A persistent social trend is to meet people through Meetup.com. This is a site where Evite meets Facebook! After you post your profile, you select what kind of people or groups you would like to be a part of near where you live. (It will ask you for your zip code to identify groups close to you.)
Each Meetup has an organizer (or team of organizers). They set up events for people to get together in your local area. There are meetup groups for every kind of interest or affiliation.
There is even a poodle meetup group where people get their dogs together!
So another one of my tips for meetup dating is to find a group that either follows a passion or important value for you. For instance, one of my clients considers community service to be important to her. She found a Meetup group for single volunteers.
Of course, you will find that there are many singles Meetup groups in your area – especially if you live in a metropolitan area. You should choose a group by either the age range of the members, religion, activity, proximity and/or common interests. Many of the singles activities and dating companies are utilizing Meetup as a marketing vehicle for promoting their businesses to a particular group of people. Be careful about who is running the group and their motivations for having the group.
You want to consider groups with at least 500 members and less than 3000. Groups with fewer than 500 members can be cliquey. And if there are more than 3000, you may never see the same people from one event to the next.
Here is another one of my top tips for meetup dating: connect with people after an event. You can see who signed up for an event with their picture in the RSVP area. You can then follow up afterward if you met someone that you connected with.
[Recommended Reading – Why Hire A Dating Coach To Help You Find Lasting Love?]
However, there are guys who are contacting women in a Meetup group that they have not met them yet. That’s considered uncool. If the organizer finds out that someone is doing this, that person will be most likely asked to leave the group.
The final meetup dating tip I want to share with you is to join a handful of groups. It’s better to be active in a few groups than spread very thin and going to a dozen groups where you don’t get to see the same people again. A connection may not occur the first time you meet someone, although it may on a subsequent get-together.
Have you tried Meetup.com for dating? What has been your experience? Have you met nice people through this site for dating or friendship? This inquiring coach would like to know your thoughts!
Intentionally yours,
Coach Amy