Networking Tools: Meetup.com
I have a confession to make, I just got back from my first internet-discovered networking opportunity. I know millions of people find friends and business partners every day through Meetup.com (I joined the New to Seattle group) but, it still was weird to show up to a bar I didn’t know, by myself, with 50+ complete strangers. It definitely was an experience and, I would argue, a postive one.
The event was at TOI, an upscale Thai bar with a good ambience but only four beers on tap upstairs. I tried my first Mac & Jack after being referred by a local and it was definitely a powerful amber/brown ale from what I could tell. It was full of flavor with an almost powdery finishing texture.
You are not always going to have friends to introduce you or co-workers to talk to, it’s a fact of life. So why not grab the bull by the horns. Well, I grabbed a beer by it’s frosty edges first (beer #1 Pyramid Hefeweiss, a good Seattle weissbier (before the Mac & Jack)) and then I took a deep breath, and headed into the fray. Once I got a footing and introduced myself to a few people things smoothed out and a felt much less like someone who was trying to invade a group of friends through the internet. Meetup.com is just that, a place for people to meet others interested in social gatherings, just go with it, learn, and move forward as a better business person. I may even go to one when I get back to Milwaukee just for the character building.
Sidenote: Meetup.com had a joint event with BEAN Seattle, a young professionals group in Seattle that does social, service and networking events for young professionals and has it’s own social networking group. I will definitely be attending more of their events.
UPDATE: Check out Employee Evolutions quick step by step on effortless networking and Ryan’s relocation experience.
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Tags: Bars, Cities, Networking, Seattle, Work
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September 21st, 2007 at 11:02 am
I went to meetup.com and it looks pretty cool. What did you have to search for to find your “young professional” meetup? Or did you browse by city?
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September 21st, 2007 at 11:06 am
Browsed by city. It also worked to go to the New To Town section. Most of the gatherings I have found tend to be young professionals 23-30 by nature of the face that they seem most prone to networking. Great experience overall.
September 22nd, 2007 at 8:39 pm
[...] have taken a number of approaches to this opportunity including pursuing contacts at work, through local social groups and by trying to find people who share my passion for personal freedoms, conservative policies and [...]
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October 1st, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Thanks for the great tip Brandon! I went to Meetup.com and found a couple of local groups here in Dallas. I’ve already made some new friends and most likely will be going on a hiking/camping trip this weekend with the group. Also found a Patriots fan group that meets for all the games, looking forward to going to that meetup for the first time tonight. I would highly suggest anyone else who is new to a city to try this site out. Some may be hit or miss but there are a lot of great groups out there!
February 14th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
[...] you have done your best to network. You hacked corporate happy hours, volunteered, joined Meetup.com groups and even networked with other bloggers but, how would you like a way to easily find events [...]
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
[...] any person you come in contact with throughout the day. And networking seems easier than ever with technology’s help. Forget about being shy or nervous (something I myself struggle with) and start putting yourself out [...]