Yuppies....Need YOUR Help! What do you think about an ATL Yuppies Social Club? (Atlanta: transplants)

[ShadyWun]

Hey Yuppies,

I'll attempt make this short and sweet but really would appreciate your thoughts/opinions on this. My idea is to create a premium Young Professionals Social Club (ages 21-34). The three goals would be (in order of priority):

- Social Circle Expansion (corporate lingo for "More Friends")
- Relationship/Dating
- Networking Opportunities

I currently run a Meetup group called the Atlanta Young Professionals Social Club. I've had the fortunate opportunity of meeting a lot of yuppies (my group has over 300 members). I've been thanked many times for starting this group...there wasn't any other Meetups out there specifically targeting Yuppies. However, over the last 5 months, I've realized a few things through talking with my members:

- Meetup groups can be creepy, especially for female yuppies
- Age ranges can drastically vary, which often makes it hard to connect socially (different stages of life, interests, etc.)
- A lot of people just want friends, but feel like Meetup is a breeding ground for hookups/relationships
- Want to actually get to know other people instead of just partying/drinking on the weekends

Yes, when I say Premium above it means a PAID service. My justification for charging members is below:

- Low monthly or upfront fee - just enough to weed out the Meetup creepos but not break the yuppie bank)
- Screening of members - must have job (or actively seeking one) and have some kind of life beyond attempting to hookup/party (no desperate chumps) - QUALITY over QUANTITY
- Personalized introductions - 3-4 events a week to start, each hosted by 1-2 hosts who make icebreakers/introductions between members and really facilitate friendships/bonding rather than a "matchmaking" service

The only other company I know who is doing something similar to this is Events & Adventures (aka Lots of Events) and from what I've heard, they charge a LOT of money up-front as well as monthly dues and event fees....basically, it's a complete rip-off for 90% of the guys in that group. Lots of older people over 35. No icebreakers/introductions. Feels like they take your $$ for granted.

There's a lot of transplants here (last I heard, it was a whopping 33%) - personally, when I moved to Atlanta, it was TOUGH meeting people both through Yelp/Meetup/CraigsList especially for those of us who may be a bit introverted. I wouldn't have minded paying a nominal fee to be INTRODUCED to QUALITY people in a SIMILAR AGE range with SIMILAR INTERESTS....IMMEDIATELY.

What do you guys think? What else could make this worth it to you? What would you want in a social club? PLEASE SHARE YOUR OPINION and help make Atlanta an easier place to MAKE FRIENDS and/or MEET QUALITY PARTNERS!

Cheers,
Aaron

[TakeAhike]

The above post violates TOS.