The story of Meetup

Those of you who have your own blogs may know about meetup. It is a wonderful net tool for organising people to get together for meetings, a drink, whatever.  And while bloggers may love to communicate on their blogs, many of them like to meet up with similarly interested bloggers in their neighbourhood...so there's a tendency to use meetup.  In my mail box to-day dropped the wonderful and somewhat emotional story of how it all started............

Fellow Meetuppers,

I don't write to our whole community often, but this week is special because it's the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and many people don't know that Meetup is a 9/11 baby.

Let me tell you the Meetup story. I was living a couple miles from the Twin Towers, and I was the kind of person who thought local community doesn't matter much if we've got the internet and tv. The only time I thought about my neighbors was when I hoped they wouldn't bother me.

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.

A lot of people were thinking that maybe 9/11 could bring people together in a lasting way. So the idea for Meetup was born: Could we use the internet to get off the internet -- and grow local communities?

We didn't know if it would work. Most people thought it was a crazy idea -- especially because terrorism is designed to make people distrust one another.

A small team came together, and we launched Meetup 9 months after 9/11.

Today, almost 10 years and 10 million Meetuppers later, it's working. Every day, thousands of Meetups happen. Moms Meetups, Small Business Meetups, Fitness Meetups... a wild variety of 100,000 Meetup Groups with not much in common -- except one thing.

Every Meetup starts with people simply saying hello to neighbors. And what often happens next is still amazing to me. They grow businesses and bands together, they teach and motivate each other, they babysit each other's kids and find other ways to work together. They have fun and find solace together. They make friends and form powerful community. It's powerful stuff.

It's a wonderful revolution in local community, and it's thanks to everyone who shows up.

Meetups aren't about 9/11, but they may not be happening if it weren't for 9/11.

9/11 didn't make us too scared to go outside or talk to strangers. 9/11 didn't rip us apart. No, we're building new community together!!!!

The towers fell, but we rise up. And we're just getting started with these Meetups.

Scott Heiferman (on behalf of 80 people at Meetup HQ)
Co-Founder & CEO, Meetup
New York City
September 2011

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Meetup, PO Box 4668 #37895
New York, New York 10163-4668

Bewitched in the bleak midwinter at the winter solstice

Yesterday, was a trip ten minutes up the wind-y windy road to Sassafras and the beautiful blue Dandenongs to some lovely jollities. Well, the beautiful blue Dandenongs were not blue. It was the bleak midwinter Dandenongs, the coldest place in Melbourne, at the time of the winter solstice. At the bottom of the hill, Upper Gully was overcast and cloudy but clear. Sassafras was in a shroud of thick pea soup fog. With village shops and Miss Marple's presence in the main street, it could have provided the atmosphere for an Agatha Christie novel.

However, back to the jollities. Miss Eagle was there to meet Brownie of Bwca Dysthymia - who has been sojourning for a few weeks at Kalorama - and that well known amateur thinker, JahTeh of CopperWitch at The House of Coffee who had visited from the Inner East to survey the mountain tops. The conversation was wide ranging, the laughs were plentiful and the getting to know two fellow bloggers a warm and joyful experience. Luvved ya, gals!

And the clever CopperWitch had brought a gift of her own making. This delightful work of art, embroidered in the teeniest, tinyiest stitches mounted on velvet. Note the mounted deep blue gemstones on either side. And all mounted on a beautiful, beribboned cushion.

What a delight!

And, next door to the House of Coffee, at Antiques at Sassafras, Miss Eagle made a purchase. You will recall, dear Reader, Miss E's recent visit to Sassafras. She remarked - and photographed - at the time on the Paris rubber stamps. She resolved on this visit to bring them home with her if they were still available. They were there. Now they are here at the Trad Pad. Herself thinks they are wonderful. Gift wrapping and carding will have a Parisian flavour for quite a while, methinks.

