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| by Douglas |
Meetup organizers do a pretty heroic job of building and running community. Members of Meetup Groups do a brave thing. They get out of their house, travel to their Meetup, meet real people face-to-face, build relationships and get what they need and want from their Meetup Group.
Frankly, starting and joining a virtual group is easy by comparison.
People can be inspirational, fun, informative, empathetic, sympathetic, give support and be there for you. But they can also be complex, sometimes difficult and demanding. Meeting face-to-face you can engage with all of these characteristics. Online, you can avoid them. Our view is that offline may take more investment of time and emotion from members and organizers. But it will yield proportionate results.
In New York Times Op Ed, Alice Mathias goes a little further:
"Facebook purports to be a place for human connectivity, but it's made us more wary of real human confrontation...dwelling online is a cowardly and utterly enjoyable alternative to real interaction".
Here are two comments from people who got out of the home, took the risk and got the reward that real human contact can give:
"A great way to share resources about our children with Asperger's...also wonderful therapy for parents who deal with these issues each day"
—North Texas parents dealing with Asperger's Syndrome group
"Super motivating people at all levels of running!"
—The Brooklyn Running Meetup Group.
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