Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
...in hopes of meeting a non-religious woman here but it was nothing but married couples at the meetings and the same 5 or 10 people every week.
An therein lies the problem with them I've experienced. If you don't go to the singles specific events, you're going to be inundated with couples, or worse, cute women that you get to find out are taken.
I just wish decent women showed up to the damn singles events here.
When I moved to New York I managed to find a couple of really good meetups.
One in particular was ran by a guy that was a native NY'er. The two years I attended the meetup were some of the best times of my life. I was able to see more of New York than in that time than most people living there saw their entire lives.
We traveled to Philly, D.C., Baltimore, Boston, and all over NYC. Had a great time with those people.
Was a great way to explore the city with other professionals.
However, the meetup fell apart a few months after the leader me his girlfriend.
When the meetup fell apart the friendships did also.
Still, very thankful to have stumbled upon that meetup. It was a great time in my life. Meeting those people made my transition to the east coast much easier.
I think joining a meetup is worth the risk.
If the people don't click with you...find another.
I've been to a few meetups, not to start a relationship, but simply for self interest...
and I don't feel like it's any good for even making friends. I don't know how to pin point it but it was just really awkward and weird. Perhaps it was the setting or that everyone was stranger to each other but it just felt off...
Some of the popular people I know, I doubt they have even heard of Meetup.com not to mention even going to one...
I doubt it would be better to go rock climbing or kayaking with a bunch of strangers on Meetup.com rather than friends that you already know and can feel comfortable and laugh with.
If it's hard to even make friends on Meetup, I don't think it is good for starting a relationship.
But anyhow, how was meetup.com for you? How often did you go to meetup.com? Did you make friends on meetup.com that spilled over to doing other things? Did you start a successful relationship from meetup.com?
I moved to a new city 4 years ago and started doing meetups. Some were fun, some were not successfully organized. I even started two meetups but then got a job that conflicted with it, they eventually folded. Some are so large you never see the same people twice
For a meetup to really work, you have to be personally greeted at each event by someone who genuinely wants to help you connect with the other participants.
I was signed up for a hiking meetup for a while but never went, then I met a guy on a dating website who hiked with them. So we went on a hiking/meetup date. The group was great, and I think it eased my introduction because he knew some of the people. Stopped dating him, but I stuck with it, met a lot of cool people, and now i feel I can join in activities whenever I want and always find people I've talked with before. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I may actually make some friends out of this. (My other friends here are all from work, which is fine) This group is getting to be a bit of a singles meetup, but I've been hiking/camping with them 8 or so times and have yet to meet anyone I did not like. The group organizers start every event with a big circle so we can do introductions, where you're originally from (lots of transplants in our community) then they ask who is there for the first time so they can be greeted personally. Most of us try to pay it forward and now also make a point out of welcoming newcomers. People like to talk about themselves...so I do a lot of listening!
I agree with you 100%...going to a meetup and not being welcomed is very awkward. I don't blame you for being frustrated. Sometimes it helps to have a wingman. My personal skills at making conversation with people I don't know have improved.
If you are truly interested in the activity, keep trying. Look for the person who is looking as awkward as you feel and ask them how long they've been in the meetup, what activity did they like best, how long have you been (insert activity here). Keep at it. Have you got anything better to do?
I went to a few when I lived in Sarasota (all were vegan/vegetarian meetups at restaurants, and one was a Thanksgiving event). They were fun, but much like others have mentioned, they tended to be pretty clique-y. Many of the people knew each other already, and that's who they spent most of their time talking to. I was always welcomed, but not much beyond that. I am also one of those who's fairly shy in new situations, so I know I wasn't helping by not being a conversation starter.
I'm moving to St. Pete in about a month, and plan to give meetups another shot. I've browsed the groups and have found several that look interesting. This time I'll try to be more chatty, and go to more than one or two meetups with the same group. I'm thinking it's going to be much more successful.
I went to a few when I lived in Sarasota (all were vegan/vegetarian meetups at restaurants, and one was a Thanksgiving event). They were fun, but much like others have mentioned, they tended to be pretty clique-y. Many of the people knew each other already, and that's who they spent most of their time talking to. I was always welcomed, but not much beyond that. I am also one of those who's fairly shy in new situations, so I know I wasn't helping by not being a conversation starter.
I'm moving to St. Pete in about a month, and plan to give meetups another shot. I've browsed the groups and have found several that look interesting. This time I'll try to be more chatty, and go to more than one or two meetups with the same group. I'm thinking it's going to be much more successful.
I am very shy in person, so I can relate. I joined a group of women who get together for happy hours and try wines...that helps! (the wine that is ) I was fortunate that the one I attended, the host was very welcoming, asked me my name, introduced me to everyone, etc. I was seated near a couple of people who were chatty, too, so that helped. I ended up talking to someone that I seemed to have a lot in common with so after the meetup I messaged her and invited her to brunch and we've been friends ever since.
__________________
My posts as moderator will be in red.
I am in two meetup groups from Meetup.com. It was a lot like online dating where I would try different groups and they didn't really fit with me. I went though a few lame meetups before I found two I liked. And I made quite a few new friends in these groups.
I didn't try to meet anyone romantically with meetup.com. I wouldn't have been against it, but my prime goal was to make new friends and expand my social circle. If anything, I hoped a new friend or couple might introduce me to someone they knew, but it never happened (I found someone on Match instead).
I was part of a Spanish Meetup Group for 4 years and I have made over 30 friends by just being a regular, it was probably the most powerful way to meet people when I first moved to Des Moines. 6 years later, I am still friends with the group founder and the group is still going strong but this is really a gem of a group.
Me and 4 other friends decided to go to a Meetup for singles once and the guy who runs it is super weird. I would say my experiences through Meetup have been mostly negative and awkward with a few very good groups.
I went to lots of meetups when the website was first getting traction. On the one hand I met the girl I spend 7 years of my life with at a nightlife meetup. Then some weird things happened, but it was great while it lasted. On the other hand, I met some really strange people at other meetups. I gave up completely on meetups for the sole purpose of 'meeting' other people. It often felt contrived and just not natural for me. Now I still check up on meetups for hobbies and special interests. But the social meetups just felt unnatural to me.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) I was fortunate that the one I attended, the host was very welcoming, asked me my name, introduced me to everyone, etc. I was seated near a couple of people who were chatty, too, so that helped. I ended up talking to someone that I seemed to have a lot in common with so after the meetup I messaged her and invited her to brunch and we've been friends ever since.
