Edwards’ supporters meet up


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By: Sarah Nakasone & Web Staff

Local supporters of Senator John Edwards' bid for president are finding each other through the Internet.

A New York-based organization called "Meet Up" helps unite people who share similar interests in 500 cities worldwide but they don't endorse any particular topic or candidate.

The group is changing the face of grassroots support for the Edward's campaign through the Internet.

Bill Hulette is having a hard time keeping his growing list of attendees straight.

“There were, like, seven people on the Internet this morning and now there's obviously a lot more interest,” said Hulette.

Interest in a President John Edwards. Some are cyber friends, that is, they've only known each other on email until now.

Just in the past few weeks, 17 people have already signed up on edwards2004.meetup.com in the Raleigh-Durham area, including some UNC-Chapel Hill Young Democrats.

“I think he represents a group of people the Democratic Party has started to lose over last four or five years which is the youth,” said Jeffrey Smith.

There are also the converts.

“I'm going to be changing my registration to democrat,” said Hulette.

The Edwards campaign may end up endorsing these monthly meetings, but for now, they're just happy to sign on volunteers and supporters are equally as eager to give policy advice.

“Every year, once you sign for your four years that you’re going to come to this college and learn, that you'll essentially pay the same thing year to year,” said Russ Smith.

It’s a list of ideas they hope will grow by the next meet-up.

Edwards’ supporters began signing up for meet ups in over 100 cities around the world. The Raleigh-Durham area leads the nation with the most support, followed by Washington DC and New York City.

Reading, PA

Capturing interests
Web site helps those with common causes meet face to face

By Bryan Behrenshausen

Lisa Dorman was excited to see her friend Ann. She would spend the weekend at Ann’s place in New York City, and together the pair of would attend a convention for “Scapers,” fans of the Sci-Fi Channel show “Farscape.”

Dorman of Reading knew Ann would be a great hostess. They worked out all the details over the phone.

She just wondered what Ann looked like because, well, Lisa and Ann had never actually met face-to-face. They built a friendship primarily via the Internet.

The weekend turned into one she will remember. Ann introduced Lisa to other “Farscape” fans Lisa knew only from the Net. In meeting about 50 other fans for dinner at Grand Central Station, Dorman discovered a sense of community she just didn’t feel online.

“It’s more personal, more fun in person,” she said. “We’re getting together with people who are very much like ourselves. I felt very much at home.”

And that exemplifies the goal of Web site www.meetup.com: to use the screen to get folks away from the screen.

Myles Weissleder. head of communication and marketing for Meetup.com, hopes the company will help other people, habitually, do what Lisa and Ann did. The New York Cityfirm, founded in June, utilizes two things to prosper, the Net and humanity’s natural propensity for community.

Users log on and input their interests and zip code, then register with an e-mail address. They’re shown groups of folks in their area who share their interests, as well as a list of venues available for the “meetup.” They vote on the place where they’d like to meet and are notified about the pending date via e-mail all for free.

Weissleder said the site was inspired in part by the book “Bowling Alone” by Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam. The author observes Americans slowly drifting apart, the bonds of community dissipating.

“Back in the day,” Weissleder said, “people were super-involved with the PTA or a bowling league. Now they are spending more time in front of screens. They’re not spending face time with their neighbors.”

After Sept. 11, Weissleder said the startup’s founders, Scott Heiferman, Matt Meeker and Peter Kamali saw the dire need for the resurgence of community.

“It blows my mind that this application wasn’t created and maximized five years ago,” Weissleder said. “It’s an amazing tool used to mobilize people around certain interests.”

About 137,000 people with 739 different interests are registered with Meetup.com. Meetups have occurred in 545 cities across 31 countries.

Popular meetup topics include the Atkins diet, screenwriting, witches, both the Edwards in 2004 and Dean in 2004 campaigns, and the band Dashboard Confessional.

In the Reading area, 151 registered users showed interest in a variety of topics, the top ten of which are, in descending order: Slashdot (a Web site for technology news nerds), BookCrossing (at which members trade books with one another), pagans, ghosts, LiveJournal (a diary Web site), witches, the band Ben Folds Five, yoga, Xanga (another online diary site), and anime (Japanese animation).

These numbers are changing every day.

“If you build it, they will come,” Weissleder said. “We’re creating hall meetings in hundreds of towns around the country, and there’s nothing better than that.

“Things happen when people get together.”

The first two weeks of January saw 374 meetups, 50 percent more than the previous December.

