and we can get on a call. I'd be super excited to help you start a South Bay group!