Brian: June 2008 Archives

Hey All. 

There's a Depeche Mode song that I couldn't get out of my head last night.  Its called 'I Just Can't Get Enough.'  It must have been because we had just left our second city, Baltimore, and when it came to meeting with great folks, well, I just couldn't get enough. 

So hear begins a tale of two cities...

Keith, Aaron, Justin and I headed on 95 South for a sunny four hour trek to DC.  Its a fine place and we couldn't agree more, taxation without representation just isn't cool.  Our first stop was Chinatown, where we ate tastey Burmese food and chatted with some great DC organizers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I look at this photo and I see great minds helping us evolve Meetup into the greatest group organizing tool ever, not to mention, creating and enjoying community. 

Speaking of creating community, we have to give a shout to Diane and Carla for hosting us at their usual Meetup spot, and for coordinating the DC organizers' community.  Here they are along with my travel mates and Carla's bright daughter, Ciana, who is an up and coming DC organizer herself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we made a quick hop on over to Baltimore.  We took in some sunny harbor views and ate some extra crabby crab cakes to fuel up for the next big event.  We arrived early at our destination, and what luck that was.  It turned out that the evening's host was none other than Arnold Dickens, organizer of Balitmore's famous and talented Bluegrass Music Meetup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got in about 45 minutes of sweet harmonies and kickin rythms before guests began to arrive.  Needless to say, we started in good spirits.

The meeting was another excellent one.  Though smaller in attendance, it was just as rich in information and ideas.  The best part was that it reminded my of how diverse Meetup is.  Even with just a small group represented, the diversity of people and purpose was inspiring.  And though I saw diversity in terms of the types of meetups represented, the organizers had a lot in common regarding their experiences and goals.  I was happy that this trip was able to bring them together and I think we'd all agree that the exchange of information and ideas made the trek through a pretty bold thunderstorm worth it.

So that was a wrap of one leg of this tour, but before I go, I want to again say thank you to all of the organizers who participated.  Meetup thanks you for making what Meetup what it is today, for all the people you've touched and the lives you've changed.  You all are pioneers and hats off to you. 

Brian, Aaron, Keith and Justin

Greetings y'all, you'se guys, ladies, gents, friends, members!    This is Brian from Meetup HQ.  I am writing to announce the official kickoff of the Meetup City Tour 2008. We like our desks and the red walls of our office are not so bad, but quite frankly, we are getting cabin fever (office fever more like it).  It's time to hit the road and we couldn't be happier.

Since Meetup represents over 37,000 cities in over 100 countries, we can't visit everyone, so this blog will be our community forum over the course of the Meetup City Tour 2008. Over the next two weeks, we'll post about our visits to each city.  We have some wacky people on our team, and very clever organizers, so expect both entertaining stories and great tips from fellow organizers.

We want to get to know you and we want you to get to know us and your fellow members and organizers.  This is your community, so feel free to participate and comment on the posts.
 
For those of you who Twitter, follow MeetupHQ!   We'll be sending tweets from on the road during the tours.  (Don't know what Twitter is?  Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and an active Twitterer himself, wrote an amazing beginner's quick start guide and tutorial to using Twitter if you're interested in what it's all about.)

So thats about it for now.  I have to go home and pack, otherwise I could write all night!

We hope to hear from you soon.

Brian and the Meetup HQ.