With Meetup.com, everyone wins, Weissleder said. People regain a sense community, Meetup.com continues to grow, and local businesses see more patrons.

“We are, in a sense, helping local economies because we’re sending people to coffee shops that they normally wouldn’t have visited,” Weissleder said.

When Meetup.com has its feet planted, it may begin to charge local businesses for placement as featured meetup venues.

But for now, its grassroots format will continue to work for free and work wonders for zealots like Dorman. While Reading does not currently have enough registered Scapers on Meetup.com, the Philadelphia area is teeming with them.

“These people are a lot like me,” Dorman said. “They seem to care about the same things. They care about a lot more than just ‘Farscape’ very young people to very old people.”

Dorman said she and the other Scapers have used Meetup to organize several “save ‘Farscape’” rallies, and certain leaders in different cities have used the site to tally attendees.

“I’ve met people from Canada, France, England, Australia,” she said. “This is the way the Internet has opened up the world for everybody.”

She said getting together in person beats sitting behind the keyboard any day.

“People can reach out to other people who have similar tastes and who like the same things, and actually become a family,” she said. “It’s kinda cool.”

Meetup with Scott Heiferman

SXSW: At this year's SXSW conference you will be talking on a panel titled Trends in How the Internet Connects People along with Brad Fitzpatrick of LiveJournal. What trends do you plan to discuss in this session?

SH: The Internet was created to connect people. It's the heart of the thing. eBay, IM, e-mail, Craigslist, AOL chatrooms, online personals, LiveJournal... it's all about the people. Weblogs are more than just text and links -- How blogs connect people in entirely new ways. Online-to-offline -- How the Internet brings people and groups together face-to-face in the real-world. Mainistreaming -- How the Internet as people-connector is hitting new levels of mass acceptance. Connecting for a purpose -- Beyond dating and socializing: How the Internet mobilizes people for political and activist purposes.

More: http://www.sxsw.com/interactive/tech_report/index.php

Feel all alone out there? Meet up with like interests

By Jenifer Hanrahan Goodwin

. . . Meetup.com organizes get-togethers of like-minded individuals in 500 cities around the world. Though the name makes it sounds like a dating service, it's not. (Unless your require your mate to be a pagan, a ferret owner, a Radiohead fan or a vampire.)



The members of BookCrossing, seen here at a recent meeting
at Borders Books in Mission Valley, leave books in public
places for others to find. (AP Photo)

More: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20030130-9999_1c30meetup.html

London, England

Word-wide web

By Nick Wyke

... Although the bookishness of book crossers means that many like nothing better than to curl up on the sofa with a good read, it is possible for them to get together in big cities on the second Tuesday of every month via www.meetup.com, a site that facilitates meetings for virtual communities. The largest gatherings are in Rome - the Italians being heirs to a long tradition of airing their views in a public forum.

In London 39 bibliophiles, including a publisher, a budding writer and book traders, are now voting on the venue for their rendezvous on February 11. A popular choice is usually Waterstone's in Piccadilly. . .

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0,,176,00.html (Subscription Required)

New Chart Toppers

By Daisy Maryles

Both the fiction and nonfiction hardcover charts have new books in the #1 slot, and both got there after less than a week in the stores. Book 10 in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time Series, Crossroads of Twilight, is the third book in the bestselling series to land in the top spot first week out. . .

There is an official international "meet up day" for fans on January 23 (the link is http://rjordan.meetup.com/). . .

Link:
http://publishersweekly.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA271279&display=breakingNews&publication=publishersweekly

Los Angeles, CA



Computer as ultimate concierge
Web site Meetup is a jumping-off point for people with similar interests to connect with their neighbors.

By Carolyn Patricia Scott, Times Staff Writer

"Ever yearn to meet up with folks who share a single, powerful passion? It might be "Xena: Warrior Princess," knitting, ferrets, the French language, jewelry making, the video-game Ultima, motherhood, live journals or any one of more than 700 different interests.

Enter Meetup, a free Internet-based service that organizes local gatherings about anything for anybody in any city in any country. It's designed to nudge people off the couch, away from too much TV and computer time, into face-to-face interaction with people who have similar interests."

More: http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/calwknd/cl-wk-stay16jan16.story
Article Scan

The Poynter Institute

Al's Morning Meeting, Monday Edition

By Al Tompkins

I have been playing with a site for a few days that I want to pass along. I will be interested to see how useful this really proves to be for you. This site seems to be a step toward helping journalists find real people who deeply care about a range of topics.

