I wanted to share with you guys a bit about the meetup group I started when I was in Chicago!

So let me explain why I started a group instead of just attending meetups from other groups. When I first got back to Chicago there were some really great groups but they were HUGE. Like 1000+ people in them. Eventually I started to notice that the groups were all posting the same events(cross posting) and they were events like “Singles party” “Networking Blah Blah” and they were for 150 guests, coed, or for dating. Even in the group that was specifically for Couples making friends. It made no sense. So I decided that I wanted to start a group of my own and hope for the best.

I named the group: “Let’s Make Real Friends” and I put this little blurb in the about section:

• “It is so hard to make close friends as an adult! There are many groups out there for girlfriends but it still seems to be so hard to make real genuine friendships that last past a meetup with 30+ people. You don’t have to look a certain way, make a specific amount of money or live in a certain neighborhood to make friends and that is what this group is for! We will be geared towards women in their 20’s & 30’s, single, in a relationship and/or married, who like to explore this great city and make new friends! This group is about small meetups and making real lasting friendships. Meetups will be 10 people or less always”

I started the group in September 2017 and it really didn’t pick up until about January. We now have 260 members and I get requests to join daily.  We have great turn out now with a wait list for every event.

• The good is that I have met some really awesome women! I always have people to do something with. If I see something I want to do or a place I want to try I just make a meetup and there is always at least 1 other girl out there who wants to go.
• Once the group started to really grow people started giving me ideas and offering to host events.
  

  All the events on the calendar for May already!

• People are flakey. Especially people you meet online. Living in a city like Chicago means there are a lot of options for every day of the week and we live in a time where having options makes people a lot less willing to commit.
• It also takes work. Until people are open to hosting events on their own you are the host for everything. You have to come up with ideas, make the time and keep the group going.

To combat some of this bad…I had to make rules. I had an event in December with a full RSVP list and 10 people on the waitlist. By the time the event started everyone already on the list had cancelled and the waitlist was moved up…which  means no one showed up.  Let me tell you how upset I was that I traveled across the city in the cold to wait outside for 20 minutes before I realized no one was coming. Going into the new year, with the help of a couple girls in the group, I came up with some rules:

1. No shows are automatically booted from the group
2. People have to change their RSVP 3 hours ahead of time or receive a warning (2x and they are out)
3.  Anyone on the waitlist is responsible for attending if their name gets moved up (people rsvp on the waitlist and forget)

Seems kind of ridiculous right? But the point is really that we should be treating each other as we would a real friend.  You wouldn’t leave a friend at a restaurant waiting for you and not show or cancel right? Then we shouldn’t do it to strangers either.

So thats the story of the meetup group and how I get to do all the fun stuff I do around Chicago all the time! I am open to answering any questions or helping out if anyone is thinking of making their own group!