Why the upsurge in Mefi meetups?

April 7, 2005 3:40 PM

Anybody else noticed a recent upsurge in the number of Mefi meetups? What could be the reason for the newfound urge of more members of the community to meet in RL?
posted by dash_slot- to MetaFilter Gatherings at 3:40 PM (29 comments total)

it's all because of me : >
posted by amberglow at 3:45 PM on April 7, 2005

It's Spring. Everyone is hoping to meet that one perfect Mefite and make like a bunny.

But seriously:

I think Mefi meetups just reached a point of normalcy, where once they were a unusual. Now it's expected you'll meet some locals, should you have any available. Just your average snowball effect. Or tipping point. Or whatever metaphor it is I'm looking for.
posted by frykitty at 3:54 PM on April 7, 2005

Could be the addition of over 8,000 new members...
posted by knave at 4:10 PM on April 7, 2005

I think the number of meetups is the same, but every time they leave the front page, they get reposted. How many posts have we had to MeTa lately that start out "Reminder:"? Short attention spans abound.
posted by graventy at 4:20 PM on April 7, 2005

Wow, frykitty, no wonder you and #1 aren't coming to this one, you're already mated...

I think a lot of us have found value in our fellow mefi-ites, and it's now pretty common for groups from websites to get together. Where once you had to be a pioneer to even consider it, and if you told your mom you'd get a, "You're meeting WHO? That you met WHERE?" ... these days, even my mom has accepted that I date people I've met online.
posted by SpecialK at 4:26 PM on April 7, 2005

it's all because of me : >

I do actually think that folks like you and caitlinb, who get around to different meetups in different areas, do make a big positive impact on the meetup culture.

There's also just a general critical mass reached in the culture these days. Enough people have met new friends online, or gone on an internet date, that people are beginning to let go of old fears about showing up to meet someone and being axed to death. Perhaps lots of happy meetup pics help with this too. If it looks fun, more people do it.

There was quite a rash of meetup schedulings this week, but I think it's kind of a blip.

It's Spring. Everyone is hoping to meet that one perfect Mefite and make like a bunny.

Then again, maybe there's something to that.... >;)
posted by scarabic at 4:29 PM on April 7, 2005

A million or so years ago when folks actually communicated by radio waves, I had what was know as a Citizen's Band radio. I actually had a license, KYD-8807 (can't believe I still remember that, haven't really thought about it in years). Anyway, we would 'chat' and give each other 'shouts' and even ask if the other party 'had their ears on.' Once in a while we'd get together for a 'coffee break' which was sort of a dumb pun since starting an on-air conversation would begin "Breaker one nine..." We'd meet a local diner and see if the people looked like what we thought they looked like. This is sorta like that, no?
posted by fixedgear at 4:41 PM on April 7, 2005

We'd meet a local diner and see if the people looked like what we thought they looked like. This is sorta like that, no?
yup, fixedgear, it is--but with liquor and food involved. (You often get a fuller picture of a person from meeting them face-to-face--some people who are kinda negative or strident or whatever here aren't in real life, etc.) Also, it's fun to meet the new folks. I'm kinda proud that i've caused meetups in places that haven't had them before--maybe it'll start a trend.

*fights caitlinb for "meetup whore" title*
posted by amberglow at 4:49 PM on April 7, 2005

We SF Bay Area people have been going pretty steadily at one meetup per month or so (join us next Sat.). It's obvious to me that the recent upsurge in meetups elsewhere is due entirely to everyone else getting jealous of us.

It's Spring. Everyone is hoping to meet that one perfect Mefite and make like a bunny.

Oddly enough, whenever I wiggle my eyebrows and coo "let's make like bunnies" at meetups, women always toss a pancake to my forehead and tell me to start hopping.