The site is called "Meetup," and it claims to be a place that will help you figure out how to get connected with people who meet about... well, just about everything. For example, if you want to find out where Witches meet in Tampa, they have a listing, or if you want to know where people who are interested in knitting meet in New York, there are 51 people signed up and willing to talk to each other.

The site spokesperson, told me, "Meetup helps create real-world gatherings in local establishments (cafes, restaurants) on just about any topic (breast cancer survivors, pug lovers, stay-at-home moms, BookCrossers, Atheists... and 700+ other topics/interests), in over 540 cities in 31 countries. In the six months since our launch, over 120,000 people signed in to meet up on one topic or another -- all without a dime spent on advertising. Meetup can be a GREAT resource for journalists to identify topic trends per city, as well as the rank of cities per topic."

For example, the Top 10 Meetup topics in Portland, Ore.:

LiveJournal (150 members) next event: Tuesday, Jan. 28 @ 8 p.m.
BookCrossing (127 members) next event: Tuesday, Jan. 14 @ 7 p.m.
Slashdot (112 members) next event: Thursday, Jan. 23 @ 7 p.m.
Witches (78 members) next event: Tuesday, Jan. 28 @ 7 p.m.
Pagan (45 members) next event: Wednesday, Feb. 12 @ 7 p.m.
Fark (40 members) next event: Saturday, Jan. 11 @ 6 p.m.
Weblogger (37 members) next event: Wednesday, Jan. 15 @ 7 p.m.
Ultima (32 members) next event: Monday, Feb. 3 @ 8 p.m.
Ex-Jehovah's Witness (29 members) next event: Saturday, Feb. 1 @ 5 p.m.
Knitting (24 members) next event: Wednesday, Jan. 15 @ 8 p.m

And the top cities for knitters are:

New York City (51)
LA -- Santa Monica (40)
Philadelphia, Penn. (35)
San Diego, Calif. (31)
Boston, Mass. (29)
Washington, D.C. (27)
Oakland-Alameda, Calif. (26)
Portland, Ore. (24)
Newark -- Jersey City, N.J. (23)
Vancouver, Canada (20)

Link: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=16874

Washington, DC

A Novel Approach to a Circulating Library

By Barbara E. Martinez

. . . Bacino sat in the Union Station food court recently, her remaining copy of "The Grapes of Wrath" prominently displayed, hoping for some of that give and take. Some Book Crossers had arranged to meet in person through another site, www.meetup.com, which facilitates gatherings among members of virtual communities. "When people have books in common, you always have something to talk about," Bacino says. Book Crossers all over the world get together on the second Tuesday of every month via meetup.com, with Italians holding the largest gatherings. Italy places third for site members, behind the United States and Canada.

Sadly, only Bacino -- who lives in Seattle but was visiting Washington for the holidays -- came to D.C.'s scheduled gathering, for which at least five people had committed. More than 700 people from the Washington area have registered on Book Crossing, and several dozen in turn have registered on meetup.com. Perhaps braving the cold of December to get to Union Station just didn't compare to curling up with a good book.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8475-2003Jan3.html

Rochester, New York



MAKING THE CONNECTION

By Chris Swingle

It’s not a matchmaking service. But it can be a way to make friends with others who have at least one thing in common.

Article Scan
Article Text Link

Happy New Year LA!


Bob McCormick highlights Meetup on the KNX 1070 NewsRadio High Tech Hour, "the number one rated radio biz program in Los Angeles."

Online company brings together like-minded fans

By Chris Marlowe

Fans of "Xena: Warrior Princess," "The Lord of the Rings" and other franchises are getting together to share their obsession every month. These meetings are coordinated through Meetup, a young online company that makes it easy for people to locally connect, in the real world, around shared topics of interest.

There are more than 100,000 registered members and 700-plus topics listed on Meetup. Events are held in more than 500 locales throughout 27 countries. The vast majority of the locales are in the United States.

"'Xena' is hugely popular," Meetup spokesman Myles Weissleder said. "So are 'Star Trek' and 'Lord of the Rings,' with TechTV and Radiohead growing fast."

The service is free, and there are no advertisements. Weissleder said that Meetup makes its money from venues -- ranging from bookstores and coffee shops to big pet stores and game arcades -- which can pay to be listed as a potential meeting place. There's no guarantee that anyone will vote to hold the meeting there, but if it is chosen, the venue then pays an additional fee per attendee.