A Sunday in Melbourne: Part 2: Bloggers meet

Call Miss Eagle a female chauvinist if you will, but one has to say - aren't women interesting creatures!

Miss Eagle joined a number of other female bloggers in the city this afternoon. Present (and, dear Reader, you will have to find out which was which for your very self) at the meeting were:

• an architect
• a tap dancer
• a printer
• a policy analyst
• a production manager
• a primary teacher
• an ex-librarian (there were two others there as well)
• a public servant
• a community activist

Individual doings included:

• preparing for the imminent birth of a child
• preparing to return to work from maternity leave
• preparing for a photographic exhibition
• crafting all manner of clothes and objects
• devising knitting patterns
• participation in a book club (there was more than one participant)
• preparing art work for the Sacred Space at a local hospital
• designing and printing business cards (more than one)

There were nine of us as can be seen - and that was difficult enough to get to know one another and each other's interests.

Blogs represented (besides Miss Eagle's) were:

• Clementine's shoes
• muppinstuff
• fripperee
• Stomper Girl
• Girl Printer
• soozs
• Only books all the time
• Turning Japanese

Bloggers bash at the Bazaar

Life has been rather full this week. There sometimes seems to be just two parts to life: real life and blogging life. Real life demands and interests have to be kept up for all the best and usual reasons. But one has to keep up with real life demands also to prove to oneself and Herself that one is not an addict, that one can move away from the computer - and give Herself ago to visit Her/Miss Eagle's latest addiction, I Can Has Cheezburger?.

So Miss E hasn't been back to tell you about The Melbourne Weblogger Meetup. Now, Miss E can't go into every jot and tittle of the evening but wants to hone in on just a few highlights to make you, dear Reader, wish you were there. If you do wish you had been there, join up here.

Firstly, we were all gathered at Horse Bazaar because of mine host Darren Rowse, he of ProBlogger fame. Here's Darren's post on the night. So it was great to meet him and exchange a word or two. Then there was John, not a blogger in his own right but webmaster for Craig Harper. That's John in his Craig t-shirt in the foreground of the photograph on Darren's post. Great talking to him - and it turned out that his parents, Tony and Bernadette, live just around the corner from Miss E - and she has promised to drop in and say hello.

Then there was that marvellous fashonista, Gala, in her pink hoodie (but no sign of the striped kini). Gala was accompanied by the team from Fashionising. Enough to rejuvenate Miss E's superannuated spirit! So, dear Reader, if you think Australia's fashion capital is elsewhere, Melbourne's credentials were on show at the Meetup.

Martin told me how his experience and tricks of the trade were being put to use in his new blog. All success to him - because as well as who you know, as we were putting into practice at the Horse Bazaar, one has to have a foundation of what you know.

Now, don't ask me how Miss E didn't get into a conversation with Ed. Must have been that wonderfully erudite conversation with Jon criss-crossing a geography of locales and ideas. Ed, we'll have to talk some more over at Oz Tucker about a food bloggers' gathering, don't you think?

There were a few in the yet-to-start-about-to-start-my-blog category so, needless to say, we wished them well with words of encouragement. And if you want to mind your p's, q's and posts in the blogosphere pop over to Kirrily's blog - she who claims to be the Emily Post for the digital generation.

It was great to meet up with Karen from Miscellaneous Adventures of an Aussie Mum who had been tossing up whether to come - particularly since illness had invaded the household earlier in the week. It is always a joy to put faces to blogs - especially such an enjoyable blog by such a talented writer as Karen.

Melbourne Weblogger Meetup

Can I tell you that The Melbourne Weblogger Meetup Group is to have its very first meetup to-morrow night? Diarise it right now.

Details are:
Date: Wednesday 23 May
Time: 6.30pm onwards (so those in the CBD can come straight from work)
Place: The Horse Bazaar Bar - 397 Little Lonsdale St Melbourne
Cost: nothing - buy your own drinks/coffee/food

Miss Eagle will be there and would love to meets lots of fellow bloggers.