Has anyone ever joined a meetup.com group? Good/bad experiences?
It's hard to find friends at my age outside of work and my OWN friends (not wives of DH friends).
We don't have kids so I don't have that common bond that brings most females together. I'm also reserved and more of an introvert and a homebody--to an extent.
It's hard. If anyone has ideas for me I'd love to hear them.
I joined a triathlon team! Not that you need to do the same. But joining a group in which you share the same goals and outlook on life has been really good for me. I finally found people that I enjoy hanging out with who are healthy and share many of the same goals I do!
I think meet up is a great way to make new friends!
Can you join a book club, alumni association, professional organization, sporting team, or do some volunteering? Pick something you are passionate about and get involved, and hopefully the people will follow.
I just joined two groups on meetup but haven't had a chance to go to one of the meetup's yet. They both seem to do fun things and I am really hoping to make some new friends out of it.
In my late 20s, I joined a "young professionals" group (specifically, New Jersey Young Professionals). It was not business-related at all. It was just a social group for people who would identify themselves as young professionals. I met a ton of people and had a blast...
I joined a wine group, and made a lot of great friends.
Unfortunately, the official meetup group has been taken over by Scensy/lia Sophia crap (seriously, can we have a meetup that is not scheduled around a new fall/spring/summer line?) but the friends I made have all branched off from the initial group.
I met most of my new friends the past five ish years on the nest, honestly. My local board was super active when I first started on the knot, and moved to the nest. It is no longer really active, but I'm still friends with a bunch of women and we have a FB group that we moved to during the great exodus.
How about even starting a group? Or joining a community service org? Junior league, or volunteer with another organization? Also, the more you frequent places ( the gym, book club) , the more likely you are to make friends, in my experience.
I joined a wine group, and made a lot of great friends.
Unfortunately, the official meetup group has been taken over by Scensy/lia Sophia crap (seriously, can we have a meetup that is not scheduled around a new fall/spring/summer line?) but the friends I made have all branched off from the initial group.
There are wine groups? I may have to look I to this.
I was also going to suggest joining an activity or group with common interests, like a book club, coed softball team, etc....
I've done a few meetups. So far I've had fun doing whatever the activity is (going out to a restaurant, horseback riding, salsa dancing, winery, etc) however I haven't really met people that I would form more of a friendship with. At least I haven't yet.
I'm definitely an introvert and really suck at getting past work relationships and acquaintance relationships. I've lived here more years than I'd care to admit and really haven't made a group of friends. I'm so bummed out by it because the friends that I have from way back live super far away so day to day if I want to chat I just end up on here. Ugh, so lame.
Post by badtzmaru22 on Oct 17, 2012 8:21:36 GMT -5
I met a bunch of my friends here from a meetup group. Don't be afraid to start your own if you don't see one you're interested in. Our host collects $5 from everyone periodically to cover the fees of being on the site.
I joined meetup a few years ago and it has led to a lot of friendships. First, I joined a girlfriends club. That was fun, but I didn't like all the girls. A couple that I liked tipped me off to a co-ed young professionals group. MH and I joined that group and became friends with a group of about 10 people. We kind of spun off and just hang out now, and the meetup group is defunct. After I had DD, another girl from my girlfriends club told me about a local moms' FB group and I joined that. I am LOVING that group and I don't know how I would have made local mom friends otherwise.
You should definitely give it a try. The most important thing is to keep showing up for meetups. Friendships will be formed whether you are there or not. If you only participate once in awhile, you will always feel like an outsider. And, if you don't like the people in your meetup group, try another one. Or start your own!