According to Weissleder, the company already has been approached by promoters looking to connect with fans, but Meetup is avoiding commercial sponsorships rather than risk spoiling the grass-roots atmosphere of the events. "We're more interested in providing this platform for any company that wants to facilitate people gathering," he said. "It's an easy way to get hundreds of people together."

Meetup went live about six months ago and recently received an undisclosed amount of venture capital funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Article Scan

Netizens socialize offline at Meetup
Site aims to put a face to the email at downscale venues

By TRAVIS F. SMITH

www.meetup.com/browse/ent/mov

It's not just who you know, it's how well you know them. And while the
Internet has made it easier to join online groups of people who share your
interests (independent film, fan fiction or Japanese pop), there's a new
service that also makes it easy to meet them in person. Meetup tries to
bring groups of like-minded people together once each month at local
restaurants and coffee shops -- though the venues do seem mostly downscale.
The site is simple to use, and the list of topics is impressive. In a large
city where it's hard to meet people, this seems like a great way to go
beyond simple email exchanges and form the more permanent bonds that come
from spilling a drink on someone. Plus, it's great fun to put a face to the
email addresses you know so well.

indiefilm.meetup.com
fanfic.meetup.com
jpop.meetup.com
filmind.meetup.com/hq/
acting.meetup.com/
filmmaking.meetup.com/


Link:
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117877916&categoryid=1418

(Registration required)

"I walk into Future Bakery on Bloor Street. It's rather chilly out, and I've come out of the cold to check out a meatspace "Meetup," a gathering of facetime-inclined netizens organized via the recently-created, New York-based Meetup.com. . . "


Link: http://www.shift.com/content/web/444/1.html

Tim Greening mentions Meetup in a sidebar to an article on Star Trek ...

On the Web

Meetup.com has declared Dec. 17 as International Star Trek Meetup Day, encouraging fans to meet up that evening with other fans in cities all around the world.

To register and vote on the Shreveport location, go to startrek.meetup.com

Link: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/html/4FDBF1BF-0CE9-44E5-905E-0F75EE4CB7AE.shtml

(click for full size)

I'M ON THE LIST

By SARAH GILBERT


Users obsessed with Britney Spears,
"The Gilmore Girls," (above)
and Eminem go to meetup.com
to physically meet up with
like-minded souls.

More: http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/63969.htm

Cat's Clicks: Meet New Friends

Cat Schwartz, of TechTV's "Call for Help" program gives the world a grand tour of Meetup, as one of "Cat's Clicks".



"Find people with similar interests so you can meet and talk about your favorite shows, movies, sports, pop stars, and more."

Link: http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/catsclicks/story/0,24330,3409717,00.html

Meetup gets indexed by Shift Magazine.

Raw Shift: The 'Net. It's a small world.

Link.

Tech Ranch - KGSR, Austin, TX

Meetup.com brings together individuals with shared interests for good old fashion real world conversation.
Join Tech Ranch as we talk with the individuals behind meetup.com about how they're turning off-line chit chat into an on-line revenue model.

Audio:
11/25/02
11/26/02
11/27/02

Link: http://www.bazzirk.com/techranch.asp

Web site brings like minds together

By Helena Oliviero

Hillary Byrne used to resort to scoping out the metaphysics sections of bookstores to find other people like herself. Even then, she wasn't sure. They could be just curious readers.

Recently, she stepped into a roomful of strangers at a Caribou Coffee in Buckhead and knew that at least a handful had to be kindred spirits. . .

That's because Byrne, 25, who goes by "MoonRaven," had clicked onto meetup.com, a 5-month-old Internet tool that is bringing together thousands of people around the world to discuss, and bond over, similar interests. From Oprah-watchers to Duran Duran fans to ex-Jehovah's Witnesses and "adult fans of Legos," you can find it on this Web site.

Article Scan
Link: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/living/1102/25meetup.html

In an article entitled "Playing the Game", Selena Maranjian writes about investing strategies for those interested in investing in the gaming sector. One of the major points Maranjian makes is the importance of doing homework.

"Ideally, before plunking down your hard-earned money on stocks, you take time to read broadly about investing and develop realistic expectations," Maranjian explains. "Similarly, you should do your homework before investing lots of dollars in games, and it can be the best kind of homework -- playing games... A little digging online will likely turn up local gaming groups or a game store that hosts weekly gaming -- for example: Houston, Maryland, Northern N.J., Grand Rapids, Seattle, Vancouver, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Eastern Massachusetts, Australia, and more locations."

