I’m a huge fan of Meetup.com – a web site that has mostly free groups organized by ordinary people who want to invite others to join them. Some of the groups are stagnant but there are a lot of active groups too. If you need a job or to meet people, or to improve your business skills, start finding and going to those groups.
I just joined a hiking group called Davis County Hiking Meetup Group. I really enjoyed going – it was a 2 hour round trip hike and it was pretty and a great opportunity to learn more about our community. I liked that the leader of the hike told us about plants, geology, animals and history of the area as we walked. There was a waterfall and people of all ages came.
I’m not in the market for a job but I found out about 2 career options that I’d never heard of or considered. Just by chatting. I’ve decided to broaden my interests from ebusiness to other interests too but I love these informal ways of learning. People are usually more open to newcomers than your average group that you have to know someone to join. I recommend them if you’re looking to date more (even if the people themselves aren’t someone you’d date they know other people: think referrals).
One of my favorite stories is how my husband’s client who is in the military got stationed in Ogden Utah. He didn’t know the area and chose an apartment complex to live. My husband asked how he liked it there. He said it was alright but he lived across the street from a strange looking building. Also, he remarked how there were a lot of people old enough to be his grandma and not many singles.
My husband laughed and said something like, dude, you’re living in church housing. This is where retired people who go to the LDS temple live. But he liked that it was quiet and not a lot of competition at the apartment gym. My husband remarked that it’s also a good place to find a wife. If he got in with the people who lived there and they liked him, they’d most likely introduce him to their grand daughters.
It worked. He went skiing with a couple, got invited to their family reunion and when he was there he met and dated two of their granddaughters. He married one of them.
So if you want to broaden your social circle, get out on a hike with your dog or kids, or simply get to see more of our beautiful state, check out Meetup. You might get more than you signed up for.