I need new pick-up lines for MeFi women.
posted by DaShiv at 5:10 PM on April 7, 2005

Met a lot of good peeps through the local BBS's... This must be similar, no?
posted by LouReedsSon at 5:49 PM on April 7, 2005

oh, DaShiv, try this: "Smack me down--i'm a newbie" ; >

yup--very good peeps, i'd say, LRS.
posted by amberglow at 5:52 PM on April 7, 2005

I remember having to make myself go to the first meetup - it was miserable weather and it hardly seemed worth going out in to meet a bunch of strangers. But it was worth it and I'm more eager to go every time. You make friends, you want to see them again, the proportion of great people to the er, slightly off ones is high, so you look forward to meeting more. And of course if you're single there always is that hope of activities that will involve perverted references to pancakes (Want me to flip over, hon?)

Sometimes I wonder if Matt is ever awed by what's come of his little project.
posted by orange swan at 6:01 PM on April 7, 2005

orange swan, the thing on your userpage about Canada and how often you mention it here is what i meant before (but not negatively) about how meeting people in person lets you see more of them--we all kinda get defined/limited here by the topics we jump into or bring up or are associated with us...
posted by amberglow at 6:07 PM on April 7, 2005

*fights caitlinb for "meetup whore" title*

I would like to be in this beauty pageant. How many do you have to have gone to?
posted by jessamyn at 6:16 PM on April 7, 2005

There's truth to that, amberglow, but you know, out of all the MeFites I've met (without stopping to count I think it's about a dozen), I haven't really been surprised yet by any sort of virtual/real life contradiction. You truly can take the measure of someone's personality by what they write, assuming you have a certain amount of text to go by.

On preview: Maybe "Meetup Whore" should be on one of the t-shirts available in the Cafe Press items. In glitter.
posted by orange swan at 6:21 PM on April 7, 2005

I heard if you come to a meetup you get a free iPod.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:28 PM on April 7, 2005

I would like to be in this beauty pageant. How many do you have to have gone to?
move down here, jess, and maybe you'll catch up : >

i was just talking about shirts that say that last night with a mefite, orange swan. Either glitter or BeDazzled--definitely.
posted by amberglow at 6:33 PM on April 7, 2005

Damn, and I just ordered my MeFi baby doll t-shirt. If I'd realized they might be coming out with something like that, I'd have waited.
posted by orange swan at 6:41 PM on April 7, 2005

Personally, I would like to believe that it's all because of me and NortonDC. :P Go go go to your metafilter meetups!
posted by onlyconnect at 6:46 PM on April 7, 2005

We're trying to put right what once went wrong.
posted by Arch Stanton at 7:41 PM on April 7, 2005

I'm kinda proud that i've caused meetups in places that haven't had them before
Waiting, waiting.
posted by Tarrama at 10:03 PM on April 7, 2005

Whereas I am a Meet Up Tease; I have yet to attend although I have promised to in the past.
posted by Dagobert at 11:54 PM on April 7, 2005

I propose that all future Metafilter meetups be added to the amazing upcoming.org with the obvious tag "metafilter". (Props to 31d1 for already doing this).
posted by Plutor at 4:35 AM on April 8, 2005

I think it's just inertia. People see so many meet-ups on the list and think 'We should have a meet-up here!' So they post about it, and that's one more meet-up on the list for other people to see and be jealous of.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:32 AM on April 8, 2005

That's one way of putting a nice spin on this perverted, sickening practice.
posted by taz at 7:25 AM on April 8, 2005

Waiting, waiting.
Tarrama, find me a US$500 or less roundtrip to Tasmania and i'm there in a heartbeat! : >
posted by amberglow at 10:19 AM on April 8, 2005

I propose that all future Metafilter meetups be added to the amazing upcoming.org with the obvious tag "metafilter". (Props to 31d1 for already doing this).

You may find some conflict with the folks who are into Meetup.com. Looks like about 300 of 'em. Personally, I find those services overkill for getting a meetup on. A posting here plus a little email is all I need.
posted by scarabic at 12:31 PM on April 8, 2005

oops link
posted by scarabic at 12:31 PM on April 8, 2005

Looking. Looking. :-)
posted by Tarrama at 7:45 AM on April 9, 2005