"Or," Maranjian suggests, "try Meetup -- a new gathering facilitator."

We agree. Knowledge is power and gaming investors who connect with real-life gamers in the real world via Meetup can learn a lot -- not only about the games and the companies who make them, but most importantly, about the people who play them.

Link: http://www.fool.com/news/foth/2002/foth021125.htm (Free registration)

New Scientist vol 176 issue 2370 - 23 November 2002, page 88

Magazine section: Feedback

FINALLY, we liked this from the website promoting "International Atheists Meetup Day" (http://atheists.meetup.com/?localeId=278). The question "What?" is answered: "Meet up with other local atheists to talk about your beliefs."

But surely...?

Link (archive sub req):
http://archive.newscientist.com/secure/article/article.jsp?rp=1&id=mg17623706.100

Smart Mobs

Angie Coiro of KQED/ NPR recently spoke with Howard Rheingold about the social implications of modern technology and his recent book, Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution.

Howard brought up the Meetup phenomenon in the course of his NPR radio interview.

Listen to it here.

Meet EFF Supporters in Your Area
As a supporter of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, you know the importance of sharing knowledge and ideas. Here is a chance to discuss threats to civil liberties in the electronic age with other EFF supporters in your area: MEETUP.com has added EFF to its topics list, which means you can sign up and attend social gatherings in your area. EFF MEETUPs are local gatherings of people like you who are interested in protecting civil liberties in technology law, policy and standards, and it's free! EFF MEETUPs are on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 8pm and can happen in up to 523 locales in 25 countries. EFF does not sponsor or organize these meetings, and EFF staffers will generally not be in attendance. This is a grassroots gathering at its most basic. The next MEETUP is on Tuesday, November 19 @ 8:00 PM - go to the following URL to sign up: http://eff.meetup.com/


Link: http://www.eff.org/effector/current.html#III

Web watch: get together.
Meetup web site helps users locate meetings

www.meetup.com

Want to find a meeting in your city or town on just about any topic? Check
out Meetup, a site that helps groups of people with similar
interests--whether it's dogs, cars, investing strategies, Web design, or
cooking--get together at bars, coffeehouses, parks, bowling alleys, or other
venues to share thoughts and ideas. The site lets you search by topic,
browse a topic list to find a selection, or suggest a new topic. Right now
you can locate meetings in 525 cities in 25 countries from the site.
Services are free.

Dear Diary: You're History

By Erin Meister

... LiveJournal members make real their virtual world with LJ MeetUps. At http://livejournal.meetup.com, members can search for the date, time, and location of the shindig and plan on meeting some cool new people to hang out with in the area. The next Boston MeetUp is Nov. 26, location as yet undecided....

Link

St. Petersburg, FL



The Internot

By Leonora LaPeter

Robert L. Webb II walked into the Krispy Kreme on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, a black briefcase hanging from his shoulder, a silver pentacle earring dangling from his left earlobe. He headed to a group of 18 people eating glazed doughnuts around a clump of tables pulled together. . .

This was the fourth and largest meeting of the witches, who gathered last week because of a Web site that is trying to get people with common interests out of chat rooms and into coffee shops for face-to-face meetings. Many of these Pagans had met before, online or at rituals and drum circles around the Tampa Bay area, but www.Meetup.com is bringing them together like never before.

. . .It is also gathering Boxer dog lovers and Oprah Winfrey watchers. Atheists. Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses. People with a cleft lip or palate. Vampires. Japanese pop fans. Young people who keep online journals. People who want to talk about the Republican Party or abolishing the death penalty. . .

On Tuesday [the Witches] talked about sponsoring a Pagan Pet Parade at Philippe Park in Safety Harbor to benefit the black kitten that got stuck in asphalt at a paving company in Tarpon Springs this month. . .

"This is totally new for us," said Supel, high priestess of a Clearwater coven and the host of the most recent witches meeting. "We're using it by getting all the leaders in our locality together to coordinate our calendars. We always used to meet at our homes, and there were kids and dogs running around. This is more like a Pagan parent night out. We can talk, and we don't have to watch what we say."

Article Scan
Link: http://www.sptimes.com/2002/10/28/Floridian/The_Internot.shtml

Blogspotting

By Will Femia
.
BLOG MEET-UP DAY

". . . Yesterday, while searching for New Jersey bloggers talking about the Senate race in that state, I came upon a site designed to help make it easier for bloggers to get together. Blog.MeetUp.com declares the third Wednesday of every month "Weblogger Meetup Day." From the list of members, it looks like the New York City meetings could be pretty big. I'll be sure to do a follow-up when I get a chance to investigate. . ."

