MeetUp

[tinlizzy]

I found this site by accident Find Meetup Groups near you - Meetup after seeing a posting for a local flash mob in someone's cubicle and googling it when I got home.

You can be married and participate with or without your spouse, or single. People form groups in their area based on their interests and then others can join.

I joined one called Social Adventures in my area. It has 400+ members and they arrange meets for plays, bowling, dining out, game night at local bars, movies, etc.... The site sends you an e-mail when the events are arranged and you can RSVP. I estimate in the group that I joined, as few as 5 people and as many as 50 show up for activities based on viewing the RSVP's for past events.

I thought I'd post about it because you may find a group with similar interests in your area.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

What's kinda frightening is when I clicked on the link, it automatically knew my general location. How'd it do that?

 

[ER Eddie]

Oh yeah, meetup seems like a helpful site. I'm actually using it to help me decide where to live after I retire. I'm comparing different cities' meetup groups (number of meetup groups in my areas of interest). It varies dramatically from one city to the next. Seems like looking at the meetup groups is one way of getting a feel for a city.

 

[tinlizzy]

Your computer tattles on you after it gets a cookie.

 

[omni550]

I belong to about 25 meetup groups.....some are very active, others less so. I also enjoy attending meetup groups in other locations when traveling -- gives me a built-in group with which to do things.

The type of people who seem to attend meetups are people who are willing to get up off the couch and go meet other people and do things.

I've recommended meetup.com on this site several times when posters have expressed an interest in meeting people or finding things to do with their time.

omni

 

[tinlizzy]

Too bad I didn't see those posts Omni!

I see a lot of members locally are transplants from larger cities so I figured it must popular in large, urban areas.

 

[omni550]

Another neat thing about meetups is you can easily start one of your own. Meetup sends out emails to announce new meetup groups to registered users who have indicated an interest in that subject. And the only expense is the cost of having your group listed on the meetup site (which has some very nice features like RSVPs, calendar, a place to post pix, and files, discussion, emails, etc)... for something like $70/6 months. Most of the meetup groups to which I belong charge a minimal amount to offset the cost of the website --either $1/person per event attended or $4-12/person per year.

So if you're looking for a like-minded group and haven't found one yet, perhaps consider starting your own.

omni

 

[ER Eddie]

You've probably noticed, but you can search for meetup groups in a particular area of interest. For example, "Community & Environment" or "Tech." Some cities have over a thousand meetup groups, so the search options can help in narrowing things down.

My own city has 11 total meetup groups. None of which interest me (patriot/tea party stuff, mothers' groups, bible study). That's one reason I'm looking forward to retirement -- finding a bigger city, with more social options.

 

[W2R]

There are 86 meetup groups within 5 miles of me, some with intriguing topics of interest.

However, looking through them I realized that meeting with one of these groups just isn't my cup of tea right now, at this particular point in my life. To be honest, the thought of it inspires all-encompassing feelings of horror in my case as I look through the site.

It does seem like an interesting website for those who have time for more people and activities in their lives. I just don't right now. I am not ready to alter my sedate and uneventful life because right now I am enjoying enough abundant solitude to be in true INTJ heaven.

 

[travelover]

I lead hikes for the local Sierra club chapter. We were getting fewer and fewer participants and those were growing older. We put ourselves on Meetup and have had a huge infusion of younger participants. So, it is nice to have young blood in the organization and more participation in the hikes.

 

[rbmrtn]

What's kinda frightening is when I clicked on the link, it automatically knew my general location. How'd it do that?

No cookie required. Your IP address from your ISP will give a general location. IP ranges can be filtered by country, regions, etc

Here is a tool for reporting your location

IP Address Locator - Enter an IP address to find its location - Lookup Country Region City etc

 

[Lsbcal]

There are 86 meetup groups within 5 miles of me, some with intriguing topics of interest.

However, looking through them I realized that meeting with one of these groups just isn't my cup of tea right now, at this particular point in my life. To be honest, the thought of it inspires all-encompassing feelings of horror in my case as I look through the site.

It does seem like an interesting website for those who have time for more people and activities in their lives. I just don't right now. I am not ready to alter my sedate and uneventful life because right now I am enjoying enough abundant solitude to be in true INTJ heaven.

I totally understand how you feel W2R. Both DW and I are not really group types. We only get together with a few friends. Our funerals will be really boring.

Sometimes one or both of us goes out with a group called Monday Morning painters. It's not a MeetUp group but has existed for some years and is very informal. The people there have no real agenda other then an interest in Plein Air painting. Sometimes we get together for a pot luck but otherwise it's just paint in the morning and maybe eat lunch on site. Sometimes only a few show up, sometimes maybe 10 show up.

I've noticed that some of the MeetUp groups in our area seem to have been formed by people with a money motive.

 

[omni550]

I've noticed that some of the MeetUp groups in our area seem to have been formed by people with a money motive.

I discovered this is a couple of the meetup groups after joining. I promptly cancelled my membership (as did everyone else apparently, as none of those meetups are still active. )

Occasionally, someone in a meetup has tried selling something "on the side" to others in the group...and that has gotten squelched very quickly by the organizers.

The only meetup group where I've seen selling be allowed (and apparently be successful) is in a real estate investing meetup that was started by a realtor....and he's since been joined by other real estate investors who have created a whole training program (which costs several thousand dollars including the laptop you get preloaded with their materials) ...which is on round 2 or 3...and seems to be well-attended.

I found meetup.com about 5 years ago. It filled a need for me as I live in a major metro area with no family nearby, and I had recently ended a 16+ year relationship so I was feeling a bit lonely and lacking a companion with whom to do things, and was early retired (thus my peers and younger friends were still working.) Through meetups I've met dozens of new people and done a bunch of things that I would necessarily have either felt comfortable doing alone or was totally unaware of. Thus meetup has both expanded my social connections and social calendar. All good.

omni