As I get more and more active with online social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Meetup, something very interesting has been happening. My calendar has been filling up with things to do. Tomorrow night is a monthly meetup that combines a Meetup.com group with a pre-existing monthly gathering here in Las Vegas called First Friday. In two weeks I’m giving a speech on WordPress Vs Blogger. In January I’ll be speaking to a group about using social media/networking to grow your offline business. Right after that I’m doing this little thing called WordCamp:Las Vegas. I may have mentioned that one before. 
I have met some amazing people through my blog, twitter and facebook over the past few years. I’ve exchanged emails, tweets, comments and IMs with literally thousands of people. Most of whom I will never meet in person. You know what, that’s a real shame. There’s no substitute for meeting somebody in person that you share common interests with, shaking their hand and introducing yourself and starting up a conversation. Obviously it’s impossible to meet everybody you are associated with online. Not everybody is down the block or even a few towns away. Online social networking is global in it’s reach. But that doesn’t mean all your social networking has to be.
Over the past few months I’ve been taking a great interest in meetup.com. I’ve joined groups related to WordPress, Twitter, Social Media, Photography, Graphic Design and even Massage Therapy. Over the past month I’ve attended meetup events for more than half of these groups and have put faces to names (and screen names) that I’ve known for months or even years. Through these meetups I’ve also met people who may never have heard of me otherwise and have become followers on Twitter, subscribers to my RSS feed and commenters on my blog.
Here’s my suggestion for you; go to meetup.com and create an account. Search for meetup groups in your area related to things you are interested in that are offline activities (i.e. photography, hiking, line-dancing, whatever). Join a few groups and RSVP for a few meetups and for Pete’s sake GO TO THE MEETUPS! When it’s over, if you had a bad time, feel free to come back and roast me in the comment box. But, if you had a good time and if you made some new contacts, well, I’ll be expecting the comments proclaiming that I’m the man.
Get Out, Get Connected, Get Social.