Link: http://www.msnbc.com/news/809307.asp

Raleigh-Durham, NC




STRANGERS WITH COMMON GROUND

By Jonathan B. Cox

One by one, they arrived on a recent Thursday night, seven self-described geeks drawn to a downtown Raleigh restaurant by a Web site and a desire to talk tech.

A makeshift cardboard sign with peculiar markings on a chair near the entrance was the only clue that others like them were nearby. Though they barely knew each other, the seven chatted like old acquaintances. Two hours later, six were still going. . .

Article Scan
Link: http://newsobserver.com/business/story/1796559p-1801119c.html

Heath Row's CoF Roadshow

By Heath Row

. . .

I headed to the south of Houston offices of Meetup, an online service that helps people organize and participate in face-to-face events. There, in a cramped office housing nine staff members, I sat down with Scott Heiferman, Meetup's cofounder and CEO; and Matt Meeker, cofounder and VP of strategy.

Since the company's launch in July, almost 60,000 people have signed up for the service. More than 10,000 people have participated in about 1,000 meetups in 225 cities. While other team members lunched on pizza, the three of us discussed Meetup's business model -- and what other event and meeting planners, much less people leading team meetings, can learn from Meetup's work. . .


Just some examples of meetups around the world

. . .

Lower Barriers to Involvement
"In online communities of all sorts and sizes, people raise their hand and say, 'Hey, does anyone in Dallas want to meet up?' When something is happening, people like to hear it, but it takes a lot of iniative to stand up and say something is happening," Heiferman says. "The Net does a great job of connecting people, but there's nothing happening locally. It's hard to be best friends with someone in China. Meetup's idea is that media can cross borders between the real world and the online world."

More: http://www.fastcompany.com/roadshow/2002/100902.html

The blog-o-sphere filled with news, nonsense
Web phenomenon rapidly gaining recognition

By Jennifer Hilliard

. . . In Augusta, a group of bloggers is planning to meet for International Blog Meetup Day. Three people, known only by their Web names, 5x5, digitalmess2001 and landa75, have signed up for the Oct. 16 meeting. . . For more information about International Blog Meetup Day, or to sign up for the Augusta blogger group, check out the Web site at blog.meetup.com.

Link

St. Petersburg, FL

Simple, effective

By Jules Allen

www.MeetUp.com

Yahoo used to do it, Google still does it, and so does Meet Up, the new kid on my block. I'm talking about practicing simplicity, of course, or at least the illusion of simplicity for us knuckle draggers on the receiving end of the browser. The idea behind this gem of a site is that you and your like-minded friends use it to agree on a spot to meet such as a coffeehouse or bookstore. When there, you can talk about whatever makes you like-minded and have a whale of a time. Mac addicts, Xena warriors and ex-Jehovah's Witness are among the most popular topics. Others include vegans, politicos and those who watch Oprah. They're all good reasons to get out of the house.

Link: http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/30/Technology/Site_Seeing.shtml

Online Diary: Meeting Up, in the Flesh

By Pamela LiCalzi O'Connell

Meeting Up, in the Flesh

It's no longer unusual for online friends to arrange to meet in real life or for Web communities to hold face-to-face events. But a new, free service called Meetup ( (meetup.com ) offers a twist on the link between online and offline relationships.

The purpose of Meetup is not to help existing online communities meet in person, although many are using the site that way. Rather, it tries to "pull together people in the same location with shared interests who are strangers online" and encourage them to meet, said Scott Heiferman, co-founder and chief executive of the company. "We want to stimulate local communities."

This is how it works: visit the Meetup site and search the topics directory for something that interests you, like a hobby or a musical preference. The site will list "meetups," or informal gatherings, planned on that topic in your area. You can also start your own topic, but don't worry: you won't be expected to plan or lead the event. The site does the work.

Once registered for an event, you can vote on the local venue where you would like it to take place. (Meetup makes money by charging bars, cafes and the like to be listed on the site.) If fewer than four people register, the event is canceled.

Obed Fernandez started a Meetup topic for ex-Jehovah's Witnesses that has attracted more than 800 registrants. Mr. Fernandez said he used to run a site for XJW's, as they are called, "but I've become disenchanted with the reach of the Web and am more and more interested in offline interaction."

