Today, we had a meetup. It was me and a fellow from London enjoying a rare very warm afternoon at Crissy Field. I tried to pick his brain as much as possible about the London meetups-- hopefully it wasn't too annoying of me. Anyway, the London meets are what all meets aspire to be like. I think that I should just do what they do. Even though we're a different country, the current SF meetups don't seem to be working that well for anyone. So I'm going to make the meetups bimonthly (next one will be in October), in the same location each time (TBA) until someone protests. If people want to do something in between those meetups, they are more than welcome to schedule something, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I will show up with bells on. I can try to organize the most exciting activities possible, but if we can't get at least a few people to have an ongoing interest, then this is a doomed enterprise.
I just wish I had some idea why, despite everything you would think, meetups in San Francisco are so poorly attended. I briefly entertained the theory that it's because Californians are flaky. (Apparently, I'm not alone in this.) I hope no one takes offense at this-- after all, I've been a Californian myself for over 10 years. But flakiness is saying you'll do something and not showing. What we have at meetups is people doing neither. And I've long thought that it's because public transportation is so lacking here. But, it's still better here than in most American cities, and most local people seem to be mavens at using it. Perhaps it's a whole constellation of reasons; trying to figure it out is probably a waste of time. But it's hard to improve something if you don't know why it has problems. I'll probably always theorize about meetups, but I can at least try to take some of the stress out of planning them.
Also, thanks for all the comments on the Epicurus post! It's cool that something from ancient days could still actually be a valid option for lots of people...now I just need to figure out how to do it!
7 comments:
I'm sorry I couldn't make it :(
I don't want to think of myself as a flake, but I WAS born and raised in CA... :P
Aww, hey, you live in another state; it's a long trip! I did shelve the flakiness theory, but I really enjoyed that long, involved thread on Yelp (linked) about the topic...
Dude, it must be really frustrating to put so much work and effort into something and have it not turn out. I know what that feels like, but my response so often is to just give up entirely. I admire the way you keep working at it!
Aww, thanks. Whenever I get involved with something, I definitely marry it. Nope, no giving up for me!
I would love to go to one of your meetups...if I were in the right country. Perhaps next year when I plan to be off travelling the world :)
Hope to join you at the next meetup. As you were meeting at Crissy field I was sweating up a storm at Skyline Open Space preserve with 3 other crazy folks. I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio but have lived in CA since 1987. Does that add or subtract to your flakiness theory? I have lived in California now longer than any where else.
Yay, Cathy! I'll try to plan the next one very soon. And Gemma, who ARE all these people that are always traveling the world, and how do I become one of them?!
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