Sydney, Australia

Putting a face to virtual acquaintances

by Nathan Cochrane



Nathan Cochrane reports on bringing Web groups together.

Meeting up can be hard to do. Coming together on the Web to share common interests is a relatively painless task. Start a listgroup, website or newsgroup and, in a short while, it seems almost to populate itself with people who share the same interest.

There are virtual groups on topics covering every sector of human interest from the sensei of cinema, Akira Kurosawa, to research into underwater archaeology and the study of comparative religions.

Whether your passion is Xena or Buffy, Picard or Kirk, Macs or Linux, there's a group - usually more than one - to discuss it.

But what these groups often lack is an easy way for their members to meet in the flesh.

American entrepreneur Scott Heiferman, 30, saw the possibilities and last year formed a team of seven to build the core of a website, MEETUP.com, to narrow the gap between online and the real world.

It's a return to the technology business for Heiferman, the founder of one of the first online advertising companies, i-traffic. When the dot-com bubble burst, the University of Iowa graduate and interactive marketing guru formerly at Sony found a minimum-wage job for a few weeks working at the front counter of a McDonald's in New York. It wasn't for the money, he says, but for the experience.

Heiferman says he is surprised by the growth of MEETUP groups and how quickly Australians and New Zealanders have taken to the service.

Until recently, Melbourne was one of the 10 most active cities and there are active MEETUPs in Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Sydney.

``We don't consider ourselves an Internet company," says Heiferman.

``We get people away from the screens and into their local community to have coffee or have a beer in the real world with real people. The Internet is just a great tool to do that."

At last count there were more than 11,000 members spread over 550 cities, meeting up to discuss more than 300 topics, and it grows every minute.

The most popular group is Slashdot, a community based around the technical website of the same name, with more than 4000 members worldwide and a few hundred in Australia.

A MEETUP group is formed when someone proposes a topic or interest. Other members can join an existing topic and then venues are chosen in nearby cities to meet. Voting on the time and place continues until a consensus is reached.

``I was looking at this service after I saw it mentioned on slashdot.org," says Sydney Pocket PC User Group coordinator Kean Maizels.

``It would have really helped late last year in getting started, but now we have a defined structure and website we probably wouldn't benefit from it."

Heiferman says the venture will make money by charging pubs, clubs and cafes to have their venues listed as preferred meeting spots, although users are free to choose their own.

``Like any business, these companies will pay to increase traffic and sales," Heiferman says. There are plans to charge users for extra services, he says.

The list of popular topics is eclectic - from compilers of Web journals (``blogs") to Xena, breeds of boxer dog and former Jehovah's Witnesses.

``We're very popular amongst topics that have very fanatical followings, topics that elicit a very passionate response.

``Three of our top-20 cities are in Australia; maybe it's because people there are particularly friendly or passionate they want to meet up."

Politically, MEETUP.com can be very powerful because it links people locally to global issues, he says. ``Hopefully, many organisations and companies will come to see MEETUP as very valuable for strengthening the ties amongst their constituents. How awesome is it that any constituency can use MEETUP to organise 500 local same-day (meetings) around the world effortlessly?"

www.meetup.com

TOP MEET-UP TOPICS
Slashdot
LiveJournal
Tori Amos
Weblogger
Xena
Ex-Jehovah's Witness
Star Trek
Gamecube
Boxer
Nirvana

TOP CITIES TO MEET UP Seattle
Toronto
London
Washington DC
Manhattan (below 42nd Street)
Portland
Chicago
San Francisco
Vancouver
LA-Beverly Hills-Hollywood