Come on, let’s Meetup

It seems that almost every time I mention Meetup.com, I have to explain what it is. I’ve actually only known about it for a couple of years myself, but they’ve been around since 2002.

Last year, on the ten-year anniversary of 9/11, anyone that was a member of a group on Meetup received an email from Scott Heiferman, Co-Founder & CEO, explaining how Meetup came about.

Scott said, “When the towers fell, I found myself talking to more neighbors in the days after 9/11 than ever before. People said hello to neighbors (next-door and across the city) who they'd normally ignore. People were looking after each other, helping each other, and meeting up with each other. You know, being neighborly.” He also observed that “a lot of people were thinking that maybe 9/11 could bring people together in a lasting way … A small team came together, and we launched Meetup 9 months after 9/11.”

According to the About page on the Meetup website, there are 9.5 million members in 45,000 cities, and there are 280,000 monthly meetings.

So you ask, what is Meetup? It’s basically a place where groups—clubs and organizations, for example—can post information about where they meet, what they meet about, if there are dues, who the other members are, etc.

If you’ve already read my About me page, you know that photography is one of my passions. I found that Meetup made it easy to find out about different photography clubs in my area.

It’s a great way to meet other people that are interested in the same things that you are, but it’s also a great way to learn new things and/or enhance current skills.

You can search by location or type of activity, e.g., biking, cooking, blogging, hiking. You name it, you’ll probably find it. Or if you don’t, you can set up your own group.

One of the things that Scott said in that email that I liked regarding what they were looking to do was: “Could we use the internet to get off the internet – and grow local communities?” I like that, get started with a little technology and then get out and do something fun.

Meetup App Map Example

Meetup App Group Examples

But don’t forget the app for your smart phone that goes along with this because it’s a very helpful tool. In particular, it assists in keeping up with the groups that you’ve already joined. When you open the app, you’ll find your groups sorted by what’s happening within the next 24 hours, the next week, the next month, etc.

Or you can search for all groups and have them sorted by location or date of the upcoming meeting. I bet you can find something that will be a great fit for you, so what are you waiting for, start searching on Meetup.com today and join some groups.

Question: What groups did you find and join?
Leave a comment below and let me know.