Meetup.com in Chicagoland?

March 19, 2008 8:12 PM

Chicago filter: Has anyone had experience with meetup.com in Chicago?

I need ways to meet people. I really LIKE the *idea* of meetup.com, but have doubts that it works. I'd like to hear about anyone that has had experience with meetups via meetup.com, specifically in the Chicagoland area as I'm inclined to think this sort of thing, like craisgslist, varies by location.

Thanks for whatever input you can provide! (Alternative suggestions are welcome, too.)

posted by INTPLibrarian to Society & Culture (3 answers total)

My wife and I are members of the Rogers Park Parents Group. They have about 200 people signed up and we have gone to plenty of successful meetups. I would vouch for it. The only criticism that I have for Meetup.com is technical. As one of the administrators of the group I think the way that posting to the calendar is clunky and in some ways redundant (you can't post a repeat event, you have to keep making new events).
posted by crios at 8:30 PM on March 19, 2008

I went to a few meetups (through meetup.com) when I was in Chicago. One was a hiking group (Windy City Hikers) and one was a knitting group (I believe it was Chicago Knitters Unite, although I'm not sure). Both seemed to work fairly well in terms of socializing, although the hiking group chose that day to go on a ten-mile hike (there was no way to double back; it was a loop around the particle accelerator) that left several newbies, including me, in quite a lot of pain. I had tons of fun at the knitting meetup - there were several very cool women there, and they were at a really neat little coffeeshop/restaurant.

I also took classes at the Old Town School of Folk Music, which was a BLAST. And you get to meet lots of people through those classes, several of whom I hung out with after class; we'd grab dinner at Tank before heading home.

I got some really good suggestions for stuff to do in my question a while ago. At least a couple of the suggestions might also be useful to you.
posted by fuzzbean at 8:38 PM on March 19, 2008

I have been to a few events and know some people who are very involved. There is a wide variety, but a lot of it involves booze.

Give it a try, they are all nice people. I think it's best used sparingly to make real friends rather than adopting it as your only social outlet.
posted by gjc at 7:35 AM on March 20, 2008