A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.             Margaret Mead

Have you heard of Meetup? I believe they are doing just that – changing the world, I mean. 

Their mission statement is:

to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.

Their stats are huge:

A friend of a friend told me about Meetup, when I mentioned that I wanted to meet some new folks having recently moved back to a city I hadn’t lived in for 15 years. 

I decided to checked out the Meetup web page even though I am not much of a joiner, and found myself signing up and joining a Meetup group. Then, I ignored Meetup for a few months, until I could no longer justify not creating the life I wanted!  

I finally RSVP’d to an event and now, three months later, I am enjoying a book club brimming with interesting women, sipping coffee in multiple cafés, dancing the night away and meeting and making new friends, a few of whom now gather for coffee once a week on our own.

I think the best part of  Meetup is everyone starts from the same point – we are all looking for folks to meet and interesting things to do.

For those of you thinking, I could or would never do that, I completely understand. My guess is many people, who join feel exactly the same way – until they join, which is what makes the concept and process so cool. Meetup is changing the way people think and meet, which means the are changing the world.

Meetup offers something for everyone. Topics range from coffee lovers (33 in Glasgow, UK) to Cool Nerds, (835 in LA); Philosophers (400 in Austin, TX) to farmers  (1269 in Redlands, CA) and everything in between. 

On Meetup you can find someone, who likes to dance, cook, read, fly, hop, or climb. And, if you do not find the Meetup of your dream, you can start your own group!

And, if Meetup really is not for you, no problem, but you may enjoy reading the media coverage of interesting Meetup groups or about the Meetup staff.