For Mr. Heiferman of Meetup, the goal is almost subversive. "We are very interested in using the Net to get people away from the Net," he said.


More: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/26/technology/circuits/26DIAR.html (Registration Required)

United Kingdom

Suited and Booted

By Mike Butcher

. . . And it's not just the be-suited business crowd that's getting together via the web. Among the UK's tech scene, hardcore geeks are emerging, blinking into the light, using Meetup.com to coordinate monthly drinks in London.

Meetup.com was co-founded by Scott Heiferman in New York just after September 11. Its main revenues come from the bars and cafes it uses to bring together tens, sometimes hundreds, of people through their doors. It now boasts more than 50,000 members. They meet to discuss almost 600 topics, ranging from investing strategies to Jack Russell terriers, in 525 cities around the world. . .

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,798910,00.html

Exposed: my life as a blog

By Bernard Lane

".. . Tomorrow at 7pm – in everyone's local time – in the bars and cafes of 315 cities around the world it's an International Blog Meetup Day. Almost 3000 bloggers will log off, head for their respective locals, and meet in the flesh. The biggest gathering will be at the Remote Lounge in New York City – the city where the organisers are based – but their anxieties and hopes would be shared by many in the developed world.

"The world would be a better place with more social connectedness in local communities," explain the organisers at blog.meetup.com. . ."

More: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,5114395%255E2702,00.html

Bloggers show their faces

by Bernard Lane

. . . Badger's "weblog", and 2868 other internet journals or personal web diaries around the world - will be unusually quiet on Wednesday at 7pm.

The bloggers are logging off, heading down to their local bars and cafes, and putting a human face to their web pages. . .

"Some say that the internet eliminates the need for face-to-face connections," explain the international "meet-up" organisers, blog.meetup.com, based in New York City. "We say that millions of years of evolution have created a species that needs real-world friends."

More: http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5103591%255E15306,00.html

Startups: Web users go face-to-face

by David F. Gallagher
September 2002

Scott Heiferman, the cofounder and CEO of a New York Internet startup called Meetup, wants to get people off the Internet. The Meetup Web site coordinates real-world gatherings of people who share an interest, whether it be Weblogs or Weezer. The site uses a database of 11,000 venues worldwide to suggest locations for meetings, and it lets participants vote for their preferred spot.

Backed by $250,000 from a group of investors that includes EDventure Holdings’ Esther Dyson, Meetup has already caught on with some online communities—including 1,200 fans of the geek news site Slashdot—whose members are curious about the faces behind the user names.

When Mr. Heiferman talks about Meetup’s potential to strengthen communities, he sounds like an Internet idealist. But he has a business plan: venues will have to pay to remain on his list of suggested spots, with fees based on attendance. Mr. Heiferman notes that he has already built one profitable Internet company, the online ad agency I-Traffic, which he sold to Agency.com in 1999. “We are this sort of positive-social-change dot-com,” he says. “But at the same time, we are very serious about it being a business.”

Las Vegas, NV

The Scene and Heard

COLUMN: Norm!

...

A new Internet site called MEETUP brings like-minded folks together. For instance, on Sept. 24, Las Vegas will be the site for a gathering, so far, of 46 witches. Don't ask me why, maybe to file their Halloween flight plans. Tuesday the Green Party meets here. Signed up so far: one member. The Web site is http://www.meetup.com. ...

Link: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Aug-30-Fri-2002/news/19507664.html

Hip Clicks: Mixed Media

by Whitney Matheson

Want to have coffee with a bunch of Buffy fans? Do lunch with fellow knitters? One relatively new site, Meetup.com, helps make these sorts of random gatherings happen. Check the site for your city and scheduled "meetup" dates.

Link: http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/hipclicks/2002-08-26-hipclicks.htm

Myles Weissleder To Howard Stern Fans: I Want You!

by Jim Brachman
August 2002

Myles Weissleder seems like a reasonably sane person. So why does he feel fans of Howard Stern need to interact? We offered Weissleder an opportunity to explain himself; he was good enough to do so...

More: http://208.50.7.64/cgi-script/csNews2/csNews.cgi?database=howard%20stern%2edb&command=viewone&id=23&op=t

MEETUP Interview

by Case
August 14 2002

There has been a growing movement of real GameCube fans looking for a rousing atmosphere where they can sit back, chill, and kick each other's asses in vicious tournies amongsts hardcore GameCube fanatics. The International GameCube MEETUP Day is a monthly event that lets GameCubers come together as people with common interests and have a blast. It's popularity is rapidly growing. You can visit their page at gamecube.meetup.com. We had a chat with one of MEETUP's organizers, Myles Weissleder. This is what he has to tell us...

