Keep Meeting Up!

    Three years ago, inspired by my experiences with Meetup groups in the city, and wanting to share my pedestrian lifestyle with others in and around my then home in central Nassau County, I launched the Nassau County Walking Meetup Group.  At that time, my goal had simply been to see if I could find some friends to experience the diversity of Long Island's communities by foot.  The response was unexpectedly enthusiastic!  

    At that time, very few Meetup groups were available for Long Island residents to come together and share activities in their own neighborhoods, and many groups that were launched previously had struggled to get established and so subsequently closed.   A group that held regularly scheduled events, with an organizer who was willing to start small, and let participation grow as a function of word of mouth, was just what many of you had been waiting for.

    A group dedicated to walking was likewise well received.   The few walking and hiking related organizations located on Long Island having been founded prior to the ubiquity of the Internet--and still operating through snail mail calendars and newspaper listings in order to communicate with current and prospective members--it was the Nassau County Walking Meetup Group that would show up in Google search for walking on Long Island.  Those older organizations, likewise, tended to meet at times or in places that were inconvenient for casual walkers, and here again the Nassau County Walking Meetup Group filled a need.

    Given how much interest was shown in that first group, I created the Nassau County Brunch Friends Meetup Group, which over time co-hosted events with the walking group, and also developed a series of special events and games nights as additional activities beyond those of the walking group.  All the while, members would approach me from time to time suggesting ideas for events.  In response, I asked some of those members to join on as assistant organizers.  They were then able to contribute more directly to organizing and hosting events.  Thank you to Kathleen, Glenn, Joanne, and Helen for all your hard work making the groups so successful! 

    Others suggested ideas that fell outside the scope of my groups as I saw them, and so I encouraged those individuals to consider starting their own Meetup groups, thereby creating even more opportunities for Long Island residents to come together and share their interests and one another's company.  Eventually, based on these conversations, I started my third Meetup group, Making the Most of Meetups, with the intent of creating a community of Nassau/Queens area Meetup organizers, assistant organizers, and those interested in organizing Meetup groups around their favorite activities and passions.

    Among those members who decided to take on the challenges and pleasures of running their own Meetup groups, two have been especially successful in building interesting and energetic Meetup communities.  Lee Zett presently organizes three Meetup groups, B O A R D W A L K, Long Island Dining Out, and (([ FLICK-PICK ])), and Paul Levine organizes the Long Island Gardening & Arboretum Walks Meetup Group, Long Island Meetup and Go, and the Young Entrepreneurs Meetup Group of Long Island.  If you haven't joined any of these groups yet, I heartily encourage you to check them out!

    Both Lee and Paul began their first groups after discussions with me about potential walking events.  Lee thought it would be a great idea to hold walks on the beaches of Long Island, Paul was really excited about the prospect of leading walks at various horticultural preserves on Long Island.  Now, the Nassau County Walking Meetup Group was focused primarily on suburban walking, encouraging members to take advantage of their own neighborhoods as venues for healthy activity, but what Lee and Paul envisioned were amazing ideas just the same.  Indeed, many of the members of my group had asked for just these sorts of events, and I told Lee and Paul as much when they offered the same ideas.  Where these two individuals made the difference was when I asked if they'd each be willing to create their own groups to host just those sorts of events.  First Lee and then Paul, each after careful consideration, decided to go for it!  I, like many others, am glad they did!

    Other active Meetup groups on Long Island that I have been privileged to see launch and develop are The Gamer's Table, the Long Island Compassionate Communication Network, Mo'Joe Mondays:  Games Nights, and Caring for the Caregiver.  However, a lot has happened in the past three years, as well.  When the recession hit, I lost my job, and made the decision that it was time I leave Long Island and return to school.  I am now in my second semester at the New School for Social Research, in New York, pursuing a Master's degree in anthropology, with a focus in applied evolutionary phenomenology.  Additionally, this winter season, I also got married, and am now learning (slowly) to balance the demands of an intensive degree program, an ongoing job hunt, and the responsibilities of being a spouse.  

    As it is, I have not been hosting events through any of my Meetup groups for some time now.  Nor do I expect to be doing so in the future, as, while my partner and I have not yet decided on a place to settle down (she is currently completing a degree in Glasgow, and then has a teaching commitment in Silicon Valley for a year after that; I have at least one more year of my program here in New York), it is unlikely that we will be moving to Long Island.  

    This being the case, when my Meetup organizer subscription came up for renewal this month, I decided not to continue said subscription.  As a result, when my subscription expires in the coming days, the Nassau County Walking Meetup Group, the Nassau County Brunch Friends Meetup Group, and Making the Most of Meetups will each be without an organizer.  My hope is that one or more people will be willing to take up the reigns of leadership and transform each of these groups into something more amazing and inspiring than even I could have imagined.  If this does not happen, and the e-mail alerts sent to members of these groups asking for someone to step up as organizer go without response, then these groups will close forever.  

    All things come to an end, of course, even as new things come into being.  I am thus all the more grateful to all the members, assistant organizers, and new organizers who have gone on to contribute to and build other Meetup groups on Long Island.  There are so many more opportunities on Meetup today for Long Island residents to come together with neighbors and friends than there were only three years ago, and it is due to people like Kathleen, Glenn, Joanne, Helen, Lee, Paul, and all the other Meetup organizers and Meetup members who during my time on Long Island brought their enthusiasm and friendship to Meetup group events.

    Then again, we could still do with many more Meetup groups on Long Island.  What is your passion?  What do you enjoy doing that would be even more fun with a few (or even more than a few) new friends to do it with you?  What sort of events would you organize, if you had the chance to do so?  Because of course, you do have that chance!  There's a new Meetup group waiting to be launched.  Consider organizing it!