Meetup Notifications

August 19, 2009 7:47 PM

Is there a way to receive notifications when a new meetup is posted?

I seldom read anything in the gray unless it's a really slow day on the blue and green or I'm in the mood for internet drama. This has the unfortunate side effect of making me oblivious to upcoming events/meetups.

I took a quick glance at the RSS feed and the FAQ. The RSS feed does not appear to display upcoming meetups, and the FAQ doesn't mention anything about it either. I have no idea what that iCal link is supposed to do.

Do I have any options beyond manually checking the gray every now and then?

Thanks

posted by Ziggy Zaga to MetaFilter-Related at 7:47 PM (15 comments total)

OH GOD. YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO CHECK THE PAGE.

Can't someone greasemonkey something up that will respirate for me? It's not that breathing is hard; it's just that it's so tiresome and repetitive.
posted by Eideteker at 7:51 PM on August 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

A bit over the top, maybe, Eideteker?

You can load the iCal link into Google Calendar. I've also used iCal links as feeds for Yahoo! Pipes before, as well. Maybe someone would like to try that?
posted by grouse at 7:57 PM on August 19, 2009

Add the iCal link to your calendar application, and it shows all upcoming meetups. (it works in Google Calendar)
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:58 PM on August 19, 2009

HURF DURF WHAT THE HELL Oh hey that iCal to Google Calendar thing is sweet thanks for this post.
posted by lazaruslong at 8:07 PM on August 19, 2009

I can't believe how much time you spent on the gray writing a question about how to avoid checking the gray every now and then.
posted by iamkimiam at 8:15 PM on August 19, 2009

Does anyone read the posts down here?
posted by killdevil at 8:20 PM on August 19, 2009

We all do.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:23 PM on August 19, 2009

I don't understand, this page shows up in my RSS reader just fine.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:30 PM on August 19, 2009

I don't.
posted by rtha at 8:31 PM on August 19, 2009

Meetups are a lot more fun when you're well-versed in the goings-on of MetaTalk anyway. Just read MeTa.
posted by carsonb at 10:08 PM on August 19, 2009

are there per category RSS feeds in AskMetafilter and MetaTalk? I can't' find any. I know I could make some sort of yahoo pipe, but I was just curious.
posted by bluefly at 2:37 AM on August 20, 2009

I think this is actually a great idea; maybe it seems a tiny bit silly framed as 'I don't want to keep checking, please help,' but if we put our tracking of user locale together with meetup locale, it could really help spread the word about meetups in a good, scaled way. I can't count how many times I've talked to people who had no idea there was a meetup, say, ten blocks from their house; an automated MefiMail would be unobtrusive and would mean fewer people left out.

I know boosting meetup attendance probably isn't our highest priority around here, but this would be a neat feature: a little 'hey, there's a meetup near you!' notifier.
posted by koeselitz at 4:29 AM on August 20, 2009

I don't either. None of us do.
posted by languagehat at 6:56 AM on August 20, 2009

The first thing I check each day is the Deleted Threads blog, to see what drama and hijinks I missed out on, and then I check MetaTalk, to see what drama and hijinks are still going on. Then I check MetaFilter itself, if I still have time.

I don't think I'm alone in my priorities.
posted by yhbc at 7:55 AM on August 20, 2009

killdevil: Does anyone read the posts down here?

Nobody comes here anymore; it's too crowded.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:01 PM on August 22, 2009