More: http://www.nintensity.com/news/gamecube.cgi?id=1029374732

Sydney, Australia

Blogging on

by Jenny Sinclair
August 14 2002

. . . So she began looking around for Melbourne Web logs, known as blogs. Three weeks ago the first real-life gathering (called a "meetup") of local bloggers attracted about 20 people to a pub in Collins Street to put faces to the online names - names such as PixelKitty, Miss JenJen and Andromeda Girl - and to share technical and writing tips. About 60 people have joined the meetup group, putting Melbourne in the top 10 cities around the world for such gatherings. . .

More: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/14/1029113946531.html

Interview with Scott Heiferman, MEETUP

by Jim Cashel
August 2002

Scott Heiferman is Co-Founder and CEO of MEETUP, an online site which helps people meet others with similar interests. Some of the most active users of MEETUP to this point are online community members seeking to meet other community members offline. Prior to MEETUP Scott founded i-traffic, an online ad agency now owned by Omnicom. We asked Scott about MEETUP and other cool community sites...

More: http://www.onlinecommunityreport.com/features/heiferman

Site helps people meet

A new Web site called "Meetup" (www.meetup.com) has a simple goal: It wants to help people with the same interests use the Internet to meet in person.

Fishing for new friends? A Meetup on aquariums is set for Aug. 12. Want to find people who share more than their feelings? A Meetup on file-sharing kicks off on Aug. 5.

Here's how it works: You go to the Meetup site and select a city. You check the more than 300 topics listed for ones that interest you. Then you go to your meeting.

Meetings are unmonitored and run by whoever shows up.

Knight Ridder Newspapers

Link: http://www.freep.com/money/tech/buzz1_20020801.htm

Sydney, Australia

Alphabet snoop: Useful

by Maria Nguyen

While chat rooms and newsgroups are convenient and popular ways to connect with like-minded people all over the world who share similar interests, Meetup is a new and free service that helps participants who live in the same area get together in the real world, over a coffee or beer. Book clubs, support groups, fan clubs, study groups, and a host of others have formed and meet in 540 cities across 22 countries, in cafes, bars, bowling alleys, parks, dog-friendly places, and other venues. In Sydney for example, you can attend the next Big Brother Fans Meetup on August 12. Just register with an email address and vote to have it held at the Martin Place Bar, Gloria Jeans or the Lord Nelson Brewery.

Link: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/26/1027497404208.html

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

Tucson, AZ - - San Jose, CA
St. Paul, MO - - Columbus, OH


Lonely? 'Meetup' gets people offline for face time

by Leslie Brooks Suzukamo
Knight Ridder Newspapers

. . . Maybe it sounds like a no-brainer, but Meetup turns the Internet on its head. People fell in love with the Net because it allowed them to find kindred souls they never needed to meet in person. You could find someone who shared your interests, particularly the really nerdy ones, and it didn't matter if they lived halfway around the world.

So why insist on face-to-face meetings? "Because you spend too much time in front of a screen," says Meetup's home page. . .

More: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/technology/personal_technology/3662888.htm

Meetup.com, Web site review
by Julie Madsen

Meetup.com, Web site review by Julie Madsen
Meetup.com puts an interesting twist on Internet chatrooms: It turns them into actual physical chatrooms, with personal interaction. The Web site offers a list of topics that others are planning to meet to discuss. After clicking on a city (from a wordlwide list) and a subject that interests you, the Web site displays the place, date, and the number of members who are signed up for that meeting. You then register by entering your e-mail address. But why choose meetups over their virtual counterpart? If you really have to ask, Meetup gives some glaring reasons: 1. Because nobody ever died of having too many friends. 2. Because the Internet was made to connect people. 3. Because you spend too much time in front of a screen.

Link: http://www.utne.com/webwatch/archive.tpl?d=07/12/2002

Discovering two cool Linux-based projects at one New York party.

by Doc Searls

"MEETUP ... far more impressive than any of the earlier dot-com efforts that tried to commercialize the same thing... But what really blew my mind is how simple and practical the whole thing is--and how far it has already spread. For example, an International Slashdot MEETUP Day is coming up, with reports of huge participation levels..."

More: http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6185.

Meetup is born