Issue Date: August 10, 2003
Find friends
Log on to get together with like-minded people near you.
The Internet is a great way to stay in touch with far-flung friends and family, and it's been a terrific way to discover new "virtual" friends. In fact, I maintain some relationships almost entirely via e-mail. But until recently the Net was a complete bust at locating people who live nearby and are interested in the same stuff I am.
Then I discovered Meetup.com, which uses the Web's power to create local communities by organizing topical gatherings. Meetup has more than 440,000 members and is growing fast, completely through word of mouth. It claims to have facilitated 11,000 meetings in 586 cities worldwide.
"Decades ago, people used to go to all kinds of meetings -- PTA, Elks Club, you name it," says Myles Weissleder, a Meetup vice president. "These days, people spend their time in front of the computer and TV. So we took this great network, where people are having relationships across all kinds of borders, to connect people face to face."
Just sign up (basic membership is free) and find a topic that interests you (there are more than 1,400, including knitting, poker, ancient Egypt, sport bikes, basset hounds and Insane Clown Posse). The site shows you the next related gathering near you. Then vote on where you want to meet, and when the time comes, show up.
If you prefer to invite select people to your get-togethers rather than leave things to chance, you'll like Evite.com. It will help you create fancy or casual invitations and e-mail them to everyone on your list. You can ask guests to vote on decisions (the date, the food) before the event. Your invitees RSVP online, and Evite keeps track of who's coming and who's bringing what. It also sends reminders when the date draws near.
So turn off the TV and get out of the house. Or at least invite friends over to watch with you.
-- Christina Wood
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