Crazy Money-Making Idea for City-Data (real estate, chapel, schools)

[Carlingtonian]

Wouldn't it be cool if City-Data held some Meetup-type thing for us NoVa members?

I can see them charging some small fee (say $5 or $10) for entrance to the convention center or whatever the venue is. Then each attendee would put on a nametage with his/her screen name. It would be so cool to meet people in person. There could be little seminars on different NoVA-related topics--schools, commuting, moving here, biking, neighbors, civic activities, pets, federal employment, real estate, etc. Maybe Q&A sessions on different areas.

There would have to be a strict no-photos policy, of course. Or if done around Halloween, it could be done as a costume-ball type thing. (Geez, that sounds ridiculous--but it would preserve anonymity.)

City-Data could make some real money on this (or at least get some great publicity), and we could all get to know each other in a "real" way and maybe even make some actual friends out of it.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Wouldn't it be cool if City-Data held some Meetup-type thing for us NoVa members?

I can see them charging some small fee (say $5 or $10) for entrance to the convention center or whatever the venue is. Then each attendee would put on a nametage with his/her screen name. It would be so cool to meet people in person. There could be little seminars on different NoVA-related topics--schools, commuting, moving here, biking, neighbors, civic activities, pets, federal employment, real estate, etc. Maybe Q&A sessions on different areas.

There would have to be a strict no-photos policy, of course. Or if done around Halloween, it could be done as a costume-ball type thing. (Geez, that sounds ridiculous--but it would preserve anonymity.)

City-Data could make some real money on this (or at least get some great publicity), and we could all get to know each other in a "real" way and maybe even make some actual friends out of it.

I think the New Orleans C-D group regularly arranges their own happy hours.....

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by spencgr

I think the New Orleans C-D group regularly arranges their own happy hours.....

Figures that the N.O. group would be the most fun!

[modelpenguin]

couldn't someone just make a group on the Meetup website if people wanted to actually hang out in person?

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by modelpenguin

couldn't someone just make a group on the Meetup website if people wanted to actually hang out in person?

I actually have never used Meetup. What you suggest I suppose could work--though there's the question of where to do it. And I think that if C-D were to be the official host, that would make people feel more comfortable participating.

[The Dissenter]

I like the idea. Usually from other forums that do meetups, they meet for breakfast or something without going through the meetup service.

[bmwguydc]

The NYC forum has had some meetups, coordinated on the forum, though yours truly was not in attendance. However, from what I gather, it was a small-ish turnout, given the date/time/location selected as it was not a night convenient for many, i.e., a scorching June Thursday in Harlem was the last selected day/location.

The time/date/location can be difficult to achieve a happy medium, though there are other state fora that have regular/semi-regular meetups, where a core group seems to gather; again, from what I understand, as I have not been to one.

[michgc]

The Raleigh-Cary-Chapel Hill board has done meetups. In fact, they just had one in September. I don't "know" them very well, yet, so I didn't go. It would be interesting to meet all of you, though. However, I have pictures in my head of what everyone looks like, and it's always weird when people look different than how you imagined them.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

We're way too important and busy for that kind of real life interactions. Heck, if we had that kind of time, we wouldn't on the internet, would we?

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by michgc

The Raleigh-Cary-Chapel Hill board has done meetups. In fact, they just had one in September. I don't "know" them very well, yet, so I didn't go. It would be interesting to meet all of you, though. However, I have pictures in my head of what everyone looks like, and it's always weird when people look different than how you imagined them.

Exactly! I used to assume you were a dude named "Mitch."

Originally Posted by bmwguydc

...The time/date/location can be difficult to achieve a happy medium, though there are other state fora that have regular/semi-regular meetups, where a core group seems to gather; again, from what I understand, as I have not been to one.

Yeah, I can see how tough it'd be, given how spread out everyone is here.